Wow--I made almost $40 for less than half an hour of my time today!
By o0Tora0o
@o0Tora0o (355)
United States
June 9, 2009 8:55pm CST
I work for a store that sells new and used books, among other things. Lately, we haven't been getting as many used books coming in as we should. My boss suggested that some of us employees keep an eye out for books at yard sales, and bring them in for cash or store credit.
I don't get to many yard sales, but I spend a lot of time up at the public library. The Friends of the Library always have a book sale going on--they sell books that have been withdrawn from the library's collection, but most of their items are books people in the community have donated. Their prices are dirt cheap--most of their hardcover books are only a quarter apiece.
I bought a few books from them a couple of days ago, and resold them to my store this morning with some that I'd had for a while. I spent a total of $1.75 on the books at the library, and ended up getting $20.70. I had some free time during my lunch break, so I went up to the library and spent about 15 minutes picking out 12 more books to resell. They cost me only $4.25. The store took nine of those, and I made $23.81. That's a grand total of $44.51, and $38.51 of that was pure profit!
Tomorrow's my day off, so I'm going to spend some time bargain hunting at thrift stores and see what sort of treasures I can turn up!
1 person likes this
4 responses
@mocha_momo (212)
• United States
10 Jun 09
Good for you! Way to find a way to come out on top in these economic times, always good to hear one more idea, how to make a little extra income...good luck with your search!
@o0Tora0o (355)
• United States
10 Jun 09
There's a lot of activity here in the make extra money section, but it seems to me like most people who participate are really focused on making money on the Internet. They don't realize that it can often be a lot easier to make an honest profit in their own communities!
Another thing I've done recently is have postcards made from some of my photographs. I have a lot of customers who ask for them, but we don't carry any. Another local photographer has had great luck with homemade notecards featuring her photos, so I figured it was worth a shot!
Opportunities knock all the time, but you have to be willing to seize them when they come in order to really benefit. ^_^
@mocha_momo (212)
• United States
10 Jun 09
Being creative helps add to those opportunities, really kudos to you.
@silverglint (2000)
• Philippines
10 Jun 09
I guess that is just proves that there are many ways to earn good money offline or online. We just have to persevere in looking for the right opportunities. Most of us are willing to settle for little earnings because we know that it can eventually add up. Your experience is very inspiring, makes me wana go home and look for stuffs that I can sell to other people who will have more use for it. I wonder if we have stores here that buy used books... hmmm...
@roseyroser (1059)
• United States
10 Jun 09
It sounds like you work for a very good store! I used to sell books at half price books but I never received more than a buck for a bunch of books. I wish I knew of a place that I could sell my books at that paid as well as the place you sold yours at! Good job on the money making today!
@o0Tora0o (355)
• United States
10 Jun 09
It's a great store! I've been there a year, and I positively love it. I think there's something like 100+ locations across the US, but the vast majority of the stores in the chain are in the Midwest.
I'm debating listing the books that I wasn't able to resell to my store on Amazon.com. I've friends who have used their Marketplace, and they say it's really easy to use. I used to sell on eBay, but their fees have gotten really bad. Before I try selling any, though, I'm going to post them on PaperBackSwap. That way, I can trade them for some of the books I've been itching to read but don't want to pay for. ^_~
