BookScouter: Hot Tip for Trading College Texts

Bookscouter Review:

BookScouter helps college students both buy and sell their text books for a better price, using algorithms that search for books by ISBN number (a Social Security number for books) on other seller’s sites.

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How it works

You search for sites that will buy your books by ISBN number — a sort of Social Security number for books. And you pay nothing for this service. BookScouter makes its money through affiliate marketing by essentially sending your sale (or purchase) to the site that’s offering the best price.

The site also rates sellers, trying to warn you if there’s a seller that consistently gets bad reviews.

Bookscouter review:

College text books are notoriously expensive, often costing hundreds of dollars each. Not surprisingly, budget-conscious students usually try to sell their textbooks at the end of each semester. However, selling them to the school bookstore often gets you a relative pittance.

That’s where Bookscouter comes in. Surveying more than 30 online buyers, the site aims to help sellers get the best price by showing you the prices that various buyers will pay for your text. The site also posts review scores of each buyer, so you know upfront whether that reseller is well-respected or if sellers have reported problems getting paid.

By the same token, buying through this site can save you money too — at least compared with the campus bookstore. That’s because the site essentially reverses the process when you’re buying, showing you where you can get the best deal.

Limitations

Don’t get the silly notion that you’re going to get rich selling back your text books, though. They’re still going to be overpriced when you buy them and sell for significantly less when you sell them. That said, this site/app makes selling a relative breeze. And it reduces the change that you get completely gipped in the process. (Click here to sign up)

Recommendations

Amazon also has a vibrant market for used book sales that’s worth checking out.

If you have rare or collectible books that you want to sell, check out AbeBooks, which specializes in high-priced rare volumes.

Want to try BookScouter? 

1. Click here to sign up
2. Select between buy, sell, or rent
3. Search by ISBN number, title, or author

What their users say:

Roderick, a blogger at One More Cup of Coffee, did a detailed review, including user ratings and comments.  The short version: It’s a nice little app.