PAGE 1 of 2

 - WITHOUT THE MANURE!

by Barbara Bamberger Scott

artwork by Mary Gunn/Joe Brzoska

Two Decembers ago I was sitting on the porch enjoying the smell of wood smoke rising from our little outdoor cooking grill, and I made a New Year's Resolution: to keep some of the money that seemed to run through my fingers, and to make as much at home as I would if I had a part-time job.

It didn't seem possible when I started out but I've more than realized that goal in the time since.  In fact, I made my first profit within 24 hours.

I didn't really know what I was going to do to follow through on my resolution.  Serendipitously, my answer came about a month later when I was trying to buy a book about apples.  We have 2 1/2 acres of fruit trees and day jobs, so a computer is still part of our trappings.  Looking at Amazon.com for a used copy of the book I needed, I saw a little sign that alerted me to a new concept: "Sell Yours Here."  Did this mean that I could sell my books to Amazon.com?  As an experiment I took a less-than-beloved title from my shelf and went through the simple steps to sell it.  24 hours later I got a message that I now anticipate 4-5 times a week: "SOLD! SHIP NOW!"

I told a friend about this little business when I was just getting started, and he said, in his charming Carolina drawl, "Oh, that's what my grandma called 'butter'n'egg money.'" I thanked him for giving my business a good name, Butter 'n' Eggs Specialty Services (BESS).  Even though it has nothing to do with chickens and cows, BESS provides my personal spending money just like selling butter and eggs helped Grandma to get things she needed in town.

And Grandma saved her pennies too, just like I have learned to do.  Recently, while my husband was in the hospital and we were short of ready cash, I was proud to realize my "little" BESS stash was enough to carry us through a couple of weeks!

Having been a book lover and a thrift shopper all my born days, I knew I was on to something.  I ran, not walked, to my nearest Goodwill store and bought several books, put them up for online sale, and BESS was launched.

Within a short time, I had two major markets for the books - Amazon.com and Half.com.  I had set up a corner space to keep the books in and store my mailing supplies and a bank account in which to store my money.  And I knew the location of every thrift store in three counties!

I began to develop some guidelines for this business which make it uniquely successful, and wrote a set of BESS's Ten Rules.  Some being:

Don't despise a dollar!  Some sales may yield a net profit of only a dollar, but we were taught in school that if you have a dollar, and take zero away, you'll still have a dollar.  The point of BESS is to keep money!  And if you follow my advice, most of your books will have an average sale price of $5 or more.  You can let this income pile up, satisfyingly, in the bank account which is a requirement for the dot.com payment process.

Condition Condition Condition!  Don't buy books that are not in near-perfect condition.  You'll be surprised how easy this is, how many people dump books at thrift shops after one read.  If your books are nearly new, you'll never get a Bad Seller Rating from the dot.com, and you'll be able to use the precious space you're allowed for describing the book to extol its marvelous contents rather than having to list its embarrassing appearance.

Nonfiction Nonfiction Nonfiction!  Nonfiction books are the ones we keep.  The price for fiction drops off as soon as the books hit the stands - non-fiction books are perennial good sellers.

CONTINUED     1    2   Next >