Textbooks are getting more expensive each passing year, and for college students looking to buy or sell used textbooks, BookScouter has just the tool.
Even though there are several platforms which buy and sell used books, where BookScouter differentiates itself is by letting you get the best possible price.
The service is not limited to college students, so anyone who is looking to sell their books can use the platform. And it may even become a business opportunity for a side income.
Sell Used Textbooks for the Right Price with BookScouter
What BookScouter does is offer a price comparison tool for books.
President Dustin Checketts told Small Business Trends, “BookScouter is a price-comparison platform that allows students, book resellers and anyone simply wanting to de-clutter their lives, sell their books for the best possible price with no membership or registration required.”
Business Niche
Comparing rates from plenty of different platforms.
Checketts explains, “BookScouter is known as the most comprehensive book buyback price comparison site and the largest referrer to many of the country’s largest book buyback companies including Amazon.com, Chegg.com, Powells.com, and TextbookRush.com.”
How the Business Got Started
To get the most out of selling back college textbooks.
Checketts explains, “After hearing the inconvenient process that a friend was going through to get the most cash out of their old college textbooks, Brandon Checketts, BookScouter founder and developer, decided to build a working prototype that simplified and expedited the process. Users would simply input their ISBN once and receive quotes from several online book buyback companies, making the decision of who to sell to for the most cash quick and easy.”
Biggest Risk
Growing the business through acquisition.
Checketts explains, “One of the biggest risks we have taken was buying out a competitive website. It was our first attempt at acquiring another website and we didn’t really know what we were doing. We were mostly guessing at the value of the website and quite frankly, the seller could have just taken our money and ran. Ultimately, it worked out fairly well; and although the website has not been a huge revenue source, it has been worthwhile and profitable.”
Lesson Learned
Invest in marketing.
Checketts says, “One thing that we would have done differently would have been to hire a marketing team sooner. The power of word of mouth advertising is incredible and has led the company to great success, but we also found that our marketing investments resulted in great ROI as the company continued to grow.”
How BookScouter Would Spend an Extra $100,000
Building a platform for actually buying and selling books.
Checketts explains, “We would use it to build a business where people could buy and sell their books directly through the BookScouter website. We would write informative blog posts and use the experience and traffic to teach others how make a business out of reselling books and other products.”
Favorite Team Outings
Going to the movies.
Checketts says, “The company rented a theater so all employees could see Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it came out.”
Favorite Quote
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible” – Walt Disney
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Images: BookScouter, Second Image: President Dustin Checketts
