Textbook Arbitrage: Making Money Off Used Books

To sell used college textbooks you can use BooksRun – an online service that allows you to sell, buy, or rent used and new textbooks all over the country. Sell your used college textbooks all at once with no hassle and get paid via PayPal or Check.

Bob Peterson told us he got the idea after he watched a used economics textbook nearly double in price between the day he posted it for sale online, and the day he shipped it out to the buyer. Bob saw this happening with other books, and he guessed that the prices of the textbooks were going up and down with the college calendar. His theory was that prices would fall in summer (no one is looking for a nice textbook in July to curl up with on the beach) but then rise when classes begin and students really need the books.

If he was right and this was happening reliably with lots of books, Bob figured he could make money. So he enlisted his brother-in-law, Kenny Jacobson, a computer programmer, to help him sift through the data.

And he was.

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