Comments on: Is a book scouting service actually worth it? http://bookshopblog.com/2009/08/16/is-a-book-scouting-service-actually-worth-it/ ...to help you be a better bookseller Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:02:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Adam http://bookshopblog.com/2009/08/16/is-a-book-scouting-service-actually-worth-it/comment-page-1/#comment-5244 Adam Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:00:54 +0000 http://bookshopblog.com/?p=873#comment-5244 With a book scouting service, you don't have to have a scanner. It just makes things a little easier when they're is a barcode. You could always manually type in the ISBN number as well. I have found if a book has an ISBN and will come up in Amazon it usually is the true market price. The only problem I've had is with books that don't have an ISBN and Amazon has to assign an ASIN to them. That is when you get a lot of different entries to list under. In this situation, if you narrow it down properly by title, author, publisher and publication date, it will typically only come up with 2-3 at the most and from there, you can choose the product detail page with the lowest sales rank. With a book scouting service, you don’t have to have a scanner. It just makes things a little easier when they’re is a barcode. You could always manually type in the ISBN number as well.

I have found if a book has an ISBN and will come up in Amazon it usually is the true market price. The only problem I’ve had is with books that don’t have an ISBN and Amazon has to assign an ASIN to them. That is when you get a lot of different entries to list under. In this situation, if you narrow it down properly by title, author, publisher and publication date, it will typically only come up with 2-3 at the most and from there, you can choose the product detail page with the lowest sales rank.

]]> By: Chris http://bookshopblog.com/2009/08/16/is-a-book-scouting-service-actually-worth-it/comment-page-1/#comment-5232 Chris Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:01:25 +0000 http://bookshopblog.com/?p=873#comment-5232 Of course, with the bar-code scanners, that only takes you back as far as books with bar codes. Also, part of the art of using Amazon is sorting through all the multiple listings of a book to find the TRUE market value of a book -- does book scouting help you with this. .... For example, I might have Hardcover X from Random House from 1962, and there might be 8 different listings for this book. I might get excited if I see the first two listings: "2 used & new from $34.95" but then I scroll down further and see the real truth for the same edition: "27 used & new from $1.99" That's your true market value right there, and it can be a bit of an art sorting through the various listings to find the one that gives your info you really need. Of course, with the bar-code scanners, that only takes you back as far as books with bar codes. Also, part of the art of using Amazon is sorting through all the multiple listings of a book to find the TRUE market value of a book — does book scouting help you with this. …. For example, I might have Hardcover X from Random House from 1962, and there might be 8 different listings for this book. I might get excited if I see the first two listings: “2 used & new from $34.95″ but then I scroll down further and see the real truth for the same edition: “27 used & new from $1.99″ That’s your true market value right there, and it can be a bit of an art sorting through the various listings to find the one that gives your info you really need.

]]>