Want to Make Quick Cash From Free Stoop Books?

Photo via codingtopherBrokelyn contributor and FIPS friend Vanessa Londono recently scoured the stoops of Brooklyn in search of discarded books to re-sell for moneymoneymoneymoney.. mon-aaaay.

At a recent Brooklyn Brainery event, she learned of Bookscouter, a website designed for people to sell books in the laziest (ie, greatest) way possible. You can take any book and enter its ISBN code (IBS joke, anyone? anyone?). Bookscouter then pulls up info on vendors who will buy your books and how much dough they're willing to shell out for it. Most offer free shipping and will pay you via check or Paypal. Exciting? Yes. Worth it? Maybe. Vanessa spent an entire day collecting books around the neighborhood, entering codes and printing shipping labels. Of the 13 books sold, she made a whopping $6. It's enough for a fish taco at Oaxaca, but at the end of the day, the labor breaks down to a mere $1.60/hour.