Profit margin > 1500%

About a year ago, the student union library was cleared out a less popular chunk of their collection. All books were piled into boxes and marked A$2 each, or $7 for four. After giving them a quick glance, it did not come across as surprising to see that no one loans these books.

An image of a race car caught my eye; race cars always get my attention. The book was an Autocourse book, the definitive Grand Prix annual book. I dug around, and found 3 more of these. Going on their reputation alone, I decided to buy all four of them. $7 is a decent price to pay for a few infrequently loaned, library maintained books.

They were 4 books from the late 80s, the era of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet. It was also the start of the turbo era, where 1.5 litre engines were turbocharged to produce up to 1500 bhp (BMW).

Today, I had a sudden impulse to approximately valuate these 4 books. Ebay was used to give me a rough guide.

These same books are going for US$ 30 each.

At another site, which probably sells stocks of brand new books, these editions sell for US$95 to US$150. Muahaha!