How Booksellers Find
Cheap Used Books for Sale

By Joe Waynick

The challenge of finding cheap used books for sale every single day is faced by all Internet booksellers.

Without fresh inventory to list online for sale on a continuous basis, sales dry up pretty quickly. That's not a good thing when you've got bills to pay.

But just where do these books come from?

Despite the obvious need to consistently buy used books, it's difficult to find a lot of quality book seller information on the Internet about specific strategies scouters use to locate inventory.

Therefore, I thought I'd share some of the techniques I use to increase my chances of finding cheap used books for sale that turn a tidy profit. These are techniques I call my home-based business success factors.

You Need An Edge

Scouting for cheap used books for sale has gotten tougher. Five years ago it was nothing for me to go out for five or six hours and find 100 books suitable for my online bookstore.

Imagine picking up $1,000 - $1,500 worth of inventory for just a few hours of work. That's selling books online the easy way!

But with more competition getting into the business every day, booksellers need an edge if they want to find the most profitable crop of books, DVDs, and CDs for resale.

What gives you an edge is finding profitable business opportunities that methodically get you to where the books are more often than your competitors. Or at the very least, before your competitors arrive.

Articles on making money online outlining specific techniques and methods for finding products to sell online are the kind of booksellers resources that give you the edge you need.

Arrive Early

One of the simplest tricks to out-foxing your completion is to get there first. But you have to be smart about it.

This particular technique for finding cheap used books for sale works particularly well with thrift stores; especially stores that promote 50% off sale days.

When thrift store pricing involve deep discounts like that I always arrive at least one hour before the doors open so I can be one of the first five or ten people in line.

Depending on how popular the store may be, an hour may not be enough. For example, if it's the grand opening of a new thrift store, I arrive as much as three hours before the doors open.

Being first in-line can mean the difference between me meeting or not meeting my book scouting quota for the day. And the key to earning enormous profits is buying really cheap used books that can be sold for five or ten times your cost.

Know the Schedule

If you're going to start making easy money online selling used books then knowing in advance when thrift store bookshelves are stocked is a major competitive advantage to any book scouter.

I've learned that the best way to know the schedule and find cheap used books for sale is to develop strong relationships with the thrift store personnel who are responsible for putting out the books.

There are numerous reasons why store personnel are more candid with me about the restocking schedule than they may be with my competition. From my perspective, the biggest and most effective reason is because I make their jobs easier.

How do I do that? It's simple. When I'm looking for used book deals in their stores I don't trash the place. Often I walk into a store after other booksellers shop the place and the shelves are in complete disarray.

Frequently you'll find me taking a few minutes to straighten up the place as a courtesy to store personnel. I always try to do it in full view of other employees, especially the ones responsible for the books.

Be Friendly

After I search used book store shelves for cheap used books and I start straightening up the book department, employees will often come up to me and thank me for my efforts.

I'll engage them in a bit of light banter about the store or anything else I detect interests them. Then I'll casually ask how often and at what times are the bookshelves restocked.

I don't always get the scoop the first time I ask. Usually it takes several such encounters before a level of trust is established.

By being consistent in my behavior I almost always develop the necessary rapport with store personnel while I'm scouting books to get the information I need to buy and sell cheap books online.

Maintaining these relationships is like wearing my very own book scout badge of honor. The employees love it when their jobs are easier, and they reward me for making it that way.

They help me with information that enable me to build a money making online store that's profitable and fun to operate.