Should you use a PDA or a smartphone? That is one of the most popular questions related to scouting.
Here are some quick pros and cons of using a PDA.
Pros
1. Easy to hold (fits in one hand)
2. Super fast
3. No internet required
Cons
1. Expensive
2. Data uploads required
3. Old technology
I'm sure there are many more pros and cons. What you do you think? Please watch the following video and leave a comment below.
Can you import the data scanned on your PDA directly on to your PC ?
No, I don’t think so.
Nice video Nathan. I’ve been hearing a lot about you on podcasts recently. I’m pretty impressed with the scanning speed and how quickly the results are returned. I may have to check one of these out if I can ramp up some FBA profits.
Hi Greg, I’m glad you enjoyed the video. PDA’s are great if you plan on buying and selling a lot of books. By the way, what podcasts do you listen to?
In my opinion or understanding, the benefit of using a PDA with a database is twofold: 1) faster lookup, and 2) works with no internet connection.
But now an iPhone with Neatoscan’s database covers both of those. My iPhone bill is expensive, which is a major drawback, but for now I’m sticking with the iPhone because it does all the other smartphone trickery. (Compact camera, GPS, alarm clock, calculator, emergency browser… I want one anyway.)
There’s no right or wrong way, as long as you get the information you need served at the speed you need it.
Thank You.
Robert
Why do you use neat-o-scan rather than some other that is cheaper?
Neatoscan shows the lowest 5 used prices, lowest 5 new prices, and some of the FBA prices.
Thanks for another informative video. Your book on FBA helped me transition from merchant fulfilled four years ago. I’ve since branched out from books to other categories. Do you mind sharing the advantages of Neatoscan vs. other services? I also use Neatoscan but I noticed Scoutpal includes a database service for only $10 per month vs. $50 per month for Neatoscan so I’m considering switching.
Hi Jonathan,
ScoutPal only shows the lowest used and new price for an item. Neatoscan shows the lowest 5 used prices, lowest 5 new prices, and some of the FBA prices.
I just invested in ASellerTool’s iPhone app. I have a ScanFob and the speed is truly amazing after previous scouting with ScanPower and Profit Bandit and getting toasted at FOL sales. I’m a convert!
Thanks for your feedback!
I’m a big fan of asellertool’s iPhone app as well. When you click on the image box it takes you strait to the amazon page selected to only show prime/fba offers. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the fastest most accurate way to see all of the available fba offers. Database+live lookup+click through to full fba offers. I’m sold on it.
Thanks for the info! I will be trying that app soon.
Nathan,
Thank you so much for sharing, it is very helpful. I wonder if you could share with us the point in which a book has too much competition to purchase?
Thank you Again,
Thayer
Any book that has multiple FBA sellers pricing at $3.99 or lower — I avoid those.