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Outsourcing Your Amazon Book Selling Business With FBABy Bryan Young

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Outsource: The Entrepreneur's Approach to Amazon

In his book, The Cashflow Quadrant, Robert Kiyosaki shares what he refers to as The CASHFLOW Quadrant, which is pictured below:

The CASHFLOW Quadrant represents the different methods by which income or money is generated.

Here are what the letters in each quadrant represent:

E for employee

S for self-employed

B for business owner

I for investor

Your sources of income all fall into one of these quadrants. “For example, an employee earns money by holding a job and working for someone else or a company. Self-employed people earn money by working for themselves. A business owner owns a business that generates money, and investors earn money from their various investments-in other words, money generating more money” (1999, Kiyosaki, p.9).

Typical online sellers fit into the S quadrant, which is “self-employed”. People who are self-employed get to “be their own boss” and have the freedom to “do their own thing.”

These are the “do-it-yourselfers.”

I cherish the freedom and flexibility that our online, FBA business offers. We are able to structure our business around our family time, as opposed to being forced to organize our

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family time around someone else's business. While most people who are in the E quadrant value the security that they feel that they have working for a company, self-employed people tend to prefer the freedom found in working for themselves.

One of the short falls in making the majority of your income in the S quadrant is that time is your biggest limiting factor. People in this group tend to “have to” do it all, and since they are in working in all areas of their business they will eventually reach a ceiling of opportunity. You may have, like me, moved from quadrant E to S, but is it possible to run an Amazon selling business in the B quadrant? Some jobs you just have to do yourself. Is online selling, because of its unique nature, one of those jobs?

The “B” (business owner)

This group of people could be considered the opposite of the “S”. Those who are “B” surround themselves with smart people from each of the four quadrants, unlike the “S” who feel like they need to do everything themselves. Being a business owner involves more focus in building a system of business that can operate on its own, as opposed to being the system themselves. It's the difference between the guy/gal who owns the Subway franchise down the street and the self-employed person who runs their own sandwich shop. “B” spends more time working on the business, whereas “S” spends more time working in the business.

“Those who are true “B's” can leave their business for a year or more and return to find their business more profitable and running better than when they left it. In a true “S” type of business, if the “S” left for a year or more, the chances are there would be no business left to return to” (Kiyosaki, p.27).

This is true for “B's” because they enter into business with the mindset of stepping out of it as soon as possible. They don't want to do everything. They want instead to create jobs for people who are more skilled than they are and allow them to run the business from the inside, while they contribute from the outside. As an “S” you own a job. As a “B” you own a system and people work for you.

For those of you who would like to set up a thriving “S” Quadrant online selling company, that’s great. There are excellent opportunities to make tons of money doing all, or most, of the work by yourself. But, for those who would like to consider building a “B” Quadrant online selling company, let's continue.

**If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading both Rich Dad, Poor Dad & The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki.**

Building a Good Foundation for Your “B” Quadrant Online Selling Company

I know many successful online sellers who are having difficulty with the notion of outsourcing something that they believe would be impossible for someone else to do at the same level of success, or better. They've created an impressive business that would be impossible for them to step out of, because they have become the indispensable “Linchpin” in the organization. But, what if at the beginning you knew where the company was going? If you had the initial goal of stepping out of your business, would it help to set up the necessary foundation for a seamless transition?

We’re now in the process of outsourcing most of our Amazon business (nearly 2 years after it

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was founded). Looking back, I know that it could have happened sooner, with less internal resistance. If I could do it all over again this is what I would do:

The 90 day plan to Building a Healthy Stream of Passive Income

I would spend 3 months sourcing used books at thrift-stores. In this period of time I would make sure that I was becoming very familiar with the area. Which stores have sales and when? Which stores yield the best inventory? I would document, based on sales experience, a good purchasing criteria, in order to take all the guess work out of buying books for resale. I would number all of the thrift-stores in the area on a map with turn-by-turn directions to each of them. I would take all of this critical information, and more, and I would print a manual (which I will share with you soon).

Next I would find a family member, whom I trusted, and I would train them in. My brother-in-law, after one month of book-sourcing, is already more advanced than I was, even after doing it for 2 years! The reason for this is simple; book-sourcing is all that he does. He doesn't need to keep all the plates spinning, the ones that need to be spun in order to run a multifaceted Amazon business (buying, prepping, shipping, customer service, etc...). He buys books; that's it. His laser focus on that one thing, allowed him to flourish far more than I ever could.

After you have outsourced that task, begin laying the ground work to outsource another (retail or online arbitrage, wholesale, etc...). We hire Andrew to source books in the metropolitan area. Our newest business partner, Tom, sources other thrift-store items on commission. While in the city, Tom picks up the books that Andrew had sourced over the previous week, and delivers them to Eden, who's paid to prep and ship them to Amazon (to be ultimately fulfilled by Amazon). We manage the entire system from afar. Finally, we've found a way to work on our Amazon business, without having to work in it (as much).

Don't let the handwork, and time-consuming nature of running a profitable Amazon business get in the way of capitalizing on this amazing opportunity to sell in such an incredible market place. What if you approached online selling, not with the mind-set of replacing your old job, but instead, like an entrepreneur that's determined to create a self-perpetuating business? I think that this unique approach could help you create a FBA business that could yield passive income for years and years.

Here are some of the questions people have asked about our business model that you may find helpful:

What kind of tools do you provide your book-sourcing person?

Andrew has a Dell Axim x51v PDA, loaded with the Amazon database (most media), and paired with a Scan fob Bluetooth laser scanner. There are a few companies that offer, for a monthly fee, unlimited access to Amazon's database that you can download onto your device. If you are interested in sourcing books seriously, I would highly recommend checking out their services. Go to www.ASellerTool.com, and be sure to check out their PDA rental packages.

We also provide him with a 25+ page training manual which includes: our sourcing criteria, a

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map with all of the area thrift-stores labeled and numbered, turn-by-turn directions to each store in order, monthly calendars with local library sales, tips and tricks to sourcing books, and strategies to establishing business relationships with store owners.

How much do you pay the person who sources your book?

We pay our book-sourcing person $1/book, for every book that successfully meets our criteria. In the last shipment of books that we processed, out of 670 books all of them met the criteria except for 15 (which is pretty good). At first we struggled with how we should pay our book-sourcing person. We figured that if we paid him per hour, he would likely be focused on putting in the most hours as possible; whereas, if we paid him on commission he would instead be focused on sourcing the largest number of books possible (which is ideal). A third option would be to pay him on commission, but that would result in him having to wait to get paid until after the books themselves sold, which in some cases could be a considerable amount of time. Also, a commission-based compensation could create for us a book-keeping nightmare!

Paying a finder’s fee per book works out well for our person. This way he can source whenever and for how long he chooses. If he has an extra half-hour and he wants to run into a Salvation Army Thrift-store, he can (and he typically can find more than 20 books in that amount of time!). Or, if he would rather dedicate a whole day to book-sourcing, he has that option too.

Won’t you be giving all of your business secrets away?

I would say that this was our biggest concern. The last thing that we needed was another book-seller competing locally for our potential inventory, especially using the same criteria! Although there are risks involved in “pulling back the curtain” on any profitable business, this one seemed exceptionally prone to be stolen. As we brainstormed about this, there were a couple things that eased our anxiety about outsourcing this portion of our business. Most people are not entrepreneurially minded, they aren't of the mindset of starting their own businesses. Most would rather trade dollars for hours, as opposed to taking the very real risk of starting their own company from scratch. Where we saw the potential to start a business, they would instead see an opportunity to earn a paycheck. As I'm sure most of you know firsthand, there's a learning curve that's necessary to climb before you can get your online selling business off the ground, most people would rather watch the next episode of Big Bang Theory than spend their free time studying FBA. Also, we could eliminate some of our worries by only hiring people whom we trust.

Andrew, our “Book Sourcing Specialist”, is not only trust-worthy, but he is extremely hard-working as well. In his case, he is very entrepreneurial but we decided to hire him anyway. Why would you do a thing like that (you may be asking yourself)? We have bigger plans in mind for him. We would like him to eventually manage the portion of our business dedicated to the future expansion of our book-sourcing venture. In the next few years instead of him sourcing books personally he'll be hiring others to source while he sets up sourcing

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specialists and book-listers in major cities throughout the country! Sorry, I'm getting a little ahead of myself...

How much do you pay the person who lists your books?

We hired a stay-at-home mom to prep and ship the books for us at $.25/book (which so far amounts to about $15-20/hour). Our goal is to help her earn enough so that her husband can be at home too, which may mean that they will ship more than just books for us. The neat thing is, is that we've basically helped them build the foundation of their own shipping company. We will supply all the business necessary to get their company off the ground, but as they scale up they could take on more clients. Kind of like what the Bullards offer but located in MN (For more information on the products and services that they offer check them out at www.myinventoryteam.com).

We don't like packing & shipping, it has to be one of our least favorite tasks, but from their perspective, that's all they'll do, so I expect that they'll get pretty good at it. Also we're encouraging them to plan on eventually outsourcing too. Again, since I firmly believe that it is so beneficial to establish a business from the beginning with the mindset of someday outsourcing everything, they are definitely starting out on the right track.

Does the person who lists your books also price them?

We have an automatic repricer set to get our items up to speed just before they reach the fulfillment centers. I just want her to get close, and the repricer will handle the rest. There are many options for re-pricing software, and we use www.repriceit.com.

So let me get this straight, you never even see the books you sell online?

Correct. Andrew buys the books and then gives them to Tom, who shops the thrift-stores for us, who then delivers them to Eden to be listed & shipped to Amazon. We provide all of the capital and oversee the books once they hit the Amazon warehouse.

How does this additional cost affect your buying criteria?

We accommodate for the added costs by expanding our book-sourcing criteria. A copy of our training manual can be found at the end of this document.

How much do you typically buy each book for?

I think the better question is: what is the total cost for each book on average (COGS). In analyzing Andrew's last shipment we determined that the average total cost per book was $2.92. This amount included all costs associated with collecting and shipping these books into Amazon (purchase price, finder’s fees, boxes, tape, labels, realistic percentage of monthly fees for ScanPower list, Repriceit & ASellertool and inbound shipping). Because there's a benefit to Andrew for reducing the purchase price of the books, he is motivated to find cheap books so that he can collect more of them.

He was shopping at a one-of-a-kind thrift-store the other week and the owner saw that he had 6

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about 50 books that he was planning on buying. When Andrew expressed that he was interested in purchasing more, he was quickly ushered into the back room which housed more than five times the amount of books they had out front. Andrew agreed to come back in the future in order to source and purchase books in the backroom for an extra discount! If we desire to motivate our product-sourcers to establish these types of business relationships it is important for us to build the infrastructure in our business that encourages it.

Andrew only works a few days per week and he consistently sources over 350 books.

Do you only sell Books on Amazon?

We started in books but now our numbers are more like this; Toys & Games 40%, Books 10%, Electronics 10%, Groceries 10%, Kitchen 10%... But by outsourcing books, I'm expecting that category's share of our business to grow. We do about 90% retail arbitrage. Someday soon we hope to outsource a big chunk of our retail arbitrage as well.

Do you have to up your buying criteria to take into account the added costs (finder’s fees etc...)?

Yes, to accommodate our extra cost per book sold, we upped the criteria a bit. Although, if the rank is extremely low, he'll buy a book that will sell for less than $15 (just sold The Tipping Point for $10). His last shipment of books had 670 books that cost us a total of just under $2000. The total list price of all of the books together was about $13,000.

What about those odd listings on Amazon, where the book is being sold for over $1000?

I would be very suspicious of those prices! Unless it was a highly sought after first edition or a copy of Chris Green's Retail Arbitrage or something... Although I don't think his new book, Online Arbitrage, will be priced that high, but who knows.

Doesn't giving so much control of your business away worry you?

It did at first, but not anymore. Books are a great place to start for those looking to outsource. They are relatively inexpensive, have terrific profit margins and fit into a book-sourcing system that can easily be taught to others. Sourcing books is pretty straight forward, and since there isn't much gray area, there isn't as much risk (unlike say, retail arbitrage). Give it a shot and if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. Also, if you experience some success by implementing and being encouraged by what I have shared, I would love to hear about it. We get our greatest joy and satisfaction out of helping others succeed.

Bryan Young

507-533-5736

bryanrobertyoung@gmail.com

**Friend me on FB!**

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Our Manual for Book-Sourcing

The following is a copy of the book-sourcing training manual that we provide to our book-sourcing specialists. I hope it helps to give you some practical ideas and assist you as you develop your own training materials.

Book Sourcing Criteria

What you'll notice right away is that the majority of books listed for sale on Amazon are not FBA eligible. I see this as an excellent opportunity. So many Amazon shoppers want their book and want it now! The number of Prime subscribers continues to grow because people are impressed with and have become accustomed to Amazon's world-class customer service and their lightning fast shipping. People trust Amazon not only to deliver what they order on time, but they also have the comfort of knowing that if anything is wrong with their order that they will get a speedy refund. Plus, with one-click purchasing, return customers can quickly place an order and then get on with their lives. These elements provide a favorable environment for FBA sellers. These intangibles give us, FBAers, an upper-hand over our competition (MF/Merchant Fulfilled Sellers).

When sourcing books I usually stick to these rules when trying to decide if a book is worth buying to resell, or not. There will be times, here and there, when there will not be enough criteria (such as no Amazon sellers), but for the most part if you stick to this plan you will succeed in finding excellent books for resale. The interesting thing about Amazon booksellers is that everyone seems to have a slightly different standard. Some online sellers are obsessed with seller rank and will only buy books with a 500K rank or better. Others scrutinize over price, they refuse to buy a book that they can't resell for $25 or more. Other sellers have made a habit of skipping over books that don't have barcodes (these are more time consuming because you have to enter in the ISBNs by hand). What this means is that there can be several booksellers frequenting the same store and yet all of them can come out with a load of books, satisfied at what they've found.

So, here we go. Before we jump in I will need to define some of the applicable terms.

Purchase Price - refers to the cost of the book that you are scanning, is it $1.99? $0.50? Free?Amazon Rank – Amazon assigns each book a ranking. While this number is worth considering, it is not worth obsessing over, and this is why, the rank does not tell you the long term popularity of a book, but instead simply tells you how many of them have sold, in comparison to other books, within the last 24 hours. There a many things that can increase or decrease rank besides the number of purchases too, but Amazon has been very secretive with the analytics that they use to figure rank.FBA – Fulfillment By Amazon. Books that are listed “FBA” are books that are at an Amazon warehouse and are eligible for super saver shipping as well as all of the Prime benefits. When pricing books sold FBA we will treat them like they are almost in their own marketplace. Books sold FBA typically cost more than their MF predecessors.

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MF – Merchant Fulfilled. Books that are listed “MF” are books that 3rd party sellers are listing from home or their own warehouses/offices. MF books typically are priced lower than FBA books in the same condition.

Amazon Book Condition Guidelines:New: Just like it sounds, brand new. Amazon customers have very high standards when purchasing New books so they better be pristine when they receive them or they will be seeking a refund and leaving negative feedback. New on Amazon means, gift quality.Used - Like New: Dust cover is intact, with no nicks or tears. Spine has no signs of creasing. Pages are clean and not marred by notes or folds of any kind. May contain remainder marks on outside edges, which should be noted in listing comments.Used – Very Good: Pages and dust cover are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine is undamaged.Used – Good: All pages and cover are intact (including the dust cover, if applicable). Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May include "From the library of" labels.Used – Acceptable: All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting, but the text cannot be obscured or unreadable.

Unacceptable: Includes missing pages and obscured or unreadable text. We also do not permit the sale of advance reading copies, including uncorrected proofs of in-print or not-yet-

published books.

Young Life Sales Guidelines for Books:We typically downgrade the condition of the book so; if we have a book that we feel is in “Like New” condition, we'll list it in “Very Good” condition instead. There are several reasons for this: 1) Books can be damaged slightly in transit or while they await their sale at the Fulfillment center, 2) Books have another opportunity to be damaged on their way to the customer after they have been sold, 3) Customers may not have an accurate understanding of Amazon's book condition guidelines, and could possibly get upset over a misunderstanding (they may assume that a book in “Very Good” condition should not have any cover wear) and 4) We want to do all that we can to create a positive customer experience. When the customer receives our book we want them to be thrilled at its condition, thrilled enough to leave positive feedback.

That being said, I would say that 90% of the books that we have for sale on Amazon are listed in “Very Good” condition, followed by “Good”, “Like New”, and “Acceptable”. We will very rarely list a book as “New”.

So, keep these general guidelines in mind when sourcing books.

Purchase Price Rank Amazon Price (according to condition)$0.00-0.50 Any 10.95+$0.51-$1.00 Any 12.95+$1.01-$1.50 Any 13.95+$1.51-2.00 Any 15.95+$2.01-3.00 Better than 2Million 17.95+

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$2.01-3.00 Any* 24.95+$3.00+ DNB DNB

Purchase Price = How much you will be spending to buy the book.Rank = Amazon's rank for the particular book that you are scanning. Only really comes into play when the price of the book exceeds $2.00.Amazon Price = How much that book, in its current condition will be sold for online.DNB= Do Not Buy

We always match the price of an FBA book that is of the same condition. So if you are scanning a book that would be considered “Very Good” and you there is another FBAer selling that book in Very Good condition assume that we will match their price. So if the other FBA seller is selling their book in the same condition at or above the minimum Amazon Price, then you should purchase this book. If there are other FBA sellers but none are selling their book in the condition that you have found, then you would determine the price based off of the other sellers. If the book is being sold as “Good”, we would sell a “Very Good” book @ a 10% up-charge. If the book is being sold as “Like New”, we would sell the book at a discount of 10%.

Ex: You are scanning a book with a purchase price of $1.25, it has a rank of 2.5 million and it is in Very Good condition. There are no FBA sellers who have VG copies, but there are FBA sellers who are selling that book in Good condition ($7.95) and Like New ($11.95) your estimated sale price would be $8.75-10.75 (which is 10% more than the good condition and 10% less than the Like New copy). Since the minimum sale price for a book costing $1.01-1.50 is $13.95, you would pass. But let's say that the book is selling in Good Condition for $7.95 and the Like New for $17.95, your estimated sale price would be $8.75-16.15 (following the same 10% rule). These prices would put you above the minimum accepted Amazon price for a book costing $1.25, you should buy it.

As you can see, there is value in finding creative ways to decrease the purchase price of your books. With the combination of sales and discounts you can open up the criteria which will assist you in finding more books and thus making a larger commission.

So, we covered a couple examples of price if there are other FBA sellers, but what if there aren't? If there are no FBA sellers for a particular book, we will have to depend on the prices offered by MF sellers. First, considered the condition of the book and then look at the 1) Used MF offers and then 2) the New MF offers. If you found that same book (as discussed before) in Very Good condition, but there are not any FBA sellers to help determine price, check out the MF VG prices. Being an FBA seller we can sell a book of comparable condition for more than we could via MF, generally for $5-8 more!

Here's an example: You found a book for $1.25 that is in VG condition. When you scan it you notice that there aren't any FBA sellers. MF sellers are selling the book in Good Condition for $4.25, Very Good for $6.50 and Like New for $9.95. Based off this information alone, according to our criteria, this book could be sold for between $11.50-14.50 (The VG MF price of $6.50 + $5-8). Since this book meets the criteria (minimum price of $13.95), you should purchase it.

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Next, you should check the New MF prices. Typically, you wouldn't want to sell a Used FBA book for more than it is selling for New MF, but this isn't always the case. If the New MF prices are at or below the used MF prices you should not purchase the book. If that same book that was being sold MF in Good condition for $6.50 and Like New for $9.95 was also selling New for $6.50 or less, this should send up all sorts of red flags. Maybe the used MF copies are grossly overpriced. Why would anyone buy a used copy of a book when they could get a new copy for the same price or less? Typically this doesn't happen, as people generally price their books competitively (since, what good is a book that sits and sits and never sells?).

For our next scenario let’s assume that there are no FBA sellers for this particular book and no Used MF sellers either, now what? Well, are there New MF sellers? The rule of thumb is that we always want to be able to price our used FBA books lower than their New MF counterparts. So if you scan this Very Good book only to discover that there is only New MF editions listed you should price accordingly. If you are able to purchase this book of $1.25 and it is selling MF New for $9.95, you should not purchase it. But, if it is selling MF New for $15.95 then you should pull the trigger since you would be able to sell the book in VG for less than $15.95 and yet still meet the minimum pricing criteria of $13.95.

Finally, what happens when you scan a book and discover there is a listing but there are currently no sellers (neither MF nor FBA)? As long as there is a listing and while using your better judgment you determine that the book may have some value, go ahead and buy it. There could be excellent potential in being the only seller on a listing. If on the other hand you scan a book and there is “No Listing Found”, this means that there are no books listed against that particular UPC or ISBN, don't buy. The time that it takes to create a listing page for a solitary, question-mark of a book is not worth it.

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Sourcing Books: Thrift Stores(Understanding the geography)

1.Salvation Army Family Stores

The Salvation Army operates over 30 stores in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Salvation Army is a great place to source books. Typically they have the best prices and it would appear that they are often overlooked by other book scanners. Occasionally the stores will have sales, it would be a good idea to make note of any recurring sales per store location. There are some Salvation Army stores, especially in the cities that do not have a very good selection of books. The Salvation Army in Rochester always yields a decent amount of inventory. Also, S.A. tends to have a good selection of cheap games & vintage toys. Just make sure that you check to make sure that they are complete, a typical S.A. will charge $.50/game.

2.Goodwill Thrift Store

Goodwill seems to price their books a little high, sometimes upwards of $6.99 per title. The only time that it would be recommended shopping at Goodwill for books would be when their book prices have been discounted significantly:

` Sunday: Certain color tag is 50% offMonday: Same color tag is 50% offTuesday: Same color tag is $1.99Thursday: Toddler Thursday means 50% all kids’ stuff

GW tends to lower the sticker price on books in the Spring and Summer and then raise them in the Fall and Winter, when books are at their highest demand. Also, keep an eye out for their clearance bins. Typically books and other media that have been put on clearance will be $.15/each. (Ex. Currently all blue tagged books and all VHS tapes are only $.20/each – Be on the lookout (BOLO) for these types of sales as well).

When sourcing for books at GW, I will go on a Sunday or Monday and quickly scan through the 50% off books, being mindful of the price. I also spend a little time sourcing in the toys and game section. Typically games and toys are priced to sell, but if you happen find the right color tag or you are shopping on a Thursday you can get an even better deal. On the way to the register to check out I always make sure to swing by the glass cases in the front of the store. Typically one case is for the silent auction and the other has items locked up that may be worth considering.

3.Savers Thrift StoreSavers tends to be one of my most favorite thrift stores for sourcing books. Sometimes

their books are priced a little high, but with a combination of discounts it is very easy to bring that price down to a more manageable average. Discounts that should be considered when

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calculating price:

-Buy 4 books get the 5th for free (this amounts to a 20% discount per every 5 books purchased)

-Save 20% with donation coupon (when you donate two or more bags or a box of goods they will give you a coupon that will take an additional 20% off your entire purchase).

-Save 30% with a completed stamp card (when promotion is running), you acquire one stamp with every $5 purchase.

-Other discount days (up to the stores discretion – discount for shoppers with Savers card. On most major shopping holidays they will run a sale).

Just like Goodwill, prices increase in the Fall and Winter but then are lowered in the Spring and Summer. It is good to make a habit of donating things before shopping. Those 20% coupons could save you hundreds of dollars and open up book sourcing opportunities that wouldn't be there if books are purchased at full price. We try to have a bag or two of ”donatables” in the car at all times, this strategy also really helps to de-clutter our lives.

Savers also tends to have an excellent selection of board games which are usually reasonably priced. Also be sure to check out the toy aisle, we have on occasion found new, unopened vintage toys for sale. They usually have a nice selection of other media as well (VHS tapes, DVDs, computer games, etc..) if it has a barcode it may be worth scanning.

4.Unique Thrift StoreSavers and Unique are operated the same way, in fact I think that they are run by the

same company. But, you cannot use a Savers coupon at a Unique or vice-versa. Unique also offers “Buy 4 books get the 5th one free” and will occasionally have a stamp card promotion. There have been times when I have tried to donate in order to get a coupon and have been told that they don't give out coupons anymore. Every Unique and every Savers is given flexibility in how they choose to manage their promotions, so be sure to ask before you start scanning if you are not sure.

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Expectations & Advancement Requirements(For our book-sourcing specialists that would like entrepreneurial training with an opportunity

to advance in the company)

Trial Book Sourcing PositionExpectations:•200+ Books Each Week•Shows a desire to learn the art of book sourcing•Follows the book sourcing criteria•Deals professionally with the stores/sales staff & management•Demonstrates reliability and integrityTypical Work Week:•1-2 days sourcing books (when, where & for how long is up to you)•A few hours spent every week on enrichment (which include, but are not limited to, reading books required for next position and studying other book sourcing related strategies on and offline).

Book Sourcing SpecialistPrerequisites:•350+ books each week (for 4 consecutive weeks)•Has met & exceeded expectations of the Trial Book Sourcing Position•Has read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Kiyosaki and provided feedback•Has read the book Linchpin by Godin and provided feedbackExpectations:•Will continue to source about 350 books per week•Will look for creative ways to acquire more books•Will make business connections with local and national business owners•Will show significant growth as a result of diligent study and mastery of book selling/sourcingTypical Work Week:•2-3 days sourcing books locally and in the Twin Cities•1-2 long distance book sourcing trips per month•Spending a few hours per week on enrichment activities such as reading the required reading, networking with other sellers, making connections with business owners to secure more inventory, and researching book selling online.

VP of Book SalesPrerequisites:•750+ books each week (for 4 consecutive weeks)•Has exceeded the expectations of the Books Sourcing Specialist position.•Has read the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Carnegie and provided feedback•Has read the book EntreLeader by Dave Ramsey and provided feedback•Has read the book Thank You Economy by Vaynerchuk and provided feedback•Has read the book Silent Sales Machine by Jim Cockrum and provide feedback

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Expectations:•Will continue to source about 750 books per week•Will always be seeking creative ways to source more books that meet the criteria•Will continue to build a network of business owners that can be relied on for inventory and expertise•Will demonstrate growth in management abilities, negotiation and the art of book selling.•Will help hire and then train in and manage future Book Sourcing Specialists (local and national).Typical Work Week:•2-3 days sourcing books locally and in the Twin Cities•1-2 long distance book sourcing trips per month•Training in & managing new Book Sourcing Specialists•Meeting with business owners to grow network•Spending time each week on enrichment activities, always looking for ways to better him/herself as an aspiring entrepreneur, and increase the profitability of the company.

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Chain of Command(The future vision of our company)

Bryan Young Chelsea YoungCEO CFO

Andrew VoigtVP of Sales

VP of Book Sales VP of Retail Arbitrage VP of Wholesale Accounts VP of Logistics Management

Book Sourcing Specialist Retail Sourcing Specialist Wholesale Sourcing Specialist Logistics Management Specialist

Trial Book Sourcing Position Trial Retail Sourcing Position Trial Wholesale Sourcing Position Trial Logistics Management Position

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Amazon Condition Guidelines(These are important guidelines to be familiar with)

Assigning the correct condition to each item you list on Amazon.com is the first step toward providing a great customer experience. It's important to make a careful assessment of your item before specifying its condition.

Using condition types helps you to list offerings in a range of conditions. For many product lines, seller offerings in multiple conditions help to expand the buying choices available to customers. When buyers view a product page, they see a generic product description along with a set of buying choices. Links on the product page lead to offers in "used & new" condition. Listings are displayed on the offer listing page for each product and are grouped to allow buyers to sort and select seller offerings by condition or price.

While you can specify a condition type for a given product, the available condition types vary across categories. Additionally, certain categories only allow listings for new products.

General Condition GuidelinesThe following guidelines apply to all product categories unless otherwise indicated in the Category-Specific Condition Guidelines:

Note: "Refurbished," "Used – Good," and "Used – Acceptable" can be used only where noted as acceptable in the Category-Specific Condition Guidelines.

• New: Just like it sounds. A brand-new, unused, unopened item in its original packaging, with all original packaging materials included. Original protective wrapping, if any, is intact. Original manufacturer's warranty, if any, still applies, with warranty details included in the listing comments.

• Refurbished: Use only if noted in the Category-Specific Condition Guidelines. A refurbished product has been professionally restored to working order. Typically this means that the product has been inspected, cleaned, and repaired to meet manufacturer specifications. The item may or may not be in its original packaging. The manufacturer's or refurbisher's warranty must apply and should be included in the listing comments. Refurbished items are sometimes referred to as "remanufactured."

• Used - Like New: An apparently untouched item in perfect condition. Original protective wrapping may be missing, but the original packaging is intact and pristine. There are absolutely no signs of wear on the item or its packaging. Instructions are included. Item is suitable for presenting as a gift.

• Used - Very Good: A well-cared-for item that has seen limited use but remains in great condition. The item is complete, unmarked, and undamaged, but may show some limited signs of wear. Item works perfectly.

• Used - Good: Use only if noted in the Category-Specific Condition Guidelines. The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. It may be marked, have identifying markings on it, or show other signs of previous use.

• Used - Acceptable: Use only if noted in the Category-Specific Condition Guidelines. The item is fairly worn but continues to work perfectly. Signs of wear can include

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aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, and worn corners. The item may have identifying markings on it or show other signs of previous use.

Unacceptable and Prohibited ItemsItems in any of the following conditions are unacceptable for listing on Amazon.com:

• Item does not work perfectly in every regard.• Item is not clean, including signs of mold, heavy staining, or corrosion.• Item is damaged in a way that renders it difficult to use.• Item is missing essential accompanying material or parts. (This does not necessarily

include instructions.)• Item requires repair or service.• Item was not created by the original manufacturer or copyright holder. This includes

copies, counterfeits, replicas, and imitations.• Item was originally distributed as a promotional copy, promotional bundle, product

sample, or advance reading copy. This includes uncorrected proofs of in-print or not-yet-published books.

• Any aspect of the item is obscured and not able to be read or viewed because of markings, stickers, or other damage.

• Item is prohibited for sale on Amazon.com.

For more information, see Restricted Products.

Only full retail versions of software may be sold on Amazon.com. See Software & Computer Games for a list of software products that are prohibited for sale on Amazon.com.

Category-Specific Condition GuidelinesThe following category-specific condition guidelines should be used as indicated in addition to or in place of the General Condition Guidelines.

New and Used

Books | Camera & Photo | Cell Phones & Accessories | Computers | Electronics | Home & Garden | Industrial & Scientific | Ink & Toner | Music | Musical Instruments | Office Products | Outdoor Living | Software & Computer Games | Tools & Hardware | Toys & Baby | Videos, DVDs & Blu-ray Discs | Video Games | Watches

Collectibles

Books | Music | Toys & Games | Videos, DVDs & Blu-ray Discs

Books -- New and UsedIn addition to the General Condition Guidelines, apply the following guidelines to new and used books:

• New: Just like it sounds. A brand-new, unused, unread copy in perfect condition. The 18

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dust cover and original protective wrapping, if any, are intact. All supplementary materials are included and all access codes for electronic material, if applicable, are valid and/or in working condition.

• Used - Like New: Dust cover is intact, with no nicks or tears. Spine has no signs of creasing. Pages are clean and not marred by notes or folds of any kind. May contain remainder marks on outside edges, which should be noted in listing comments.

• Used - Very Good: Pages and dust cover are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine is undamaged.

• Used - Good: All pages and cover are intact (including the dust cover, if applicable). Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May include "From the library of" labels.

• Used - Acceptable: All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting, but the text cannot be obscured or unreadable.

• Unacceptable: Includes missing pages and obscured or unreadable text. We also do not permit the sale of advance reading copies, including uncorrected proofs, of in-print or not-yet-published books.

Books -- CollectibleTo ensure that customers are able to buy with confidence from all sellers on Amazon.com, sellers listing in the Collectible Books category must be pre-approved. For more information, see Collectible Books.

To be considered collectible, a book should be unique in a way that could reasonably be assumed to increase the book's value to a collector:

• First editions and first printings• Signed, inscribed, or scarce copies• Advance reading copies and uncorrected proofs of out-of-print books

Note: The sale of uncorrected proofs of in-print or not-yet-published books is prohibited.

Collectible books do not include the following:

• Former library books• Remaindered books• Book club editions

The General Condition Guidelines do not apply to collectible books. Use the following condition types for Collectible Books:

• Collectible - Like New: All pages and the cover are intact. The dust jacket is intact, if applicable, with no noticeable or very tiny nicks or flaws. Spine has no signs of creasing. Book may have very small but virtually unnoticeable flaws. List items in Fine condition as Like New. Include condition details in the listing comments.

• Collectible - Very Good: Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. Spine shows no sign of creasing. Dust jacket, if applicable, shows signs of some rubbing or chipping. List items in Near Fine condition as Very Good. Include condition details in the listing comments.

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• Collectible - Good: All pages and the cover are intact, including the dust jacket, if applicable. Spine may show signs of wear. Generally, books in Good condition are not considered to be collectible grade.

• Collectible - Acceptable: A readable copy showing significant wear. Dust jacket may be missing. For all but the rarest items, books in Acceptable condition are not considered to be collectible grade.

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Conclusion

Thank you for being a valued member of CESclassroom.com! If you would like more information on outsourcing, or you have any questions for me you have two options!

1) Join the Facebook discussion for this ebook by using this link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam/

2) Call our coaching team at 1-800-994-1792

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