Question: How can I find profitable books for resale online? I started “playing around” with technical books both I owned and used. It was hit or miss when I started “speculating” on books I would buy. I became very discouraged when earlier this year I inherited and entire estate of books. Went to list them on Amazon, and just about all of them were penny books. I’d like to do this so it’s actually fun and profitable.
Answer: One way to avoid losing money on books is to get a cellular price lookup service (you need a Web-enabled cellphone to do this). That way you can research the online market price of books before buying them, and be relatively sure you can sell at a profit.
The services cost around $8 or 10 a month, and are much faster than navigating through Amazon’s screens. You just punch in the ISBN and you get the prices for new, used and collectible listings on Amazon. Depending on your wireless device, you may be able to connect a bar code scanner and avoid having to key in the ISBNs.
Here are some services:
ScoutPal. www.scoutpal.com
Bookhero. www.bookhero.com
AsellerTool. www.asellertool.com
BookScout. www.theoldbookstore.com
BookDabbler. www.bookdabbler.com
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4 Comments
Depending on your location, you may be able to find a Wi-Fi or other wireless internet connection that can be used with a laptop.
I live in area where the downtown has Wi-Fi and can be accessed from within several shops.
But I wonder if it’s really practical to plop down on the floor with a shelf of books and start rifling through them.
Also, how does this service work when there are NO ISBN numbers.
Now we are futsing around with a number pad and trying to use it like a keyboard.
Yeah it depends on the type of book sale as to whether it’s cool to hog a big stack of books for price checking. I’ve seen people monopolize a whole aisle at a sale, and that tends to get in the way of other customers. In bookstores, I try to not attract any attention, since they can get angry if they realize you’re reselling their stuff at a profit. Thrift shops in particular get annoyed at this. My attitude is, if you’re buying books, the people selling them in these types of stores should be happy, because you’re going to be one of their biggest buyers.
I’ve always used a T-Moble Sidekick when checking prices, which has a full QWERTY keypad. So if there’s a book without an ISBN that you want to look up by title, it doesn’t take too long.
One other thing about wireless connections — sometimes when you’re unable to get a signal inside a building, you can get one if you stand right by a window.
This is exactly the question I had when I first started selling books, and I too searched for some way to look up book prices on the go. I got fed up with the available pay options and decided to make my own. It is free (For now, seeing how it goes) and can be found at:
scout.bookspy.net – Mobile
Bookspy.net – Regular
The mobile site should work on any web enabled cell phone. You can search by ISBN, title or author, and it returns the Amazon sales rank as well as the lowest price across multiple venues.
Hopefully this helps some others getting started in selling books!
I am intesrested in knowing a reliable cost right place that might have a scanner than automaticaly scans the isbn and maybe give you a price.