As an English graduate, I ended up with a huge collection of classic literature. Selling them back to the school bookstore for a decent price was out of the question since they offered very little compared to what I had originally paid. Letting them sit idle didn’t feel right either, so I often wondered if it would be better to just sell them for whatever cash I could get.
Initially, I thought my only options for selling these books were through the school bookstore or websites like half.com. Both options were not only time-consuming but also not very profitable. I found myself selling books at such low prices that the shipping costs were higher than what I got from the sale.
I was close to just recycling my books when I came across websites where I could sell them almost instantly. These platforms offered set prices for gently used books and credited the amount to your PayPal account within a few days after receiving the books.
For someone like me with a lot of books to sell, these sites were perfect. Here’s why:
No need to create listings: Traditional methods required me to list each book individually with detailed descriptions—a painfully long process. On book-buying websites, I just had to enter the ISBN number, and my book was identified automatically.
No hidden fees: Sites like Amazon, Half.com, and eBay come with extra charges that cut into your profit. Book-buying websites, on the other hand, pay you exactly what they promise, and sometimes they even offer coupons for an extra 10% in earnings.
Immediate selling: On the other sites, I had to wait for someone to buy my book before shipping it. Sometimes my listing would expire before a sale happened, meaning I’d have to relist. But book-buying sites would immediately tell me if they wanted my book.
Fast payment: These platforms processed payment within one to three business days after receiving my books.
So, where can you sell your books online? Websites like Cash4Books, TextBooksRUs, and SellBackYourBook are good options. Since no single site accepts every book, you can use BookScouter.com to compare offers across different websites.
Some sites do have a minimum requirement, like $10 or $15 worth of books before they allow you to ship them. If you have a lot of books to sell, this shouldn’t be an issue.
My personal experience with these sites has been fantastic. After having my books take up space in the garage for so long, selling them turned out to be a simple and rewarding process.