Selling Books

[ssdeverell]

How do you get rid of your books? I have quite a collection of hard back books that I would like to sell. Is ebay the way to go? I saw someone mention half.com the other day. I looked on there, but I did not know how much business is really done on it. We have a McKays, but I would prefer to get money instead of trading for book credit.

Thanks,

 

[Forevryoung]

I have done quite a bit of "research" into this within the past few months as I had/have quite a few textbooks, hardcover, and paperbacks that I wanted to get out of my house.

The textbooks sold on Amazon easily and quickly (I was impressed). I went with Amazon because I found it easier than Half.com from a sell/mail point of view. Amazon takes a "large" cut but after half.com fees and paypal fees, it was about the same.

The hardcover and paperbacks I found to not be worth much- I would get around $2 (after fees/postage) for each book sold. In some cases, I would get less than $2 per book. It wasn't worth my time or gas to go that route through Half.com or Amazon.

I posted the majority of the books on paperbackswap and have since mailed out 3 books and I am waiting to receive my second book in the mail. I see it as paying $2.77 for a new book (the cost to mail my old one).

The only other way to make some cash is to have a good number of books by the same author and post it as a lot on Ebay. I have all 11 books in a series that I'm going to list this week the average for the set is $30. After fees, I'll still be making slightly more than $2 a book.

So, the moral of my long post is, do some real research into what each book is selling for at the lowest price, how much it will cost to ship, and what your true earnings will be.

 

[Justsyd2]

I either take mine to Half Price Books, and sell them, or donate them to my local library.

 

[schewy]

I always use Amazon or Half.com (actually ebay's textbook site). I have never had a problem with any purchases or sells on Amazon.
If you do choose to sell your books online make sure you check you postings each day. Most sites require you to ship the sold book within 2 business days.
Depending on the book it can sell really fast. Several of my books have sold within 2 hours of listing them becuase I tend to price lower for a book in, most cases, new condition.
Most sites are pretty user friendly. Just make sure you are comfortable with the actions the site makes you take in order to get paid. I never give any site my account numbers to accounts most of my money is placed in.

 

[3boymthr]

I do both ebay and my local used book store. There is a store in our town that pays cash for hard cover - non-best seller books (text books, etc.). they don't take best sellers believe it or not.

I also take books to our local "annie's" which has the credit system. I do this for books that are worth less than $2.00 on e-bay and for which I don't have a "lot" of books by the same author or of the same type. If it's worth less than $2.00 cash then the credit (usually around $1.87 for newer book) is more than I'd get from e-bay after fees.

 

[peggster]

You've gotten some good advice from previous posters, and I'll add a little bit to what they've told you.

1. Popular books can be hard to sell for much money. A good place to check is www.addall.com, where you can see how much books are selling for at different sites, including Amazon and Half.com. In my experience, if a book is selling for 75 cents or less, you're better off trading or giving it away.

2. I've actually had better luck selling with Half.com than Amazon. Amazon's fees are higher than Half's, but Amazon is better known and therefore can expose your books to more sellers. If you have a PayPal account, you can print the shipping label from home and avoid waiting in line at the post office. (This feature is more integrated with Half.com, but you can use it with either site.)

3. Paperbackswap.com is a great option for books that you can't sell. Contrary to the name, you can trade both paperbacks and hardcovers there.

4. If you just can't get rid of some books, consider donating them.

Good luck!

 

[mscoachung]

Cash4books.net

 

[Ava]

I have used both Half.com & Amazon to sell books. Usually I'll list them on both sites, to up my chances for a sale. Like a PP said, the fee structures are slightly different, but my net earnings end up about the same. (Amazon takes a higher % commission, but they also pay a higher shipping allowance.) If you want them gone quickly though, I'd just take them to a local used bookstore or donate to your library. From personal experience, paperbacks are not worth much of anything to a used bookstore, so those I'd just donate, but you may get something for the hardcovers.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I do not recall name (sorry) but there is a site where you basically list what you have that you want to trade for other books. Each person pays a flat fee to ship books......Heard good things about it but have no first hand experience to add though.
I usually wind up throwing out some paperbacks as local library does not even take them anymore and I give away whatever I can. 14 paperbacks sit right here now drives me crazy to ditch them....I think I may bag them and put it in craigslist as Curb Alert instead!!