Anyone heard of Textbook Money from Luke Sample and Jon Shugart?

39 replies
Luke Sample did a webinar a short while back regarding a product/program he has created about arbitrage of textbooks with Amazon.

Just wondering if anyone picked it up and has any first hand information or comments.

Thanks in advance.
#heard #jon #luke #money #sample #shugart #textbook
  • Profile picture of the author wealthyfreedom
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  • Profile picture of the author Jmbecker
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    • Profile picture of the author bubbashrimp
      AH SNAP!

      Bought just a few days ago. Still going through the training.

      Knew the margins were going to be very tight but did not anticipate the shipping issue.

      Knew about the 365 day refund issue and agree with you - they may have disappeared but also I think that you will get some flack from the cc card company for waiting for a year. They may have a shorter time period where you can claim a refund.
      They also have an even funkyier refund clause - as long as there is $1000 in arbitrages during the year you can't get a refund.

      I want to go through the training a do a few books but if I get the same approach I will ask for a refund.

      Will want to move fairly quickly though - don't know how long they want to keep running this and don't want them to scoot.

      Have an idea of some leverage to get a refund from them so lets stay in touch. We may be able to help each other.

      Shoot me your email if you wish and I will contact you.

      Thanks

      Originally Posted by Jmbecker View Post

      Yes, I bought the system. It takes WAY too long to find a reasonably profitable book - about three hours to find two books with a profit of $25 each. Most "profitable" trades returned were $2-3 on a $200 book - not very good use of my money. Ordered the books, and set up the trade. Waited to print the shipping label so I wouldn't lose it. Didn't think this would be a problem. First one took 11 days to get here - Amazon gives you 7 days to send in your trade. So I went to my trade in account and couldn't print a shipping label. When I re-checked on the book, the trade in value had gone down so I actually had a $35 loss on the book! No mention of this possibility in the course. I will be requesting a refund but they had some funky 365 day refund policy implying they weren't going to refund anyone until they had tried the system for 365 days - who is going to remember to refund after 365 days? Meanwhile they have my money and disappear? I will be contacting my credit card company to file a complaint if they won't refund, along with the Better Business Bureau and FTC.
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  • Profile picture of the author sparrow
    The big question is how are they turning the Amazon Gift Card into CASH

    I see some potential with the system, my biggest question is getting the Amazon Gift Card into CASH
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    • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
      Been in TB$ for 10 weeks now and yes it can take a while to find profitable books. Then there are days like yesterday that I found $220 in under 3 hrs. You have to stick with this to develop your own strategy that works for you. I am at about 4K now and am running 2 other businesses online also. It is separate from TB Arbitrage but they go hand and hand. You can fund the book buying for the BA with the gift cards which is the best case scenario. You can also sell your trade in books to a 3rd party buyer who pays in cash. That is how you sift off dollars to convert. This system does work if you put in the time and don't quit. The guarantee is there for people who will not do those things and can't make it work for whatever reason...could be better IMHO! If anyone wants to talk to me shoot me a message and I will be glad to answer questions.
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      • Profile picture of the author unlimitedoptions
        bvbiz: is textbook money still working for you? How much on average are you making? It looks like you made $400 per week based on your review. Did it take you a few weeks to get started? Annualize your results and it looks like almost $21,000 yearly. How much time are you putting into this system? I'm not afraid to put in the time. Just want to know if it's legit or not.

        Thanks
        Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
    Any updates on experiences with this? BubbaShrimp?

    I just saw the webinar for this last night and am interested, but am wary of the "Gotchas!" like mentioned here.

    At a minimum, I know margins can be small so I'm wondering if it's worth it. A brief search of Amazon showed an impossibly slim profit margin: $2-3. And many showed no profit at all.

    JMBecker, doesn't their software help find books with a reasonable profit margin in a reasonable amount of time?

    Michelle
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  • Profile picture of the author John Garuti III
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  • Profile picture of the author Markus Nimocks
    Well, this is really disappointing. I was just about to pull the trigger on this. The webinar is certainly deceiving - they show every page of Amazon their magic plug-in finding $300 of profits. I guess if it seems too good to be true...

    If you Google "buy giftcards" you can find a few companies that do it. You can also sell them on eBay.

    Glad I decided to search the forum before I plunked down the money for this one. Hard to believe their two pages full of video testimonials are all fibbing, but most of them seemed to be early on in the process. Maybe this worked great when there was only a handful of people doing it, but now that there are dozens or hundreds, the competition has made it nearly impossible.
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    • Profile picture of the author ecomarbflipper
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      • Profile picture of the author bjallen
        ecombarbflipper, how much are you investing on the daily to make that $250? ROI was another of my concerns, and I sent a question to support, but their answer was "We have seen up to 100% ROI", which tells me nothing.


        Thanks!
        BJ
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      • Profile picture of the author RemyMartin
        When will people ever learn?

        The reason why gurus create these money-making method products -- is to make money off of people like you guys.
        Signature
        The money is the motive.

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      • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
        I am also in this and nobody is lying about their progress. Most are very thankful for this program and the guys running it do care to provide great training and help sessions weekly.

        The results shown are from the textbook season time when there are great deals...not a lie. Made my money back in about ten days. NOT A WASTE OF TIME!

        I checked those out and they are way less complete as this. Don't get cheap folks...this works!

        6% is not great but you are making about 25% profit w/o really doing a lot of work! If you need to cash out it is worth it. best to roll into more books and cash out by selling to 3rd party buyers who pay in cash.

        There are times that it seems like you can't make this work, but I do think this will be my main source of income coming this next year. The book arbitrage is probably what you'd like better. Combining the two can definitely get you to 100k no doubt! 200 plus testimonials of real people in 2 months don't agree with you!

        I pay $60 do get $1000 out. I can live with that! Best case leave most in and roll it over with buying more books and also now you can sell with this system also with 4x the roi. combine both methods to max it out! Nothing is perfect this is pretty dog gone good though! IMHO!

        I Disagree!

        TB$ does this already within the system!
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  • Profile picture of the author digichik
    The price and the monthly fee, if you didn't purchase on the webinar, are ridiculous. Another too good to be true.

    The other give away is he took the first 30 minutes of the webinar repeating himself about what we would be shown, instead of just getting to the point.

    I've learned to never trust the presenters who feel the need to pose in front of a Ferrari or Lamborghini, too pretentious. If your offer is real, your offer should need over the top props.

    I'm open to new ideas, but this is not effective or profitable for the time and money invested.

    A waste of time.
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  • Profile picture of the author connect2pro
    Is this Luke Sample the same Luke from Mailer Millionaire?
    Seems they were Matthew, Mark - Luke and Jon

    Mailer Millionaire was impossible, and no refunds. Support was nonexistent.

    I am glad I read these posts because the presentation is smooth, but something this E-Z and needs no technical skill is either over-loaded, takes way more time than its supposed to, and / or is a flash in the pan that will cost more to sustain than it profits.

    The testimonials seem honest but based on very little experience.

    That's too much to ask for a little search plugin anyway.
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    • Profile picture of the author ecomarbflipper
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    • Profile picture of the author Food Guru
      Originally Posted by connect2pro View Post

      Is this Luke Sample the same Luke from Mailer Millionaire?
      Seems they were Matthew, Mark - Luke and Jon

      Mailer Millionaire was impossible, and no refunds. Support was nonexistent.

      I am glad I read these posts because the presentation is smooth, but something this E-Z and needs no technical skill is either over-loaded, takes way more time than its supposed to, and / or is a flash in the pan that will cost more to sustain than it profits.

      The testimonials seem honest but based on very little experience.

      That's too much to ask for a little search plugin anyway.
      That's hilarious "Matthew, Mark - Luke and Jon" Seriously?? - remind you of any book in particular?
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      FoodGuru

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  • Profile picture of the author Markus Nimocks
    I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone else has experience with this product or can provide any further input. Anyone?
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    • Profile picture of the author nlanda
      This is the BEST program I have ever been a part of. The training is excellent, thorough, and on-going with weekly Q & A sessions. Jon and Luke have a heart to want folks to succeed and have done so much more than anyone else to ensure that their members are successful. I've made money with this, and can not wait till textbook season goes into full swing again next month. I'm not alone, either, there are over 200 video testimonials of folks that are making great money with this. Does it take work? Well, yes, of course it does, but it is easy work. There is nothing simpler, and as long as you follow the guidelines, you can't help but succeed.
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      • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
        Originally Posted by nlanda View Post

        This is the BEST program I have ever been a part of. The training is excellent, thorough, and on-going with weekly Q & A sessions. Jon and Luke have a heart to want folks to succeed and have done so much more than anyone else to ensure that their members are successful. I've made money with this, and can not wait till textbook season goes into full swing again next month. I'm not alone, either, there are over 200 video testimonials of folks that are making great money with this. Does it take work? Well, yes, of course it does, but it is easy work. There is nothing simpler, and as long as you follow the guidelines, you can't help but succeed.
        I agree. This is a very good program that has potential to be life changing. Are there some things I would like to be different? Sure, but the chance to make money daily from home w/o much risk changes those issues into non factors. Takes some faith and hard work plus you can't quit before making it. One of the guys that is now coaching for them is a perfect example. Most success stories have this in common.
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  • Profile picture of the author sparrow
    If you google this or even look at youtube there is many other people doing and teaching this for way less money with similar tools for finding the books

    The tools I saw in my opinion appeared to be more in line with what you will see in the actual amazon results for a much much lower price than what Lambo Luke showed, in my opinion it sounded to good to be true especially when he kept saying it's good to get amazon gift cards personally I want cash and he was way too hush hush about that

    I agree with ecomarbflipper about maybe looking multiple times per day to find the right books to make money it's the nature of the beast

    The only achilles heel to all of this is how to convert this to cash, it seems with all the research I did the information that is out there you will have to take as high as a 20% cut in many instances to convert the gift cards if you want to get the cash fast

    I've asked around about how Lambo Luke converts to cash and it's a big secret, why? it must be the big catch to why you should suspect too good to be true

    I even saw some sites now are no longer accepting amazon gift cards when in the past they did

    I see potential when all of this cools off, way too many people have been pumped up and finding deals at this moment are almost non existent

    But if this still interest you take a look at the youtubes about this for textbook arbitrage people have been doing this for a long time and take a look at their side of the story
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    • Profile picture of the author Lazar023
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      • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
        If you were making that video would you show the best or the worst it could be...?
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      • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
        Originally Posted by Lazar023 View Post

        So what?


        Others are reporting here that there are several different ways to transform those gift cars into cash?


        Aren't they saying that if you don't make AT LEAST money you payed for taking part in it (hm,997 dollars),that they'll refund you (even,as I remember,double refund you)?


        I know that system works.
        But just to see if it works as they tell on webinar...or somewhat differently.
        How are you doing this math? How do you get $152 from $800 profit? I'm not getting it?
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      • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
        Originally Posted by Lazar023 View Post

        So what?


        Others are reporting here that there are several different ways to transform those gift cars into cash?


        Aren't they saying that if you don't make AT LEAST money you payed for taking part in it (hm,997 dollars),that they'll refund you (even,as I remember,double refund you)?


        I know that system works.
        But just to see if it works as they tell on webinar...or somewhat differently.
        Sure they show this at it's best, but at it's worst it still makes you money at a pretty solid ROI. You buy a book for $75, you get back that $75 plus a $10-$30 profit. Not too bad but you have to be determined to make it happen. No push button method here!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rviewer0
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    • Profile picture of the author bubbashrimp
      Converting the Amazon gift cards to cash is contained in the course plus a new method has just been introduced.
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    • Profile picture of the author jjjones
      Here is one way you could convert to cash. But you need an accomplice with a store that accepts Amazon Payments.

      First off with the Amazon Trade In Program you do not get an actual gift card. The amount is added to the gift card balance in your Amazon account. So you can't sell the card on eBay or in any other marketplace.

      You also can not purchase a different gift card with your Amazon gift card. Amazon will not allow you (and its in their Trade In program terms.)

      So now that that is cleared up here is one way to convert to cash. I'm not saying this is what they are doing but it is one way it could be accomplished:

      Lets say you have an Amazon gift card balance of $78.25. You would contact a friend who has a store online that accepts Amazon Payments. Let's just call this store, Bo and Luke's Unicorn Wares. The way this store works is a little different from a regular eCommerce store. You don't browse the store for products. You send Bo and Luke an email and say, "hey I need an imaginary unicorn horn that costs exactly $78.25. Do you have one?" And lo and behold they do just happen to have one that costs exactly $78.25. So they send you a payment link for $78.25. You, being the smart consumer you are, pay with your Amazon gift card balance of exactly $78.25. Later that day, Bo and Luke, feeling bad that they sold you an imaginary Unicorn Horn decide to refund your purchase (minus a 6% imaginary Unicorn Horn restocking fee) and send you a Paypal payment for $73.55. You now have cash instead of a gift card and Bo and Luke have $78.25 (minus 6% processing fee) coming to them from Amazon Payments. And no unicorns were harmed during this transaction.

      Again, I'm not saying that's what they are doing.

      James
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  • Profile picture of the author bjallen
    I have been flipping books on Amazon for about a year now, but I am listing and selling through Amazon FBA. My min. profit is $20 per book, but I am only spending $4 to $8 per book usually. I was interested in this because of the convenience of being able to trade the books into Amazon for a faster payout, but if the Chrome extension isn't finding profitable books.... well, that's just disappointing.
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    • Profile picture of the author bubbashrimp
      This is not a defense of Textbook money but with Luke's system the margins are VERY tight as is the case with most arbitrage methods. What is profitable to one is not to another. Mathematically there is profit in the trades but you are not going to get $20 as a regular diet - more like $2 - $5 /trade. Still early for me but I'm not sure if this will make $100,000/year like the webinar spoke of.
      If your getting $20 NET PROFIT per book you are doing very well and its just a matter of how many times a day you can do that - hahaha.
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  • Profile picture of the author jafp1617
    Hi bjallen. What course did you took to make money selling textbooks? I'm glad I did not buy the textbook money course....
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  • Profile picture of the author Kaminszakr
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  • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
    It sounded oh so tempting, but...

    Between the price and the monthly fee, and the investment needed to buy those books in the first place so you can submit them as trade-ins (for gift cards no less), you'd have to find HUGE profit margins to make any money at all on this. Either that, or buy hundreds of books every month.

    And to make it easy, they offer the DFY service, at the "measly" cost of $2 per book. There goes your profit margin.

    And to buy all those books, just think about how much you have to invest up front!

    I asked about how much you needed for the cost of the books, and the only thing they mentioned was that you should just put it on a credit card...

    Plus, judging from Jmbecker's account and others I found online, the trade-in process sometimes doesn't go as smoothly as hoped for.

    BTW, I got the $10 ebook mentioned by Rviewer0, and it's short (a very good thing!) and has enough useful info to get started with this.
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    • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
      This is part of the learning and that was covered in the training you needed to watch.
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  • Profile picture of the author KingArthur
    Anybody else want to give their feedback?
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    • Profile picture of the author bubbashrimp
      Have you requested a refund?
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    • Profile picture of the author bvbiz
      Originally Posted by Pouyan Khosravi View Post

      Its a scam..Please do not fall for it..
      I made a mistake and lost so much money for it,,,
      It is definitely not a scam. There are too many people making too much money for that to be remotely true. Maybe the idea was from something else, but how many ideas have you had that were 100% from you? It works that all you need if you have enough of what it takes. Maybe not for everyone since we all have different motivations and make-ups. Not fair to judge this that simply! Message me and we can figure out why you feel this way.
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  • Profile picture of the author whatzit
    The word on the Amazon forum is that the textbook market is changing away from physical books and toward online access to the same material. The textbook publishers are pushing this to combat all the fake textbooks coming out of third world countries. They are losing big $ and frankly it's expensive to print the books.

    Imagine the money publishers will save putting out digital content instead of printing and binding heavy textbooks. Access will be controlled and prices will still be high.

    Anyway, the textbook market isn't a good long term play. Only a couple years left in it before it goes away altogether. Just thought you'd want to know.
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  • Profile picture of the author bjallen
    That sounds like a lot of speculation to me. As long as I am making good money and my books are selling, I am going to keep on buying books. My sons have the option of getting all of their textbooks in digital format, and they still buy physical copies of the books. I don't think books are going anywhere anytime soon.


    My business model is to turn the books around and sell them quickly, so there is no chance of me getting stuck with 2,000 textbooks that I can't sell. PS. The sky is not falling. LOL
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  • Profile picture of the author whatzit
    Didn't say the sky was falling. Just noting that the market will change and that it isn't a viable long term business model. Always best to stay informed and thus ahead of the curve.

    I'm still selling textbooks myself, just fewer, and only high value editions. After this coming fall, I'm out of playing with textbooks. Each to his/her own.
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    • Profile picture of the author bjallen
      I agree with you on being ahead of the curve, but I have no plans to stop selling textbooks as long as they are selling and making me money. Why would I stop selling something that is making me good profits? If the market changes, then I will change along with it, as I have had to do many times in my business already.


      I have been a business owner since 1996. Many times over, we have had to change direction as market situations have changed. It is the nature of being in business, and the only way to survive over the long term.


      Also, textbooks are only a part of my business. I sell other types of books, and other items as well. Diversity is key, so said someone...






      Originally Posted by whatzit View Post

      Didn't say the sky was falling. Just noting that the market will change and that it isn't a viable long term business model. Always best to stay informed and thus ahead of the curve.

      I'm still selling textbooks myself, just fewer, and only high value editions. After this coming fall, I'm out of playing with textbooks. Each to his/her own.
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