When digital publishing in its current state actually took off, a wide variety of companies formed around the different solutions it could provide. One of those companies, 1DollarScan, has thrived in the era of digital publishing thanks to a unique business model surrounding scanning of books and documents.
The company operates under two distinct strategies for its customers. On the one side, it offers businesses of any size the ability to digitize its stored content and files, saving them storage space and creating a safer method for storing and accessing company material. Of more use to average reading consumers is 1DollarScan’s other key feature, the ability to create ebook editions out of print titles that users already own; again, this ability to store and access the content is the real draw, as well as offering readers the chance to save their book files in the event of pending damage.
“Our service and customer base continues to grow substantially since our launch, and we believe we can contribute something important to the ebook market and its community through our services,” Hiroshi Nakano, the CEO of zLibro Inc, said in a press release. “I also hope to add more value to our services by complementing the increased quality and resolution that 1DollarScan offers while still remaining ecologically conscious as all books are recycled into new paper products.”
1DollarScan began offering an enticing model recently, its “Amazon Direct” option, which lets consumers order a print edition from any online book retailer, have it shipped directly to 1DollarScan, who will then send the consumer the ebook file in the format they need; the print edition is then destroyed, in order to guarantee there is no violation of copyright law, as the reader still owns only one edition of the book for the purchase price.
In honor of its second anniversary, 1DollarScan is offering new customers a buy-one-get-one promotion, in which they receive a coupon for a free service of similar value upon purchasing a scan of a title. While still offering a membership rate that saves consumers who have large quantities to digitize, 1DollarScan continues to offer its single-title stand alone rate, which is approximately one dollar per one hundred pages.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
