- WITHOUT THE MANURE!

by Barbara Bamberger Scott

PAGE 2 of 2  <BACK

Using my own rules (always a good idea), I found that I was bringing in about $25 per week, even after mailing costs.  This made me a happy hobbyist but not quite the grand entrepreneur I aspired to be.  Then Amazon.com alerted me to another possibility - I could write reviews of the books I was selling.  If there was some information about the book at the sale site, I reasoned, it would make the book more interesting to a potential buyer.  So, if the book hadn't already been reviewed, I wrote a short review of my own, always positive and enthusiastic of course.

Once again, serendipity played a role in my development of BESS.  I'll never know if my Amazon.com reviews stimulated sales, but the effort led me in yet another direction: book reviewing!  I found that there are various on-line sites that will send you new books to review.  Suddenly, BESS ratcheted up to a new level, with what I call a "piggy-back enterprise."

For brand new books you get more money!  No more hunting through dusty thrift shop shelves (though I do that for pleasure anyway, as I have since my mother took me to the Junior League store to get my first prom dress).  No more worries about condition.  Some websites even let me choose the books I wanted to review, so I could check them out for price and resale value before requesting them.  Or I could select books for family gifts.

Writing book reviews helped me hone my writing skills.  Generally a book review has to be of limited length and cover certain essential details.  By the time I'd been writing reviews online for about 6 months, I found I could write 4-6 per month and was enjoying the challenge, as well as the money I made from higher and more frequent BESS sales.  I then took courage and sent out query letters to local newspapers, offering my services as a book reviewer.  I got one bite.  I used that bite to solicit two more, and now review for three state papers.  To my delight, they pay me to do it!

The result is that BESS has become a non-stop moneymaker for me.  The books I review sell quickly because they're current, and because I can offer them in mint condition - as long as I don't spill coffee on them as I did once in a rapture of absorption...

But I still treasure my scavenging time and the thrill of chasing down a good seller at thrift shops.  My best find, so far, was a big book in good condition, an obscure historical tome, that sold online for $50.00.  This was a net profit of about $47.50 after the cost of the book ($1.00) and the mailing at media rate.

Meanwhile, I have good books (that cost me pennies) to give to friends, great books to read at any given time on every subject imaginable, and an income of about $70 per week from what I think I can validly call my "second career."  I'm now contemplating cutting down my regular work hours to have more time at home to pick and can, weed my flower beds and smell the roses.  BESS has made that a real possibility.  And the business will carry over into retirement, when we want to spend fulltime on the smallholding.

I have a pamphlet about BESS that is, believe me, chock-full of info - no fluffy feathers, just the straight poop.  I sell it for $8 including postage - another piggyback rider on the original "little" business.  The pamphlet describes everything you need (access to a computer with internet service and a few used books!) - and all the steps you'd need to go through to get started successfully in BESS.  You can contact me at - read the name carefully - butrneggss@yahoo.com.

The beauty of it is that there's no problem with competition - the World Wide Web is our mall and at this mall, there's room for all!

Grandma would be proud.

© 2003 by Barbara Bamberger Scott

< Back    1  2