Selling Books

Since the beginning of January, I have been selling books on Amazon.com.  I am surprised at how easy it was to list the ISBN numbers and the orders started coming in within hours.  I listed 9 books, and sold 5 of them the first week.  With the sales, I have made over $55.  Not bad at all!

Our local library has a book sale twice a year at great prices ($0.25-$0.50 for paper backs and $1 for hard cover books.)  I have been thinking about trying to sell books from home to make some extra money and pay down the mortgage (or bulk up our emergency fund.)  The books I’ve sold have been pretty much brand-spanking new.  I sold them as Used – Like New.  The bindings had not even been creased.

I am worried that if I purchase 10-15 books from book sales (who am I kidding? It would be more like 25-50,) that I may not be able to sell even one. It is a risk. 

Upon further investigation, I found out that there is a business out there for Book Scouts.  Yes, that’s what they call themselves.  They go to these book sales, can scan the book ISBN and see how much they are selling for instantly on their PDA or web-activated cell phone. 

There is software you can download to use at these sales.  How much does it cost? $7.99/month or $20 for 3 months.

However, I do not have internet on my phone.  So that would be an additional cost.

I find myself getting so excited about my next business venture that I don’t spend enough time on one business to make it grow and become a source of income.  I want to get the other two businesses off the ground in 2011 and build a steady customer base and income stream, but I’d also like to get into this book selling business.

I have a book requested from a library “out of network.”  I’m not sure when it will come in, but it is all about the book business.  I cant wait to get it, read it, and then decide on what to do.  In the meantime, I may go to a book sale or two in my area and limit myself to 10 books, and then try my luck at selling them.  We’ll see.

Decision, decisions.

What would you do?