Author Topic: scored with bookscouter  (Read 4354 times)

southern granny

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scored with bookscouter
« on: March 15, 2014, 11:15:06 AM »
Last night I went to a charity book sale.  I bought 5 books for $1 each that the bookscouter app said I could sell.  I brought them home, scanned them in and sold them for $35.  $30 profit for an hours work (maybe two after packing and mailing).  Plus I helped out the charity by buying the books. This morning at another charity yard sale, I bought a book for my own reading for fifty cents.  Scanned it too and I can read it and then sell it for $2.25  Yea, me!

warfreak2

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Re: scored with bookscouter
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2014, 04:23:51 AM »
Plus I helped out the charity by buying the books.
You didn't help out the charity by telling them how they can sell books for 7 times as much in future, though?

highwayskies

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Re: scored with bookscouter
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2014, 09:56:06 AM »
Hadn't heard of this, thanks!

Elaine

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Re: scored with bookscouter
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2014, 02:32:35 PM »
Plus I helped out the charity by buying the books.
You didn't help out the charity by telling them how they can sell books for 7 times as much in future, though?

Having worked for a number of library book sales, I can say this with some authority: they know this. It isn't worth their time. Most charity book sales rely on volunteer labor to sort the books and man the sale. In my hometown, a lot of the volunteers were high schoolers doing required community service, not the most reliable group. Most charities don't have the personnel to list lots of books online for sale and wait weeks/months for them to sell. I've manned the tables and seen people with handheld scanners working their way up and down the aisles looking for books with a high resale value. We always liked those people that would show up early, scan the titles, get what they wanted for resale, pay cash and leave. They were easy money.

There are some large library systems and charities with enough reliable volunteer labor that they do have someone who can handle book sales and get the maximum profit from each book, but it's just not a viable option for most small organizations.

+1 I can second this, I worked at those in high school.

spoonman

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Re: scored with bookscouter
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2014, 03:26:51 PM »
Interesting concept.  I might justify buying some rare, out-of-print books that I've been meaning to get.  If I get a $45 paperback, I can probably sell it back for a similar amount.

Thanks for the suggestion!

maryofdoom

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Re: scored with bookscouter
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2014, 08:03:55 PM »
Well done!

I do this for a fun side hustle. It certainly doesn't make enough money to replace a job, but I love looking through books, so it's a win-win for me. I picked up ten or so books this weekend from various Goodwills and the ones that will sell online will sell for enough to make up for what I spent on the ones that I just want to read. And when I'm done reading them, the ones I don't want to keep will head off to their new homes at Half-Price Books.

Of course, after doing this for a few years, I have about a hundred books in the to-read pile...