| There are a number of existing businesses that offer | | | | The numbers are simple, if you find a book that has |
| to pay you to scout for books. Some even offer to | | | | a real value of $20, you can make $2.00 to $3.00 by |
| provide you with a cell phone and an Internet | | | | being someone's scout, or you can make $15.00 |
| account for scouting. The way it works is simple, you | | | | selling it yourself through your own online bookstore. |
| type in the ISBN and the book price, and using this | | | | If you know where to look, how much to pay, and |
| information they tell you whether or not to buy the | | | | how to know a book's value before you buy it, you |
| book. If you sign up to be their book scout, you are | | | | can make even more. Do not be tricked into being a |
| expected to buy the books they instruct you to buy | | | | scout for someone else unless you just want |
| and promptly ship them to their warehouse. | | | | assured sales and minimum profits. I hate to hear |
| Overall, the concept sounds good because you are | | | | about people being taken advantage of because |
| assured of a profit from the books they tell you to | | | | they are not aware of their alternatives. |
| buy, but, and I want to emphasize "but," the number | | | | You should also know that if you are scouting for |
| of books they instruct you to buy is not going to be | | | | someone else, you are passing up a lot of books that |
| a substantial number of the ones you look up, and | | | | could make you some real money. For example, |
| since they intend to resell the books they buy from | | | | suppose that the book I used to illustrate above only |
| you, your profits will be much smaller, i.e., you are | | | | had a real value of $8.50. Chances are the scouting |
| effectively a middle man in the business. You don't | | | | service would not instruct you to buy the book |
| think they are going to pay you what the book are | | | | because by the time they paid everyone they would |
| worth do you? They are in business to make money | | | | only make $3.23 (assuming they paid you $1.00), |
| too, and your participation in their grand scheme of | | | | which is probably not worth their time. That same |
| things is to provide them with cheap labor to find | | | | book could make you $5.23 if you bought and sold it |
| books they can make money on. | | | | yourself. |
| Suppose you find a book that has a real value of $20 | | | | There is also the "gem" consideration to think about. |
| and the store you are scouting in is selling the book | | | | Every month I sell a few gems and if you get into |
| for $1.99. If you are instructed to buy the book, the | | | | online bookselling you will too. Today, March 27, 2006, |
| service you are working for is going to pay at least | | | | I sold a paperback, "The Kate Moss Book," by Kate |
| $1.99 plus a dollar to have you ship it to them. The | | | | Moss, ISBN 0789301016 for $199.99, and a hardback, |
| $1.00 shipping assumes you will be shipping several | | | | Field, Thermionic and Secondary Electronemission |
| books to them in a box to minimize the per book | | | | Spectroscopy, by A. Modinos, ISBN 0306413213 for |
| cost of shipping, AND that the service even pays | | | | $150.00. I bought them for $0.90 and $1.00 |
| you to ship the books to them - some expect you | | | | respectively and had to pay a 15% sales commission |
| to pay for shipping to their warehouse. So, now the | | | | on each. In the end I made $169.09 on the first book |
| "service" you work for is into the book for $2.99. | | | | and $126.50 on the second book, that is a 15,557% |
| Because most such services market their books | | | | profit on my $1.90 investment. If I had purchased |
| online through one of the big marketplaces like | | | | them as a scout for someone else I might have |
| Amazon.com, assume they are going to be paying a | | | | gotten as much as $52.50 in profit, assuming I was |
| sales commission of 15% when they sell the book. | | | | being paid 15% of the real value for books I scouted |
| That is an additional $3.00 they will be paying when | | | | and was instructed to buy, and made the other |
| they do sell the book, so out of the $20 ultimate | | | | $243.09 for the company I scouted for. Again I |
| selling price, they are left with $14.01. Do you think | | | | would like to emphasize that every month I have a |
| you will get half of that? Not likely, you are apt to | | | | handful of sales like this, but as someone else's scout, |
| get 10% to 15% of the real value for your scouting | | | | I would not make much. |
| service, i.e., $2.00 to $3.00, and they are going to | | | | It just seems that if you are going to go to the |
| make $11.01 to $12.01 from your effort and their | | | | trouble of book scouting you should be doing it for |
| "risk." | | | | your own business and not taking minimal |
| Consider the alternative of selling the book online | | | | percentages doing it for someone else, but for every |
| yourself. You could open your own online bookstore | | | | opportunity available there are many that are eager |
| on one of the big marketplaces, pay as little as $5 | | | | to jump in with illusions of making big money. Online |
| per month for a wireless lookup service, and decide | | | | bookselling is not a means of getting rich quick - |
| for yourself if the books you are scouting are worth | | | | unless you have hundreds of scouts out there finding |
| buying and reselling. Just that one book above would | | | | good books for you and working for peanuts, i.e., as |
| pay for your lookup service and still make you more | | | | a scout you are not going to get rich quick, but you |
| money than you are going to get scouting for | | | | will be helping someone else make a lot of money. |
| someone else. It only takes about five such books to | | | | On the other hand, you can make a good income |
| pay for all of the expenses for your own online | | | | selling books online full time or a really nice |
| bookstore each month. | | | | supplemental income selling online part time. |