Smart Phone Scanners

 They are likely familiar to you, and you may have seen them again soon. The best way to distinguish high-priced books from those that are worthless (resalewise) is with a book scanner. This investment is probably the most significant and expensive in your business. There are many types of book scanners available, so choosing the right one can be difficult.

These are your main options.

PDA scanner:

PDA scanners can be used as standalone units to scan books. To use them, you don't need an internet connection or a cell service plan. There are many options, but the most widely used is the Dell Axim series (X50v,X50v, and X51v). These PDA's were discontinued by Dell, but they have been used by book scanners for their simplicity of setup and use.

You will also need a bar code scanner that you can plug into your PDA. This will scan each book's barcode. Many book scouts use Socket Scan as their scanner. Each of these pieces can be used to determine the book's price.

A subscription service must be purchased to access the company's database. This will allow you to verify the price of each book. This service is offered by many companies, including scoutpal and neato-scan. In a subsequent post, I will discuss each of them in more detail and explain the pros and cons. I'll also share which one I use personally and why.

A "Book Scouting Package", which can be purchased from many of these companies, is available. The package includes the PDA, scanner, and subscription to the service. This package can be great for getting everything you need, without having to set it up. These packages will cost you between $500 and $700 more. It is possible to do it cheaper. You can easily set up everything with a little bit of research and smart shopping.

PDA scanners can be used quickly, which is a huge benefit to anyone who works as a book scouter.

Smart Phone Scanner:

This is the second main type of device that you'll see people use when searching for books. This app scans the barcode on a book using a smartphone. camscanner It then converts it to an ISBN number. *ISBN number stands for International Standard Book Number. The app then compares the book number to its Amazon.com database and gives the user (you), the online price of the book. The smart phone can't do this as fast as the PDA, but it does the same thing. It is because the cell phone must be connected to the internet while it is being used and has to download data every time it does a search. The download process can take up to 4-5 seconds per book. This may not seem like much. When you consider that you could be scanning hundreds, if not thousands, of books per day, these seconds really add up. A PDA is preferred to a smart phone by almost every professional book scout. A PDA allows you to scan through 3-4 times as many books in the same time.

If you have an internet connection and a smart phone, it is relatively easy to turn your phone into a book-scanning device. The subscriptions can be purchased without the need for additional equipment and cost between $30-$50. If you are interested in starting, but are hesitant about making a large initial investment in a PDA, this can be a great option.