Old hobby meets new technology.

Daniel Eaton, Jr. makes several hundred dollars a week armed with just a cell phone as he combs thrift stores, used and discount bookstores and Friends of the Library sales looking for books for BookSweep.com, an international retailer of used books.

He’s one of more than 800 of what BookSweep.com calls Professional Book Buyers (PBBs) scattered across the nation. And the company is looking for more just like him.

The Book Buyers use their cell phones to look for used books. They place a call into the company’s software system and then punch in the book’s price plus its International Standard Book Number (ISBN) via the phone’s key pad to see if the book is of value to the company. If yes, the PBB hears a “buy” order and he or she will receive from $1.50 to $2.50 commission for each book purchased. Book Buyers then pack up the books and ship them at BookSweep’s expense to company headquarters in Utah.

“Many of our full-time Book Buyers are bringing in $500 or $600 a week, said Steve Jenson, 31, of Hyrum, Utah, BookSweep.com co-owner. “Most of our Book Buyers do this part time and make $100-$200. We have families who use it, single parents, students, full timers – all demographics have found it a great and easy way to make money.”

Book Buyers need have no experience as booksellers. But a love of books and used bookstores is helpful. Book Buyers are not BookSweep.com’s employees, but are independent contractors. For more information, check out the company’s Web site: www.booksweep.com

Iman Khatibn, 25, is one of BookSweep.com’ many part-time Book Buyers. The Stockton, CA, resident looks for books just three to four hours a week with her two young children by her side. She purchases and ships 50-100 books a week to BookSweep.com, bringing in a minimum of $75 to more than $200 a week for less than half a day’s work.

“BookSweep.com is the easiest and most enjoyable job a person could have,” she said. “You can do it anywhere in the country and you don’t have to pay a babysitter while you search because you can take your kids with you. You don’t even need to work that many hours to make the money you want to make.”

Khatibn said she plans to grow her book buying work into a full-time income.

Eaton, a former clerk at Barnes and Noble, already works 40-60 hours a week as a Book Buyer. About three-quarters of his gross income comes from BookSweep.com.

“I decided earlier this year that I wanted to find another business opportunity,” he said. “I’d sold Star Wars collectibles off and on at eBay for a few years, but I decided to focus on books when I discovered BookSweep.com because their system makes its so much easier find the books.”

Jenson and his friend Norm Poulsen, 30, of Boise, Idaho, started BookSweep.com in July 2004. The two former Utah State University buddies had been online booksellers for about five years prior to founding BookSweep.com, selling books they found on Amazon.com, eBay and other sites. They brainstormed a way to bring the power of using Book Buyers nationwide to help them grow their inventory and hired a developer through Utah State’s Innovation Campus to create their BookSweep.com software.

They started storing books in the garage of the woman who is now their warehouse operations manager, but outgrew that space within a month. They then moved into a 2,200-square-foot warehouse, yet needed to expand the warehouse in October 2004 to its current 5,000 square feet. They now house 35,000 books and their accountant has valued their eight-employee company at close to $1 million, Jenson said.

Contact:
Steve Jenson/Norm Poulsen
www.booksweep.com
435-760-9600 / 360-970-5903