Quick Tips For Selling Used Books Online
In general, your used books need to be in good condition if you’re hoping to sell them online. That means they should have their original covers intact and not be missing any pages. It also helps if you haven’t written in the margins or highlighted any words, but some sites will still accept books with these markings.
Wondering how to sell used books online? There are few different sites that will let you do this, but we’ll take you through one with a fairly easy process: the AbeBooks Book Buyback program. They’ll buy new books, used books and textbooks. To get started, all you have to do is enter the ISBNs of the books you want to sell.
If you’re don’t know, an ISBN is the unique number assigned to a specific title and edition of a book. You can usually find it on the back cover of your book . You can enter up to 10 ISBNs into their search engine at once, but just note that AbeBooks doesn’t buy books without ISBNs.
Once you locate your book in their database, select the condition for every book you want to sell . Then, you can choose how you’d like to get paid and print your pre-paid tracking label. Box up your book using these packing guidelines and ship the parcel! You’ll get paid five to 10 business days after your shipment is processed.
Why Should You Sell Books To Booksrun
Fair buyback prices, friendly customer service, free shipping all of it in one service? With BooksRun, it is possible. You will simply sell books back, and we will take care of the rest.
Great prices
Buyback offers are updated daily. There is no shipping deadline so that you can recalculate the buyback order at any time.
Fast order processing
Prepaid shipping labels for all orders. Get cash just 4 days after your books has been received by BooksRun.
Wide range of titles
You can sell most of your books to BooksRun. We accept textbooks on all kinds of subjects, from law and biology to medicine and art.
Dedicated customer service
Issues with selling textbooks online? Reach us via email, phone, and live chat support. Professional customer support team is there for you.
What To Know Before You Buy Used Books
This might seem obvious, but, first of all, remember that used books are … used. That means someone has likely read them in entirety before and flipped through all those pages. You may see notes in the margins, highlighted passages and pages that are slightly stained or dog-eared. They may also come with “used” stickers or stamps on the cover, as well as multiple price stickers or markings from different bookstores.
If you’re buying used textbooks, keep in mind that newer editions may not always be available, and used textbooks rarely include additional materials like CDs, download codes for PDF versions and charts or other reference guides. If you’re studying something like English literature, this shouldn’t be a problem, but you might want to be careful if you’re in a field where information is rapidly changing, like medicine or engineering. In those cases, you should try to buy the most recent versions of textbooks whenever possible.
But finally, the one thing you need to know about buying used books is that it can really save you money. Even if you’re just looking for titles you’ve read at the library, you can usually score anywhere from a few dollars to almost the entire list price, just by buying used. So just keep that in mind the next time you shop.
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Best Websites To Sell Books Online
- Sellbackyourbook.com
- Half.com
- eBay.com
Choose the website you want to sell your books on. All of these websites have different procedures for selling your books.
Sellbooks.com is the easiest, and is the most difficult.
Sellbackyourbook.com: Sellbackyourbook.com is very similar to Sellbooks.com. The only difference is that Sellbackyourbook.com offers an extra 10% for your books.
Textbooks.com: Textbooks.com is a website that specializes in selling textbooks. They have a Sell Your Books section on their website to enter the ISBNs of the books you want to sell.
AbeBooks.com: AbeBooks is a website that sells new and used books. They have a Sell Books section on their website to searching by ISBN of the books you want to sell.
Bookdeal.com: Bookdeal.com is a service created to help people sell college books online. Sellers receive cash for their used college textbooks and buyers can find discounted new or used books.
eBay: You can sell all sorts of items on eBay, including books. Sellers have to pay a fee to list their book and then a final value fee if the book sells. The amount of the fees varies depending on the item being sold.
Check Multiple Sources Before Selling Your Used Textbooks
Comparing costs is an important life skill to learn, especially when it comes to managing your own money. Getting as much money back as possible for your books is a good place to start practicing this skill.
You may have to sell your books at different sites and stores to get the most cash possible. This can be a frustrating experience, especially if you procrastinate. The longer you wait to sell your books, the more dated theyll be and the less money youll get for them. To maximize how much you get back, try selling them as soon as the semester is over.
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Tips For Preparing To Sell Your Used Textbooks
If youre planning to sell your college textbooks, its important to keep them in good condition the state of your book determines how much youll be able to recoup when you sell it. Avoid marking the book, so dont highlight passages or write in the margins. Try to avoid eating or drinking while studying as well, and keep your book shelved when its not in use. Anything you can do to minimize wear and tear on the book as youre using it will help assure a maximum return once youre ready to sell it on.
Another important tip for selling your old textbooks is to do it as soon as youre finished with the book. Dont wait prices can and will drop when a book becomes less popular or if a new edition is released. While you leave it on your bookshelf, you could be losing any chance of reclaiming the money you spent in the first place. Given how pricey textbooks often are, thats no small chunk of change!
Decide What Type Of Books You Want To Sell
- Wholesale: Buy in bulk for lower prices online or at bookstore closings. You can also procure new books in larger quantities from distributors or publishers. You may not have total control over what you get, but you can get more books at wholesale costs.
- Local sources: Find used books by browsing local library book sales, used book stores, yard sales, and thrift shops. You may also discover collectible books at estate sales.
- Auctions: Seek out auctions, estate sales, or farm sales selling used or collectible books.
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Where Should You Sell Your Used Textbooks
If you are a student, you have a few options to sell your used textbooks:
College Bookstore: You think you over paid for your textbooks at your college bookstore? Well same goes for trading in your book at your local college bookstore. This is the absolute worst place to sell your used textbooks. You will often only get pennies on the dollar.
Online: This is a better option compared to a local bookstore or college bookstore. However, places like bookfinder bookscouter and any other textbook buyback business flavor of the month are just that businesses. So they need to make money.
To make money, they need to act as a middle man , and as such, they will likely buy back your textbook for pennies on the dollar as well. With that said, you should get a little more with one of these businesses compared to your college bookstore.
eBay: This is a great marketplace to sell your textbooks if you want to unload them very quickly. eBay is great for selling things quickly, however, the market price is often very low, so you wont likely make much selling your used text books.
Craigslist: Now we are getting to a better option for selling your used textbooks. Craigslist can be a good way to get a fair market value for your textbook. The drawback is it is hit or miss.
In fact, I typically only used craigslist to buy cheaper textbooks to then resell on Amazon!
Choose The Right Shipping Method
While resellers cover the books shipping for you, if youre going to sell directly to buyers, you must pack and ship each book one by one or per order. To cut down on shipping costs, especially if you plan to offer free shipping to buyers, send your books media mail.
Media mail is one of the most cost-effective shipping methods. Its available from the U.S. Postal Service, and you can only use it to ship media materials such as books, DVDs, and CDs. The shipping method takes a bit longer than other options, usually between two and eight days.
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How To Sell Textbooks Online
When it’s time to sell back textbooks, our three-step process makes it simple:
That’s all there is to it! Once we receive and inspect your books, we’ll pay you via your choice of cash, PayPal, or store credit. It’s never been easier to sell college textbooks.
Can You Rent Textbooks Online In Canada
Need new textbooks this semester? Looking at the price tags might make you a little queasy, since they usually cost anywhere from dozens to hundreds of dollars and that’s just for one book. If you’re taking a full course load , you can expect to shell out close to a month’s rent every year on new books. Macleans reports that the average Canadian student spends $773 a year on books, which is why many students are opting to buy used textbooks or simply rent their books for a semester.
Many campus bookstores give you the option to buy used textbooks , and many also have rental programs. Some also let you buy direct downloads of textbooks and other course materials which can save you TONS if you don’t mind reading from PDFs all year.
You can also rent or buy used textbooks through Bookmob.ca. Their slogan is literally “Canada’s Textbook Destination,” and you can search their database by title, author or ISBN to find the books you need. You can rent textbooks through Bookmob whenever you don’t need to keep a book after your course is done and you meet these other criteria. Just sign up for an account online, select the rental option and a return period as you shop for textbooks on their site. You can even highlight sections of the books and take notes in the margins. As long as your textbooks don’t sustain any serious water damage, broken spines or lost covers, you should be able to mail them back using the return label included in your account.
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List Your Books On Amazon
- Type the book’s ISBN code into Amazon’s search bar. If the book was printed before 1970, enter the title manually.
- Once on the product listing page, click the “Sell on Amazon” button.
- Enter the SKU. This can be an SKU of your choice, or if you leave it blank, Amazon will generate one for you.
- Select your price. To match the lowest price, simply click that button.
- Enter the total quantity. The default is one unit.
- Choose the condition. It’s vital to be 100% honest about the quality of each book.
- Select your fulfillment channel .
Decide How You Will Fulfill Orders
- Merchant Fulfilled Network You store inventory, pack, and ship books independently.
- Fulfillment by Amazon You ship books to an Amazon Fulfillment Center, and they do the rest for you. FBA includes storage, packing, shipping, customer service, and returns. Using FBA to ship your products is also the easiest way to get the Prime badge for most offers. Many Amazon customers look for products with the Prime badge because it represents fast, free shipping.
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Sell Used Textbooks In Person
Selling used textbooks in person can get cash in your pocket easily and quickly. This is the best option if you want to avoid the hassle of entering all the information about your used textbooks online, print shipping label and then ship them out to the vendors you want to sell them to. If you are thinking Where can I sell used textbooks near me?, then you have several options, listed below, to consider.
Take Them Back To The Bookstore
Higher education expert Denise Thomas of Get Ahead of the Class says the easiest and fastest way to sell college textbooks is to sell them back to your college bookstore. However, this strategy will require the least amount of effort on your part, so you won’t necessarily maximize your earnings if that’s your goal.
“This is usually the least dollar amount youll receive,” she says. “They expect to make a profit when selling your used textbook to the next student.”
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Where To Sell Used Textbooks Online
There are plenty of used textbook buyers, used book buyback vendors, or online sites that will buy used textbooks online. Here are some of the best places to sell used textbooks online. Make sure to check out as many of these best used textbook buyback sites as possible and compare buyback offers to ensure you get a good deal.
Sell College Books Online In 2022 The Best Ways
When you think about selling college books, you probably envision an easy way out a mailing in your college book for money. This is an easy and popular way for college bookstores to make money, but it doesnt work for everyone. It cannot be easy to find a buyer, especially if your book is older. Here are some other ways to sell college books.
The best way to sell your college books is to sell them as early as possible, preferably before starting a new semester. If you sell your college textbooks at the beginning of a new semester, they might not sell very well. However, if you sell them later in the fall, you might have better luck. You can also wait until after New Years to sell your textbooks. Some people who buyback textbooks during New Years end up getting more books than they need because they run out before the new semester begins.
Another way to sell college books is to sell used college textbooks. This works better for those who dont plan on using their books for a long time. Frequently, students sell their used textbooks at a college book store for less than what theyd paid for them. Sometimes the college bookstore will buy up all the used college textbook rental that they sell and then re-sell them themselves. This is one-way colleges help their campus, even if the money doesnt always go in their pocket.
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Used Textbooks = Cheap Textbooks
Buying used compared to retail textbooks can save you hundreds of dollars each quarter or semester. Paired with our textbook rental service, buying used textbooks can save you up to 90% off of the retail prices. With some textbooks priced at hundreds of dollars, going with a used book from Chegg can offer significant savings, especially if your shopping list contains multiple books. Dont settle for inflated campus bookstore prices.
Sell Your Books Direct
Silvermann also says you don’t have to use a middleman if you don’t want to, and that one of the best ways to get the best price is to sell your textbooks to other students.
Many of your underclassmen will need the same textbooks you used last semester for this semester, he says. By selling directly, you can avoid paying a commission on a reseller site and get a good price.
How can you connect with potential buyers? Silvermann recommends putting a notice on your dorm bulletin board or on any social media pages.
“Just remember to state that returns are not permitted, as you dont want any students coming back for a refund if they decide to drop the class.”
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Other Tips For Selling College Textbooks
While it makes sense to wish you could get back some of the money you spent on college textbooks, Dr. Rikki Turner says it’s crucial to keep resale in mind once you start using your book at the beginning of the school year.
“In order to sell books, you will need to keep them in good condition,” says Turner. “The condition of your book can also affect how much you can make selling your used books.”
For the most part, this advice requires you to avoid writing or highlighting in your books, and to take special care not to bend or rip any pages. At the end of the day, you should use your book lightly and with care in order to keep it in excellent condition.
Also, make sure you know that time is of the essence if your goal is selling last year’s books for top dollar or at all. In other words, don’t wait any longer than you have to.
“Course materials can change over the years, and bookstores are more likely to purchase your book if the school they serve are still using it in classes,” says Turner.