Beating the Competition

Re-selling paperback novels for 75 cents, the price of 98% of my offerings, just barely allows me to break even. The stiff competition, with jillions of cheap books offered by every idle Mom with a keyboard and a broadband connection, is killing me.

So, to beat the competition, I gotta be smarter and faster.

The guys to beat carry cell phones with scanners attached. They go to the same sales I do, scanning the barcodes on the backs of books, and buying only books certain to make a profit for them. Anyone can subscribe to the service, which tells the user the market value of books with barcodes. These guys shove me and push me, agressively trying to beat me to the best buys. And usually they do.

But what about books without barcodes?

Well, there's where I can beat somebody who relies on scanners and cellphones and internet subscription services. Instead of having my knowledge and judgement in a mechanical device, I keep it between my ears. Instead of relying on historical data of what has worked in the past, I can try to think about what people might actually want and be willing to pay for.

So, the hunt is on. I'm looking for those rare and valuable books published before everything had barcodes and before there was such a thing as an internet.

Wish me luck.

Drop shipping

Well, here I go again. Drop-shipping for someone more skilled than I am. Working at a very low rate of pay for someone else. It feels like someone is taking advantage of me, I just can't figure out the details of her business model.

I offer many very good books at rock-bottom prices. By cheap, I mean 75 cents. Somehow this woman has figured out how to market my product at a higher price.

I get a sales order thru Half.com, then an e-mail from her asking me not to enclose an invoice with the sale.

When I check her out by looking at her e-bay profile, I find she's been buying for about 4 months, averages over 800 transactions per month, and has a very positive feedback rating.

And I can't shake the feeling this is the same person I've dealt with a few times before.

She's on to something. I wish I knew programming. I'd like to have a money machine like the one she's built.

Back from Vacation

Well, back from sunny Mexico. Time to get back to work.

Even though we were at least a thousand miles south of Kansas, temperatures were actually 10 degrees cooler there than here.

We flew in late Tuesday night, dragged into the warm house about 10:30 p.m. My husband reset the air conditioner and then he and the kids unloaded our luggage - 7 big bags and 8 carry-ons. We got home without the wheelchair, so that was a big hassle. I started a load of laundry and then went to bed.

The next morning, retrieved the poodles from the boarding house - they seemed pretty happy - took them home and went off to work my usual 8 hours.

After dinner, got on the computers and re-opened the online stores. Also uploaded a gazillion photos to the laptop.

Oh, and I'm so behind on my laundry. I left the luggage with the dirty duds in the living room, so I can unload directly into the washer. Got started on that, of course.

My kids are killing me with their own love of books. We went to the bookstore after dinner last night and spent $175.00. They always have to have the latest Japanese import. I got a book about book collecting, too. Am learning, still.