Are eTextbooks — or Digital Textbooks — suitable for college? Are they convenient and sustainable? Are there any eTextbooks for rent or should you always purchase them? Since this speedy digitalization of our learning environment is a recent events, it might not be easy to find an answer to any of these and other questions related to eTextbooks. Let’s clarify the situation together!
Let’s face it — getting your textbooks for college can get complicated. Is it better to rent or buy college books? If you want to go digital, should you rent digital textbooks? We’ve done the research for you — here are all the pros and cons.
Summer is officially here and though it might look different, that only emphasizes why you deserve an escape into a great book. Are you ready to dive into an engaging read, but need some direction? Look no further! We have compiled six ideas to help you find what to read next this summer!
College will look very different this fall whether that be in person or online. Schools are hopeful to have students on campus but are also making alternate plans, such as a hybrid of online and in-class, an early or late start, and other creative options.
But regardless of how college will look, here are some tips for making transitioning this fall as smooth as possible:
Don’t be shy! Introduce yourself to your professors, classmates, and advisors. For school online, try and follow the same advice and find virtual office hours for your professors, peer study groups, and work that campus directory to contact the folks you need. Need extra help introducing yourself? Here are some additional ideas to get you started on our first college transition tip.
Try to find a comfortable place to study consistently and get rid of distractions like your phone.
No matter where you are this fall, have a dedicated study space to focus on your studies, especially if you are taking classes online. Read through your syllabus and plan your to-do schedule for weekly studying as well as longer preparations for exams, papers, or projects. Try to eliminate distractions (like your phone) and if necessary use headphones. Learn about the services your school offers like tutor centers in math and writing, whether online or on campus. You don’t have to do it alone! There are resources available to help you succeed! And lastly, if your school is online, or in a mixed format, then create peer study groups via a conferencing app as an alternative.
Find savings success: Saving money now is just as important as ever for college students. Whether school is online, in-person, or a hybrid format, we’re here to help. Know you’ve found the best prices for your textbooks by visiting BookScouter.com or using the BookScouter app (for IOS and Android).
Save money by getting the best price buying and selling your textbooks with BookScouter.com and the BookScouter app.
This is advice you hear over and over, but it will make a difference. For our third transition tip, we recommend you make connections through clubs, activities, events, student government, or consider joining a sorority or fraternity. Consider intramural sports, or meet new people while volunteering for a worthwhile cause on campus, or in the community. If being online is your only option, find like-minded peers in an online club just as you would on campus. Don’t see one that fits you? Start your own club and recruit members!
Getting along with roommates (whatever that may resemble this fall) will be a key to your transition. Sit down together and set expectations for your shared space. Determine how to respect each other’s property and need for quiet time. Agree on what times are acceptable for visitors and consider making a cleaning schedule to make sure everyone is pulling their weight. If you’re doing school online you might need to give your family members heads up for times when you need it quiet for an exam or the Wi-Fi bandwidth for an online class discussion.
Make time every day to refuel yourself.
No matter where you are be sure to exercise, eat healthily, and get regular sleep as much as you can. Consider meditation or practice finding mindfulness throughout the day. Find a balance in your life by not neglecting either academics or your personal life. Consider using a time management method like the Pomodoro Technique, which breaks down your work into intervals with short breaks.
Good luck students, with your transition to this exciting new chapter, and remember…there are resources to help you!
We talk a lot about how easy it is to make money flipping books. Today we’re going to show you how to do just that.
You can begin with just one book. Maybe it’s a book you used for school or one you found at a thrift store. Don’t feel intimidated by the future of your bookselling business when you begin. We all began with one book. If you have more than one book, that’s great too! We recommend starting small before investing too much money in purchasing new inventory to flip. (We’ll get to purchasing new books to flip a little later in this article).
Begin making money by flipping books you already have in your own home.
By typing in the book’s ISBN into the search tool at BookScouter.com you’ll see the going rates for either “buying” or “selling” that book within seconds. The BookScouter app acts as a scanner that can speed up your research. Simply scan the code and see the prices offered by all of our online vendors. If you have hundreds or thousands of books you want to research, tap into our Pro User subscription to access the Bulk Lookup tool!
The BookScouter mobile app makes it easy to find the going price for a book fast. Selling books is easy on the app too!
BookScouter.com is the fastest way to flip your books. If you sell to one of our vendors, you ship the books immediately and get paid as soon as the book(s) is processed There are several other places our users have mentioned posting their books in the past like eBay and Amazon. If you think you may get a higher price by selling on another marketplace platform, create an account and list your book there. You’ll need to be more patient with this option, as you have to wait for your books to sell. If you use a marketplace, you will need to account for shipping costs (while shipping is free for books sold on BookScouter). You may also want to check out Amazon FBA. With this option, you ship your inventory to Amazon and set your pricing, and then Amazon ships your books directly to the customer when they sell (like consignment). Of course, there are fees associated with this service, but it is a popular option with book flippers.
On BookScouter this involves: typing in the ISBN, viewing the best prices, choosing a vendor, clicking “sell”, following the steps on the vendor’s website. With other marketplaces, such as eBay and Amazon, once you post your book for resale you’ll wait a little bit of time before a sale takes place.
Shipping books is a big part of the flipping business. Factor shipping costs and materials into your profit margin.
Once your book has been purchased, package your book(s) ASAP! When packaging your books include the packing slip inside and add the shipping label on the outside of the box. Be sure to package the book in a safe way that minimizes any damage. You want your customer to receive the book in the same condition you described. Here’s another pro-tip: notify your customer of the tracking number or at least keep the tracking information until the package is received by your customer.
While each platform is different as to when you receive your funds, it’s most common that your payment will arrive once the book has been processed and the customer confirms the condition is as described. Many marketplace platforms require payment for the book upfront, so you should receive your money fast. However, other places like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace depend on what you and the customer have agreed upon (typically pay in person or PayPal once the item is received).
When cash begins to pour in, designate funds to your profit as well as what you want to invest back into your business.
As with any business keep track of your revenue (you can use something as simple as a spreadsheet or invest in Quickbooks). Make sure you pay yourself and team for your work, pay any bills your business has (this type of business has low overhead, but as you grow you might add on additional paid services to streamline your work) and invest in your business. As you grow the business consider your own business license and bank account. Don’t forget to keep track of your revenue and payments for both personal records and tax purposes.
To help your business grow, we recommend investing a few thousand dollars to really kick things off! It may take some time (a few weeks to a couple of months) but it shouldn’t take too long for you to begin seeing a return on your investment, especially if you time it right. For the best resale profits, we recommend selling close to the start of a college semester (specifically if you’re selling textbooks). You can find books to add to your inventory in several ways: online, college students, liquidation sales, estate sales, and thrift stores. We discuss a few of these on our blog Best Resources for Reselling Books.
Once you take these steps you’ll be able to confidently move forward with consistently making money by flipping books!
The condition of each book plays a big role in how you can price the book for profit.
Now that you know how to make a profit from flipping books, use appropriate resources to make the most money. Start today by using BookScouter.com!
Reselling books can be a very lucrative business or side-hustle! As with every business, great tools and resources can help make the business of reselling books sustainable.
Finding books that you can resell for profit is the greatest challenge and also one of the most exciting parts of flipping books (aside from making money). Below are a number of great places where you can find quality books to resell:
You never know when you’ll stumble on a book to resell. Download the BookScouter App to look up the resell value no matter where you find your books.
Now, for the best part: making money on reselling books!
To help you find the best going rate for a book online, the BookScouter ISBN lookup feature is the best way to immediately sell for the highest going price for a book. We structured the lookup so the best deal shows up first! You don’t have to search for the best price.
Curious about how to sell books on BookScouter.com? Check out this article.
If you click on the caution sign, it shows if there is a minimum amount required to sell to that specific vendor at this time.
Similar to how you find textbooks, you can use similar avenues to resell textbooks! If you are connected to a college student group, consider reselling directly to your connections. You can also set up your own accounts on various platforms. These are merely suggestions, but honestly using the BookScouter tool will help you sell at the best price every time.
Work from home (or anywhere) as a book reseller.
BookScouter.com provides a number of additional resources for resellers who are serious about flipping books. These tools have helped so many pro users make lots of money faster.
Do you need these resources? CLICK HERE to gain access to all the pro tools! Becoming a BookScouter Pro is only $29.99 a month!
Great resources like easyship and UPS provide tips on how to ship books inexpensively.
Using common-sense like making sure the books are clean and up to the quality expected by the buyer, all you really need are shipping items and a postal service!
Shipping books is easy! You can factor shipping into part of the low overhead of running a book flipping business.
Here are a few items to have on hand, especially if you’re reselling books often:
UPS, FedEx, and USPS are all great options for shipping your books. Don’t forget to grab the tracking number!
With these best resources in hand, you’ll be making great money flipping books!
