I Am Not a Crook…Part II
By Hagerstenguy
Last week I wrote about the pile of books in my building’s laundry room and how I took some of these “communal” books to sell online. Why would I do such a horrible thing? Because I’m saving for a new computer, that’s why.
Anyway, the responses to my last post kind of took me off guard—most people agreed that I was indeed a thief and that it wasn’t cool to take books and make money off them like that.
One thing I realized as I read the comments is that my description of where the books were and how people use this “pile” in the laundry room was a little lacking. There are actually two areas in the building that have “common books” for everyone to read.
Here is the one that may have come to mind for some people:
This is in a room with a flat-screen TV and some couches. I would never even take one of these books out of the room—it’s pretty clear that someone put a lot of time and effort into decorating this room. And the books are part of that. Most of the books here are hardcover and they would probably sell for some good money. But again, these have gone untouched as I do have a semblance of morality in me.
On the other hand, we have:
This is the pile I took six books from that I mentioned in my other post. Usually it’s a little more messy and the books are always being switched out. Maybe it doesn’t make it OK to take books from here, but I wanted to clarify it a little bit more because I think some people got the wrong idea.
Anyway, moving right along…
There were some pretty good suggestions in the comments that I think I’m going to pursue. Ellen, for example, suggested that I go to some used book stores and buy book s on the cheap that I may be able to sell for a profit. This is the entrepreneurial thing to do, the right thing to do, and I’m going to try it out tonight.
I’m giving myself a budget of around $20–$30 and I’m going to see if I can find some underpriced books. It’s kind of exciting because it reminds me of Warren Buffett and his whole concept of finding “cigar butt” companies on the cheap. Who knows? It may turn out to be a nice little “side hustle” for me.
I know books. I love to read books. And I have a pretty good idea of what books I can resell for a profit. Now I just have to test it out and crunch some numbers to see if the whole enterprise can be profitable.
Brand-new computer, here I come!
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:49 am
I made loads of money doing this in college, but it was more regulated (I didn’t pillage
). Each semester, they would pile old textbooks on a table that courses no longer use due to a new edition being released. They would allow you to purchase them for $1 each or $10 for as many as you could fit in a paper bag.
There were tons of good books that many other colleges still used. I would list them on eBay and make $50-$100 per book. The buyer would get a great deal since books on campus are grossly overpriced and in turn I got help paying for my own books.
Ahh…I think I got an idea for a new post. Thanks! And good luck with your computer search.
Stupidly Yours,
Matt
February 5th, 2009 at 3:52 am
[...] by Nut @ The Writer’s Coin, I want to share how you can make some good cash by selling used college textbooks. The [...]
February 11th, 2009 at 7:20 am
[...] is a follow-up post that clarifies some of the details of this post and addresses some of the comments people have left [...]