How to Make Money Selling Used Books

It’s a bit of a horrifying experience the first time you walk into a college bookstore. I remember the first time saying to myself, “You want a $145 for that?” To say I felt ripped off is an understatement, which is why this side hustle I’m about to share is all the more delicious.

I’ve written previously about how I sell used books online for extra money (“How to Become a Used Book Hunter“), but that involves going to garage sales every weekend and sweating the summer heat. Today I’m going to show you how to buy textbooks online at sites like Ebay, and then how to resell them online for a profit. Consider it my sweet revenge against the bookstores that overcharged me as a college student. 

Here’s how to do it…

There’s a handy little tool I use to make this work at RentScouter.com. Their site will let you plug in a book’s ISBN number (right next to the UPC) and then it will tell you how much the book is worth and which buyback company will give you the most money. I use this tool before buying a book to make sure that there is a company willing to pay more for the book than what the Ebay seller is charging.

Let me give you a couple of examples I found this week…

Here is a screenshot of an auction that just closed for the book “Fundamentals of Physical Geography.” It was sold for $52.50 (plus $3.99 for shipping) giving the buyer a total cost of $56.49. Using the tool at Rent Scouter, I see that Moola4Books.com is paying $61.25 for the same book and they will cover the cost of shipping if I send it to them, giving me a profit margin of $4.76.

Also on Rent Scouter, it shows that Amazon’s buyback program would be willing to give me a $71.77 Amazon gift card for this book. Amazon’s program also comes with free shipping so I would profit a $15.28 gift card. Not too bad!

Here’s another one:

After shipping charges, this book cost the buyer $37.11. Rent Scouter shows that it could be traded in for a $41.26 Amazon gift card, giving me a profit of $4.15.

As you can see the profit margins aren’t huge on a single book, because there are several other Ebayers playing this trade-in game. However, if you can average a $5 profit margin on each book, you only need to buy 5 books everyday to pocket an extra $750 dollars each month! Considering there over a million textbook auctions on Ebay right now, it shouldn’t be too hard to find 5 books a day to resell.

If you do decide to sell textbooks for cash, there are a couple of things you need to remember:

• Be sure to check the condition of the book before buying it. Most buyback companies expect a little wear and tear, but if there are ripped pages or severe damage to the cover, they probably won’t accept your book.
• Pack your books carefully. Most buyback companies will give you a prepaid shipping label, but you are responsible for your own packaging. If the books are damaged during transit, you’ll have to eat the loss.
• Be careful of payment fees. If you are offered the choice of a Paypal payment or a check payment, keep in mind that if you choose Paypal, you will need to deduct those fees from your profit margin.

Original Post at: http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/2011/09/how-to-make-750-a-month-selling-used-books

How to Make Money Buying Virtual Real Estate

by John Preston 

For Sale: Luxurious, seaside bungalow. We guarantee that the structure will never need re-shingling, re-siding, a new furnace, a new water heater or foundation repair. Appliances will never break; you’ll die before they do. Property’s unique arrangement makes it so that you will never need homeowner’s insurance, gas and electric, garbage pickup, property taxes or water.

Best of all this real estate is so cheap, there’s no need to start Googling refinance rates and mortgage brokers. So, who’s ready to buy?

This is not a deal that is too good to be true. Anyone can go out and make a real estate purchase like the one listed. Although, did I forget to mention that the house doesn’t technically exist except in a computer game that you play online?

I’ll stop my sales pitch, because I just lost many of you. While you may not be interested in spending money on virtual real estate, there are hundreds of thousands who play online video games and would jump at the opportunity.

Today’s weird business might be about pretend products, but the money earned is very spendable and just as green as any bills found in physical cash registers.

Anshe Chung, the First Virtual Real Estate Tycoon

For Ailin Graef, the game Second Life wasn’t just a virtual world where she’d escape the doldrums of reality through an alter ego. The game was a place for her to use her computer and design talents to build and develop virtual real estate for other players. Those talents were worth millions.

The game Second Life created a complete virtual world for players. Kind of like a more realistic and open-ended Sims game. One of the game’s features was the use of an online currency called Linden Dollars that could be converted into actual money. Since the game currency had real value, astute players could use their unique game talents to earn real income.

With a mere $10, Ailin Graef created an avatar named Anshe Chung who came to control 36 square kilometers of virtual land in Second Life, worth over a million in real dollars. Chung’s empire started with small virtual real estate purchases which were subdivided and redesigned with chic landscaping and architecture, then sold to other resident avatars. Virtual real estate success gave birth to a real company staffed with 20 to 25 employees. (Source)

What We Can Learn from Ailin Graef

Lesson #1: Your Talents are Worth Money

You might have goofy talents, but those talents can be worth millions. For Ailin Graef, she was proficient in her use of the Second Life platform and had an artistic eye for virtual architecture. I’m confident that neither of these talents would have impressed a crowd at any given cocktail party, but who cares? Technology opened a worldwide market for her talents.

Since the beginning of time, entrepreneurs have battled basic business constraints: how do I reach my market and how will my market reach me. Technology is reducing the difficulty of both these constraints. When you think about these basics you can see how traditional commerce made selling your talents difficult.

If you had really amazing Rubik’s Cube skills and wanted to give lessons, how would you reach the thousands of interested trainees spread across the world 30 years ago? You might be able to write a book if you could find a publisher. Today, there is any number of ways to sell your talent. You can create You Tube videos with advertising, a virtual class, an eBook, etc.

Lesson #2: Solving a Consumer Problem is All the Reality You Need

Although Ailin Graef’s talents were virtual, she fulfilled a vital role for Second Life players. Building your own property in Second Life required a great deal of time and effort from new players. Players could spend a small amount of money and receive a pre-built virtual home instantly.

Consumers have an endless supply of problems and they are just waiting to pay someone to arrive at a reasonable solution. It’s your mission as penny hoarders to find those answers. Succeed in this process and earning money won’t just be a dream, but a reality.

Original Post: http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/2012/01/how-to-make-money-buying-virtual-real-estate

How to Make $500/week Cleaning out Foreclosures

The trick to entrepreneurship isn’t always how to start a business; it’s what business to start.

And it’s also not always about creating something new. When Steve Jobs built Apple, computers had been around for decades. Jobs didn’t make the first computer, he figured out how to make them smaller so that more people could have access to one. Cars weren’t new when Henry Ford introduced the Model-T. Ford innovated ways to sell cars for cheaper so that more people could buy them.

Hindsight is 20/20. It’s easy to look back at Ford and Jobs and conclude there were more opportunities in their time. However, opportunities still abound today, if you have an eye to spot them. One entrepreneurial venture that is booming right now is cleaning out foreclosures.

What is the Foreclosure Cleaning Business?

The housing bust has created a glut of foreclosed properties. Nearly 4.4% of all mortgages have received a foreclosure notice. Once homeowners move out, banks look to get the property on the market and sold as soon as possible. However, there is one major obstacle banks face in moving the houses to sell: cleaning.

Former mortgagees have no incentive to get properties in saleable condition when they leave their homes. In fact, most foreclosures are riddled with trash and property that foreclosed homeowners don’t feel like transporting with them. Foreclosed homes need a lot of TLC before they are ready for an open house. With a large inventory of bank-owned properties, there’s a need to hire cleaners.

How large of a need? From 2007-2010, foreclosure home cleaning businesses expanded 1,000%

What’s the Work Like and What Does it Pay?

Those looking to start a foreclosed home cleaning business need a flexible schedule. Banks often need cleaners at a moment’s notice and work needs to be completed on a strict turn-around. Often weekend work is involved and some properties require a lot of work before they are in selling condition. However, the jobs pay well, often averaging between $500 to $2,500 per house.

Another way that foreclosure cleaners make extra money is by selling things that have been left behind by the previous homeowner. You obviously want to check with the client, but often times they’ll ask you to clear out anything left behind in the house. It’s your choice whether to dump the stuff, keep it, or sell it.

One time I was asked by a client to dump a left-behind treadmill and washing machine. I ended up making an extra $300 (in addition to my cleaning fee) by selling them on Craigslist!

How to Start Your Own Foreclosure Cleaning Business

The good news is that you don’t need much to start this type of business. All you need is a telephone number where you can be contacted and some cleaning supplies. The crux of business success is getting jobs. To accomplish this, you’ll need to do a bit of networking.

The best place to network is with real estate agents who specialize in selling real estate owned properties. They aren’t too difficult to locate. Simply call up local realtor offices and ask for the agents in charge of selling foreclosures. It might take some selling to get listed their cleaning vendor list, but if you have a competitive price and flexible schedule, there is no reason you can’t make in-roads.

While realtors are your best bet, you can also advertise on websites that have cleaning service directories. Also, it can be useful to contact local banks directly and reach out to real estate law firms. All this doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get cleaning jobs, but banks won’t know how to reach you if you don’t advertise.

However, with payment of $500 per house, you won’t need many jobs to earn a little extra money.

Original Post at http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/2012/04/how-to-make-500week-cleaning-out-foreclosures

Unexpected 6 Figure Salaries

Forbes combed through data gathered annually by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Labor Department, to find the most surprising six-figure jobs. The BLS culls its information from surveys it mails to businesses, and it releases its Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates Data each spring. The report shares information about more than 800 occupations, including hourly and annual wages, total numbers of workers in the profession, and the states and metro areas that pay the best. To make the cut for our list, at least 10% of employees in the profession had to earn more than $100,000 a year.


Here are some professions that you might be surprised to learn pay six figures. The top-earning 10% of these professionals earn more than $100,000 a year, on average, according to BLS data.

1. Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance

BLS job description: Apply makeup to performers to reflect period, setting, and situation of their role. 

Top 10% make $120,050, on average. 
Mean annual income: $63,710 
Total employed: 2,040 
Top-paying state: New York


2. Technical Writers

BLS job description: Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. May assist in layout work. 

Top 10% make $102,250, on average. 
Mean annual income: $67,280 
Total employed: 45,120 
Top-paying state: California

3. Gaming Managers

BLS job description: Plan, direct, or coordinate gaming operations in a casino. May formulate house rules.

Top 10% make $116,840, on average. 
Mean annual income: $74,780 
Total employed: 3,570 
Top-paying state: New Jersey


4. Home Economics Teachers, Postsecondary

BLS job description: Teach courses in childcare, family relations, finance, nutrition, and related subjects pertaining to home management. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research. 

Top 10% make $110,650, on average. 
Mean annual income: $68,080 
Total employed: 5,490 
Top-paying state: California 

[Related: Where Have All the ‘Good’ Jobs Gone?]

5. Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels

BLS job description: Command or supervise operations of ships and water vessels, such as tugboats and ferryboats. Required to hold license issued by U.S. Coast Guard. 

Top 10% make $119,280, on average. 
Mean annual income: $71,760 
Total employed: 30,220 
Top-paying state: Rhode Island

6. Art Directors

BLS job description: Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual communications media, such as print, broadcasting, and advertising. Direct workers engaged in art work or layout design.

Top 10% make $166,620, on average. 
Mean annual income: $95,500 
Total employed: 30,680 
Top-paying state: New York

7. Transportation Inspectors

BLS job description: Inspect equipment or goods in connection with the safe transport of cargo or people. Includes rail transportation inspectors, such as freight inspectors; rail inspectors; and other inspectors of transportation vehicles, not elsewhere classified. 

Top 10% make $110,210, on average. 
Mean annual income: $65,770 
Total employed: 24,810 
Top-paying state: Washington, DC

8. Broadcast News Analysts

BLS job description: Analyze, interpret, and broadcast news received from various sources. 

Top 10% make $159,530, on average. 
Mean annual income: $76,370 
Total employed: 5,200 
Top-paying state: Florida

9. Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers

BLS job description: Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other agricultural establishments. May hire, train, and supervise farm workers or contract for services to carry out the day-to-day activities of the managed operation. May engage in or supervise planting, cultivating, harvesting, and financial and marketing activities. 

Top 10% make $112,150, on average. 
Mean annual income: $70,010 
Total employed: 3,340 
Top-paying state: Kansas

10. Insurance Sales Agents

BLS job description: Sell life, property, casualty, health, automotive, or other types of insurance. May refer clients to independent brokers, work as an independent broker, or be employed by an insurance company. 

Top 10% make $115,300, on average. 
Mean annual income: $62,970 
Total employed: 321,780 
Top-paying state: Rhode Island

Click here for the full list of Surprising Six-Figure Jobs.
Original Post: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/america-s-most-surprising-six-figure-jobs.html;_ylt=ArVWrKrHQO1vC3SQmdu6bTfV34dG;_ylu=X3oDMTRhaTFnNWVpBG1pdANQZXJzb25hbCBGaW5hbmNlIFBvcHVsYXIEcGtnAzFjN2U0YmM1LTg1ZmEtM2NlMy1hMGUwLTc1ZGFjZTZiZDFmNgRwb3MDMwRzZWMDTWVkaWFGZWF0dXJlZExpc3QEdmVyAzIwZDZmZTQyLWRkNmQtMTFlMS1iZmZkLTJkN2YyNjE3M2ZkYw--;_ylg=X3oDMTNpMjBraDBkBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZWEwOTdlZDgtNmY5Zi0zNzg5LTg3M2MtMDBlMDE1YTQwZjIxBHBzdGNhdANwZXJzb25hbGZpbmFuY2V8c2F2aW5nLXNwZW5kaW5nBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3