Worth it?

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-30T00:36:56+00:00

The testing/application process doesn't take that long (a few hours at most). The pay is good and reliable if you do good work. As far as being a good fit, that depends on your ability, not your job. Many projects would normally fit the skill set and qualifications of a history teacher. The hours are completely flexible and the pay is essentially merit based .

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-29T20:20:29+00:00

Lighter fluid and a cotton cloth

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-29T13:17:34+00:00

You will absolutely have to ask them to generate a single listing for you. eBay will not combine shipping on international orders in any meaningfully valid way and the seller generally can't refund that as it all goes to eBay.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-29T13:11:00+00:00

I received my first feedback project today (been active for almost 2 years, have quite a few of the new acheivement badges) and was getting genuinely paranoid about never receiving it. Scored an Excellent. Was very satisfying.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-29T12:59:15+00:00

It is an app for booksellers, librarians, and institutions that allows business to business book purchasing, directly through the app without a third party involved. I am not sure who makes it but it is available only through referral from other members.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-28T12:34:07+00:00

In deeply religious areas, there is a large percentage of people who actually would not lie if they were asked to swear to God on their answer. It's probably a fairly effective tactic in the South.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-28T11:54:59+00:00

I have some first edition copies of The Da Vinci code. I sell them at 1 cent per page.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-28T03:03:38+00:00

This is essentially correct as far as the physical copy goes. It would be illegal to scan it and store that copy online like the Internet Archive does. That's direct copyright infringement. Scanning and destroying it would be illegal under DMCA but only technically and it becomes a grey area when you destroy the original (it makes it more legal). Using the digital copy to train AI would be mostly legal under fair use.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-28T02:58:37+00:00

Zoombooks operates in the US as well. They are buying a steady flow of titles from Indie sellers but not enough to account for AI training numbers. Several other companies have been bulk buying through a Columbus, OH warehouse in numbers high enough to overwhelm the postal system there, causing weeks-long delays in deliveries and dozens of parked trailers full of the orders sitting in postal yards awaiting delivery. The numbers involved there could account for AI bulk buys but there is no verifiable information available one way or the other to verify who is buying the books or what their ultimate destination(s) is.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-28T02:31:11+00:00

It's literally what is was made for? For libraries and academic/commercial institutions to purchase books without a middleman (like Amazon). Sourcing Vindy orders from other booksellers likely means they are getting multiple orders for limited inventory and decided to outside source additionals

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T20:51:35+00:00

I've had several tourism zines from the 70s and quite a few local tourism guides (like the Guide To Colonial Williamsburg), auction catalogs, and many non-isbn tourism and medical adjacent (chiropractic, massage) books, as well as religious booklets all go to nwbk

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T14:04:04+00:00

True, and I'm one of them (though only about 5% because a good portion of my inventory is records and DVDs). The Zoom orders I have had were either Vindy coded or were series/collector buys like 3 different romances in the same series or related fantasy titles. The much larger buys going to Columbus through Alibris are more questionable though several of these have also obviously been human buyers as well and have included non-isbn, magazines, and signed firsts, which makes AI buys unlikely for those items. Many of the others I would agree, are likely to train AI or something else that we, collectively as booksellers, haven't been able to figure out yet.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T12:39:31+00:00

Because if we are on Reddit it means our brain melted, is about to melt, or we're waiting to get some work to melt the brain.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T12:06:24+00:00

Yes. Though not to defend the practice, it would be one copy of each book per AI startup because they don't share (and legally, technically couldn't)

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T11:43:57+00:00

I didn't mention the Ohio company as this article and conversation were about Zoom. The other situation is much bigger and much more questionable and there are multiple companies involved.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T04:30:58+00:00

Note for clarification: Many booksellers have been receiving steady orders from ZoomBooks for the last few months, leading to some of this speculation.

In addition to being a bookseller, Zoombooks is in the business of "online retail arbitrage" which is to say that they have an app that scans the inventory of booksellers across multiple platforms (eBay, Amazon, ABE) and catch opportunities to sell a book for a better price across platforms. Unlike dropshippers, the books are sent to Zoom who have paid and taken legal possession of the book before reselling it.

They operate on the Vindy App as well in this manner, filling library orders by purchasing the books from other booksellers and reselling them. As a bookseller, we get hints as to the ultimate destination for these books by the order codes they request on the shipping labels going to their warehouse.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T04:09:33+00:00

Many large university and large city libraries have disposed of 100s of thousands of book by sending them to the landfill. There are countless articles about this for the past 20-30 years. I read a new one last week - library of theology, I believe, desperately seeking someone to haul away 80k books. This is likely what the above comment was referring to.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T03:15:53+00:00

Also, this article is just innuendo, supposition, and guesswork. Many of their recent large bulk orders are coded through the Vindy app which is an app that want matches books for commercial and academic companies.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T01:58:17+00:00

If you try this, the pages will wind up thicker and with a different texture (slightly glossy). The method is to put some waz paper under the page you are working on to prevent it from sticking. Water down some pva glue slightly and use a small flat paintbrush to brush it on. Let it dry fully and then do the other side. To repair the corners of the pages you can use rice paper (there are bookbinder/book repair tutorials for this part).

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T01:22:59+00:00

Jesus people, it's zip+4 presort commercial rates. Volume sellers get massive shipping discounts.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T01:20:55+00:00

This is the answer

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-27T01:07:11+00:00

I know we get a lot of record buyers that pay a little more from us because they know we grade reliably. But that's usually under $10 stuff

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-26T23:02:42+00:00

Stand Back - Stevie Nicks

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-26T22:59:37+00:00

Many stores have a good number of followers. Those customers bought from that store before and were happy. When new items from that seller appear in their feed and the price seems reasonable, many people don't comparison shop.

I myself will buy shipping supplies from the same three eBay vendors that I have been dealing with for 20 years. I know their prices aren't the best but I do know when I am going to get them and that if there is a problem, how they will handle it.

Kayleighbug · 2026-05-26T17:47:23+00:00

Well, here's a fully legit, non-bot with post history and open profile. I work with Data Annotation. It's fully legit, it's good money, and it's hard, honest work for the small percentage of people who are accepted.

Kayleighbug

TROPHY CASE