Scout FAQ

Scouting is buying and selling: you find used books out in the world and buy them with your own money, then we buy the ones we want from you at the price our app quoted. You are an independent reseller, not an employee. You decide if, when, where, and how much you scout. There are no set hours, no minimums, and no assigned routes.

In practice it is scan, batch, submit, drop off, get paid. Scan a book to see our live quote, add it to a batch, submit the batch when you are ready to lock the prices, then get the books to us. The sections below cover each step in detail.

The one rule that matters

A price is only locked when you submit the batch to us. Until you submit, every price you see is indicative and can change, because our prices update over time and a rescan gets the current rate.

The two 7-day windows

• Scan to submit. Each book has 7 days from the day you scanned it to be part of a batch you submit. A book not submitted within 7 days of its scan goes void and needs a fresh scan at the current offer. Taking a book out of an unsubmitted batch just puts it back on live pricing; re-add it later and it takes the current rate, and it may no longer qualify.
• Submit to drop off. Submitting locks every price in the batch, and those locked prices are valid for 7 days. Get the books to us within 7 days of submitting.

If you mail a batch

Mailing is fine. What matters is the carrier, not the postbox: tracking has to show the carrier accepted the package within 7 days of when you submitted. Meet that and you are paid the locked price for every book that passes inspection. Later than that, the books need to be rescanned and requoted, which can raise, lower, or void the offer.

After you drop off

We inspect the batch. Books that pass are paid at their locked prices, and you get an itemized invoice recording what we accepted and the amount. Payment goes to your e-Transfer email, normally within 3 working days and at most 7. Books that do not pass inspection stay yours: take them back on your next drop-off, or ask us to donate or recycle them.

Practical habit: scan, batch, and submit as you go, then drop off within the week.

Ask us for approval before buying any book quoted above $100.

You are an independent reseller, so you handle your own taxes. We do not withhold tax or issue employment slips. We keep records of what we buy from you and pay you, and you get an itemized invoice for every purchase.

Our rule is simple. If we have a GST number from you, we treat it as though you have extended your GST registration to cover the books you sell us. The only thing you decide is whether to give us the number.

This matters most if you drive for a ride-share service such as Uber or Lyft, because those drivers already have a GST number: you have to register from your first fare. On its own, that registration covers the driving and nothing else. The CRA’s GST/HST Info Sheet GI-196 puts it this way: “A small supplier who makes taxable supplies of commercial ride-sharing services and other taxable supplies, generally will have a registration that only applies in respect of their commercial ride-sharing services unless they request otherwise.” It adds that these drivers “are not required to charge the GST/HST in respect of other taxable supplies, nor are they entitled to claim input tax credits (ITCs) in relation to those supplies…”. Giving us your number is how you extend the registration to cover the books you sell us.

One more thing worth knowing: the $30,000 small-supplier threshold looks at your income across all your businesses together, not each one on its own. The CRA says “If the combined total annual revenue from taxable supplies of commercial ride-sharing services and other taxable supplies exceeds $30,000 (for example, $20,000 for commercial ride-sharing services and $15,000 for other taxable supplies), the self-employed commercial ride-sharing driver is not considered a small supplier and is required to charge and collect tax on all revenues from their taxable supplies…”. So if you are already over $30,000 from driving, you are required to charge GST on your book sales too, which makes giving us your number the path for you.

So you have two paths (unless the $30,000 rule above already decides for you):

• Give us your GST number. We treat your registration as covering your book sales, and we pay 5% GST on top of every payment for you to remit to the CRA. A batch with $100 of locked prices pays you $105, and the invoice shows the $5 against your number.
• Leave it blank. We pay the listed prices with nothing added.

Registered or not, you take home the same amount for the same books, and you can add or update your number later in your payout details. There is no BC PST on books.

Not sure which is you? Read the CRA guidance linked above, or ask an accountant. We are booksellers, not accountants or tax advisors. The wording above quotes the CRA directly. Your GST registration, returns, and remittance are yours to manage, and we are not responsible for your tax affairs.

You can scan with the camera built into the app at any time, no equipment needed. If you would rather use a dedicated Bluetooth barcode scanner, you may request a loan scanner for a free two-week starter loan. Loan scanners are optional and limited, so requesting one does not guarantee you will get one.

• If you are selected for a loan scanner, you pick it up at our Surrey office, where we do a quick ID check for security while our equipment is on loan to you.
• Scanners must be returned within 14 days of our request or your account closure, whichever is sooner.
• After the starter period, or if you are not selected for a loan scanner, you can keep scanning with your phone's camera, or buy your own Bluetooth scanner: our recommended model is on the scout resources page. Loan scanners are always returned, not bought.
• Returned units go to the next new scout. Normal wear and honest failures are on us. A unit that is lost, damaged beyond wear, or not returned costs the replacement price, capped in your Scanner Loan Agreement. That is a separate amount you owe us; we do not deduct it from the payments we owe you for books.

Setup and troubleshooting for the scanner live in your dashboard resources. If you are stuck, bring the unit to your next drop-off and we will sort it there.

You can close your scout account at any time, from the Close account tab in your dashboard. Here is exactly what happens, step by step. It is the same wind-down set out in your Scout Agreement.

1. You request closure. Tell us in the dashboard, with a reason if you want. That starts the wind-down.
2. Your access ends. We deactivate your account. You keep read access to the dashboard so you can still see your final payout and records.
3. Final payout of accepted batches. We still pay you for every batch we already accepted, at the locked prices, to your e-Transfer email.
4. Deliver outstanding books. Submitted batches can still be delivered until the earlier of their original deadline and 7 days after you close. After that, those quotes lapse.
5. Return your scanner. If you have a loan scanner, it must be returned within 14 days of our request or your account closure, whichever is sooner, per your Scanner Loan Agreement. Its replacement terms apply if you do not.
6. We handle your data. We keep the records the law requires (purchase and tax records) and delete the rest within the time the law allows. The details are in our privacy policy.

We buy books that match their scan and are in honest resale condition. Normal used-book wear is fine. What we decline: water damage, mold, missing pages, a broken binding, and heavy highlighting, marking or annotation (light to moderate marking over no more than about 15% of a page is fine), plus completed student workbooks. We also decline instructor editions, international and foreign-market editions (including region-marked books, for example one marked for sale in the Indian subcontinent), incomplete or partial sets, advance reading copies, and counterfeit copies. The full list of what we accept and what we decline is on the condition standards page in your dashboard resources, and the standard that applies to a book is the one in effect when you scanned it.

If a book is borderline, message us before you buy rather than after. See Contact and support below for how to reach us.

The quickest way to reach us is through your dashboard, or by email at [email protected]. That is also where formal notices go, rather than to any individual person.

The scout program is currently limited to the Vancouver, BC area. If you are not sure whether something is covered here, ask; we would rather answer a question than have you guess.