Want to start selling on Amazon but are not sure which scouting app to use? In this post, I want to introduce ScoutIQ, one of the best book buying scouting apps available to Amazon FBA book sellers.

If you’ve been selling books on Amazon through FBA long enough, you know that successful bookselling depends on great sourcing, which relies on speed and quick decision making.

An experienced bookseller typically scans and makes buying decisions at a rate of 30 to 40 books per minute. Don’t despair if you’re a beginner though, there are tools that can help you improve your sourcing skills.  

A Bluetooth barcode scanner and a scanning with offline mode are the key sourcing tools you need if you are serious about selling used books. Just as a skilled artisan would struggle without the proper tools, so would a bookseller.

If you don’t know what I’m talking, check out my post on how to sell books on Amazon through FBA.

What is ScoutIQ?

What is ScoutIQ? It’s a popular arbitrage scanning app that helps you make better buying decisions when sourcing books to sell on Amazon through FBA.

Like all good scanning applications, ScoutIQ has a vast database which is still growing. This is is the main function of a scanning app.

The database mode is great because you can access key information, like price and sales rank, you need to make profitable buying decisions without an internet connection.

Why you need ScoutIQ

Believe it or not, people were selling used books before the era of smartphones and book scouting apps like ScoutIQ. 

During these times, people in the market of selling books were starved of information, as technology wasn’t as advanced. They, therefore, relied on their memory and knowledge of the kind of books in demand. Then as technology improved, booksellers started using PDAs to find profitable books. But this technology was expensive and not accessible to everyone.

Now, however, you don’t have an excuse. Most people have a smartphone, so you don’t need to make an initial investment. Except for ScoutIQ which is a necessary tool if you are committed. Why? Because it will help you make better buying decisions by providing you with key information with a click of a button.

Choosing the right book to resell is the single most important factor for success, as most books are duds, they have no monetary value. If you buy enough unprofitable books, you will lose money and enthusiasm, no matter how resilient you are.

ScoutIQ features

Here are ScoutIQ’s key features:

• eScore
• Smart Triggers
• Downloadable database
• Scan tracker
• Wholesale integration

ScoutIQ eScore – My favourite feature

If scanning a book, then viewing its sales history on either Keepa or CamalCamalCamal slows you down, eScore is what you’ve been looking for.

What is eScore? It’s a measurement of the number of days that a book has sold at least one in the past 6 months. In other words, it’s roughly the total number of spikes you would count on the sales history graph of a book in the past 180 days.

This is a convenient metric because it saves us not only from clicking around but also from having to use live mode to analyse a book’s sales history. Which in turn saves us time, and time is money in this business, as they say.  

ScoutIQ’s eScore is by far my favourite because it’s unique and a much needed metric.

How useful is ScoutIQ?

Regardless of whether you use live or database mode, ScoutIQ is a useful tool that you can use to make better buying decisions. It lets you access key information, like buy-box price, condition, sales rank and more, of most books on Amazon within seconds.  

ScoutIQ, however, is most powerful when used in database mode and when connected to a Bluetooth scanner. This way you will be able to make buying decisions at a decent rate, especially when you are in sourcing locations where you can’t connect to the internet.

Speaking of sourcing locations, I used to find it a pain looking up the sales history of books, especially when I had no internet connection. ScoutIQ has solved this problem. Its proprietary eScore metric measures the demand of a book on scale of 0 to 180. The higher the score, the higher the demand. 

Another reason why ScoutIQ is useful is how it finds the potential list price of a book. In the past, it was common to use the lowest FBA offer to calculate profit margins. But the issue is that scanning apps don’t show the Prime price for most books, at least 50%, on Amazon. The Smart Triggers feature of ScoutIQ uses a range of factors to help you choose a realistic list price. 

What don’t I like about ScoutIQ?

What I don’t like about the ScoutIQ app is that it does not reveal the actual lowest FBA price every time. This is understandable though. It’s an Amazon issue; the same rule applies to all scanning apps. 

Another reason why people might be put off by ScoutIQ is that it costs $30 per month for every new account. But if you’re trying to build a team, you don’t have much of an option. Other scanning apps have a similar pricing plan.

Pricing – How much does ScoutIQ cost? And is it worth it?

ScoutIQ’s pricing is straightforward. They have two plans:

• Live + database. This is the plan I would recommend. It costs $44 per month. Or $36 per month if you choose to pay annually. 
• Live only. As expected, this plan is a lot cheaper at $14 per month, or $10 per month if paid annually.  

Is it worth it?

Whether ScoutIQ is worth it or not depends on where you are in your journey. If you are a complete beginner to selling books on Amazon or Retail Arbitrage, then no, you don’t need ScoutIQ.

If, however, you’ve gotten grips with the basics of sourcing and selling on Amazon, yes. ScoutIQ is worth investing in.

For less than $50 per month, you get a sourcing tool that:

• Increases your buying decision rate by providing you key information within seconds, without needing an internet connection.  
• Saves you hours from having to look up books live.
• Shows you a single data point (eScore) so you can make informed decisions without having to look up sales history, which relies on having an internet connection.
• Helps you keep track of your sourcing statistics, like the proportion of books that you decided to buy.

The above is a list of the key benefits of using ScoutIQ.

Yes, ScoutIQ is an essential tool every book seller should have, but it’s not going to make decisions for you. You will need to understand what makes a book profitable and develop your owning buying criteria.

What makes a profitable book?

Let’s quickly look at the key factors to consider when trying to spot profitable books. 

Price. If a book has a high selling price, then it’s likely to be valuable. Especially if it has a small price range; in other words, the difference between the highest and lowest offer is small.

Demand. I personally buy a book if it has a history of selling once a month, or 12 copies per year, which translates to an eScore of 6. In general, the lower the eScore of a book, the higher my target profit.     

Low competition. Books with some demand but low competition present great arbitrage opportunity.

The above criteria work best when the books are not time-sensitive. In other words, books that don’t become obsolete with time.     

ScoutIQ alternatives

In terms of competitors, there aren’t a lot on the market. The others options I would condsider looking into are:

• NeatoScan
• Scoutly (formaly FBAScan)

Verdict

If you’re looking for an app with a downloadable database, ScoutIQ is an excellent option and would take your sourcing to the next level.

The Amazon Seller app and your phone’s camera is a great way to find profitable books but if you want to make serious money, you need to have ScoutIQ and a Bluetooth barcode scanner.

I would say ScoutIQ is an essential tool every bookseller should have, especially if you have some experience in the industry. Yes, it’s slightly pricey but it’s one of the best apps on the market with unique features that will help you increase revenue instantly. That I am sure.

ScoutIQ FAQ

What does eScore mean?

eScore is a proprietary metric you can use to track a book sales history. With the eScore feature, you can quickly gauge a book’s demand history.

Is ScoutIQ free?

No, ScoutIQ is not free but they do offer a 14-day free trial, after which you would pay a monthly subscription fee.

How much does ScoutIQ cost

ScoutIQ has a Live Plan and a Database Plan. The Live Plan starts at $14 per month, while the Database Plan starts at $44 per month. There are discounts available for pre-payments.

Is ScoutIQ only for books?

No, ScoutIQ is not an app for only books. You can use the app to look up any item on Amazon. All you need is to scan the barcode, and you’re good to go.

How does ScoutIQ work?

ScoutIQ works with three simple processes: scan it, list it, and sell it. The ScoutIQ app works by scanning an item, sending off the book to an Amazon warehouse, and then when the book sells, Amazon will ship it off, and you collect the profit.

Do you need a scouting app?

It depends. If you’re a complete beginner to selling books online at Amazon through FBA, I recommend using the Amazon Seller app with your phone’s camera to source books. I actually think this is necessary. Why? Because this way you will learn the basics of sourcing profitable books cheaply.