Flipping Books

I have a new hobby. And a new second job. They’re one and the same.

I picked up a second job in March 2014, to make ends meet, and to pay off loans faster. It was a fine job, and I like and respect the company I worked for. I would go back and work that job if I felt I needed to.

In September 2015, I started reading Caleb Roth’s blog on flipping books. After reading a few posts, I sent him a message:

“I’ve been skimming your blog and wanted to ask you a question. I currently work a second job about 10 hours a week and net about 5-6k yearly. Based on what you know of the market in the Warsaw area, do you think it would be possible to match or beat that in the same hours per week?”

His response was “Definitely.” We met up in October, and he showed me that not only could I match my second job’s salary in the first year, but in the second year, I would significantly surpass it.

I’m now officially 3 months into flipping books. as a little side business, and I’m happy with how it’s going. I consider attending a book sale to be a bit of an adventure. The very first sale I hit, I got 2 sets of books worth $250, and I got several books worth $60-$80.

Now, these numbers are teasers, I’ll admit to that. My average sale price is right about $20, and I only get about $5-7 on a $20 book. However, considering I usually pay 50 cents to 2 dollars per book, that’s a pretty good return!

If you want to get into book flipping, I’ll leave it up to Caleb to teach you. However, before you hop over to his blog, let me try to scare you off first:

-Be prepared to spend several hundred in “startup money”, just to get the business off the ground. I think, as far as buy-in, that’s not bad at all. A scanner runs $100-$300, and is a very good first buy. An app for your smartphone runs $10/month.
-With that in mind, it takes a few months for the business to make a return on the investment.
-You should have a decent back. My back is merely OK, and I feel it after 4 hours scanning books at a library sale.
-You must have a mentor. Caleb is guiding me through this process, and without him, I would be up a crick without a paddle.

I’m hopeful for a day I could maybe be my own boss and flip books full-time. Or maybe just cut back at my day job.

Oh no… I may be a morning person

It just occurred to me I may be a morning person.

It all started when I got a 5:30-2:30 job. Make no mistake about it, I do not relish getting up early. However, I get the opportunity to see sunrises. And sometimes, I get to see some real humdingers.

For me, the mornings are beautiful. There is a quietness, and a stillness, which is rarely found anywhere else. There is the opportunity to prepare for the day ahead before anybody else has an opportunity to come in and gum up the works. 🙂

Now, a night owl would probably point out that staying up until 2AM can also be a great way to get stuff done. And if that works for you, knock yourself out. But there is one definite advantage of being a morning person. The day which has passed is in the past; it is yesterday, not “still today”.

And then, after the stillness, there is the gradually increasing hum, the noise of a world waking up, getting up, and going about its business. I’m off to join it now, how about you?