BookHow to scan books to sell on Amazon
Published October 11, 2026
Scanning books is the fastest way to find titles worth reselling on Amazon. This guide explains how book scanning works, which numbers to read, and how to decide buy or skip in a couple of seconds at the shelf.
What "scanning books" actually means
Every book carries an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), a 10 or 13 digit code printed as the barcode on the back cover. When you scan that barcode with a book scanner app, the app looks the ISBN up on Amazon and shows you what the book sells for, how often it sells, and how much profit you would make after Amazon's fees. In other words, scanning turns a shelf of unknown books into a list of clear buy or skip decisions.
This is the core of retail arbitrage and thrifting for Amazon: you source cheap books from thrift stores, library sales, estate sales and garage sales, then resell them on Amazon for more than you paid, keeping the margin.
The 4 steps to scan a book for Amazon
- Connect your Amazon seller account. Install a book scanner app and connect your Amazon Seller Central account once. This lets the app show your live prices and check whether a title is restricted for your account.
- Scan the ISBN barcode. Point your phone camera at the barcode, or type the ISBN by hand if the barcode is worn. The app pulls the book's current Amazon data in about two seconds.
- Read the numbers. Look at the Buy Box price, the sales rank, the Sales Score and your estimated FBA or FBM profit (more on each below).
- Decide buy or skip. If the profit clears your minimum and the book sells often enough, buy it. If not, put it back and scan the next one.
The numbers that decide buy or skip
| Number | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Buy Box price | What the book is actually selling for right now. Your resale price will be near this. |
| All offers by condition | How many sellers are already competing, and in what condition (Like New, Very Good, Good, Acceptable). Fewer, pricier offers is better for you. |
| Sales rank | A rough measure of how well a book sells. Lower is better. A rank under ~1,000,000 in Books sells reasonably often. |
| Sales Score | How many days in the last 180 the book actually had a sale. This is more reliable than rank alone, because rank is a single snapshot that can spike after one sale. |
| FBA / FBM profit | Your estimated profit after Amazon fees, for Fulfilled by Amazon or Merchant Fulfilled, once you enter what you paid for the book. |
| Restriction status | Whether you are even allowed to list this title on your account. If it is restricted, skip it no matter how good the profit looks. |
Sales rank vs Sales Score: don't get burned
The most common beginner mistake is buying on sales rank alone. Rank is a single point in time: a book can jump to a great rank right after one lucky sale, then sit for months. The Sales Score fixes this by counting how many days in the last 180 the book sold at all. A book with a strong Sales Score sells regularly, so your money comes back faster. When rank looks good but the Sales Score is weak, be cautious.
A simple rule of thumb for beginners
- Profit: aim for at least $3 to $5 net profit per book after fees, more as you get pickier.
- Sales Score / rank: prefer books that have sold often in the last 180 days, not just a lucky recent rank.
- Competition: fewer existing sellers at a healthy price is better than a crowded listing racing to the bottom.
- Restrictions: always check you can list it before you buy.
Set these as your own triggers once, and a good scanner app will simply tell you Accept or Reject with a sound, so you can scan a whole shelf without reading every number.
What you need to start
- An Amazon seller account (Individual or Professional).
- A phone with a camera.
- A book scanner app that shows live Amazon prices, rank, a Sales Score, profit and restrictions.
- A source of cheap books: thrift stores, library sales, estate sales, garage sales.
Scanning books with Booksr
Booksr is a book scanner app built for exactly this. You scan an ISBN and see the Buy Box prices, every offer by condition, sales rank, Sales Score and your FBA and FBM profit on one screen, plus a restriction check against your own account. Set your buy rules once and Booksr gives a clear Accept or Reject on every scan. With Pro + Offline, you can also scan with no or weak signal using a downloaded database. It is free for the first month, then $9.99 per month.
Questions
Do I need an Amazon seller account to scan books?
To sell the books, yes. You need an Amazon seller account to list and ship. Most scanning apps also connect to your account so they can show live prices and tell you whether a title is restricted for you.
What is a good sales rank for a book on Amazon?
As a rough guide, a Books sales rank under about 1,000,000 sells reasonably often, and under 500,000 is better. Rank alone can be misleading, so a Sales Score that counts how many days a book actually sold over the last 180 days is a more reliable signal.
How do I scan a book without a barcode or ISBN?
Older or rare books may have no ISBN barcode. Look for a 10 or 13 digit ISBN printed on the copyright page and type it into your app. If there is no ISBN at all, the title predates the ISBN system and is harder to source with a scanner.
Can I scan books to sell on Amazon offline?
Yes, with an app that has an offline database. Booksr Pro + Offline downloads the database to your phone, so when you have no or weak signal, scans still show rank, Sales Score and lowest prices. With a connection, scans use live Amazon data.
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