I’ve just finished adding 5 new buyback sites in time for the busy season. More competition means higher prices for everybody. That brings the total number of vendors searchable on the site to 39, and 52 sites are available to have feedback submitted.
I’ve just added a few more new features to the site. Users now have the ability to create an account at BookScouter.com and customize the list of vendors that are searched. This should make it so that you only see the vendors that you’re actually interested in selling to. You can still click a link to view all of the vendors as well. If you are not logged in, then some of the most reliable sites are shown by default. I’ve also fixed a few problems that people have let me know about. We Buy Textbooks recently changed their site, so prices weren’t being displayed, and that has been corrected.
AbeBooks pricing hasn’t been showing recently because they had blocked my program from accessing their site. I was able to work around that by using TextbooksRus‘s price which always matches to the penny. (In case you didn’t know, AbeBooks buyback program is run by TextbooksRus anyway). Their price is now showing, but I still recommend that you use TextbooksRus directly to avoid the extra company in the middle.
Finally, I also fixed a problem where pricing from Powells Books sometimes wouldn’t show. I worked with them to get that resolved, and it should be working well now.
I’ve been working for a while on some significant changes to the website. The first thing you’ll notice is that the old template has been replaced with a much cleaner (and I think nicer looking) page. But the changes go much deeper than just a new template. I’ve completely reworked how most of the back-end systems work. The new design should allow for much greater flexibility and scalability. I’ll be able to add new websites quickly, and I’ll have the ability to work on some new tools for higher-volume users. The site should also load faster throughout. Every page should load quicker due to some HTML and CSS changes. I’ve also reconfigured some server settings to better take advantage of browser caching. The actual price comparison page should finish quicker as well. I’m using some different technology to make all of those lookups happen simultaneously.
Additionally, I’ve made it so that only the most popular websites are listed by default. The full list of pricing is available with an extra click. That should make the initial pricing appear in around 5-7 seconds.
I’ve tried to work on some simple usability issues as well. For example, I’ve added a search box to the header so that you no longer have to go back to the home page to start a new search. Additionally, the cursor should be in that ISBN input box when the page loads, so you can start typing (or scanning) an ISBN immediately without having to click in the box.
And the final change that I’m exited to introduce is that historic pricing information is available. You can now see the book buyback pricing for any searches that the site has done since July 2007. I’ve been collecting that information since then, but never had a way for users to see it until now.
Please feel free to leave feedback about the new design or functionality by commenting on this post, by using the Contact Form or emailing me directly.
A lot of people have been asking for the best way to package a book, so here are some tips that I thought would be helpful.
There are no rules set in stone for the packaging of books. The main thing is to put in a little extra effort and make sure the book is water proofed and able to withstand a little abuse. I am not the authority on packaging books, so I would appreciate tips and comments on how you like to package books.
Thanks for reading and happy shipping!
The following sites were the most popular in January 2010 according to the number of visitors sent from BookScouter. This is a good indication of which websites offered the highest prices during the month.
I’m happy to announce, that after much work, the BookScouter iPhone App is available in the App Store. This allows you access to the full power of the BookScouter pricing comparisons on your iPhone.