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.
