I live in a rural area in the Midwest, so there isn’t an abundance of used book stores. I don’t know much about how they work so I have a few questions. Do any of them give cash for books or do they just do store credit? Also, what is the best way to go about selling them online?
I literally have thousands of used books, almost exclusively non-fiction and in great condition. I have a kindle now and mainly use it to do my reading and my wife has put her foot down about the entire room the books are taking up. Any advice is greatly appreciated, and if you’re interested in perhaps buying a collection let me know. I have my degrees in history, so that is the most dominant topic.
First, lower your expectations about their worth. Then halve that.
Individual titles that you believe will bring good prices can be sold individually, using eBay or half.com or Amazon, but that’s a lot of work. If you can use a tax deduction, consider contributing them to your favorite library’s annual book sale. You may want to put the most recent titles in a couple of boxes and drive them to a town that has a good used bookstore. Don’t forget college towns, which these days are the last bastion of used bookstores.
Finally, look in the Sunday books section of the nearest big-city newspaper for little ads saying “libraries bought and sold.” Check with the used booksellers to see if they’re willing to come out and make an offer.
Even that is quite generous. If a book is in demand, then you might get a dime or quarter for it at a used book store. A collector will pay more, but condition is crucial, and what most people think of as “great condition” is actually more like acceptable. This is assuming that the book was a general release item, and that it’s not very rare or very old.
Learn about how to grade books. Then do some searching on Amazon and eBay for books of the same title, and see what other people are asking. On eBay, you can also do a search of completed auctions, and find out how much the books are actually selling for.
Example: there’s a vintage computer game that I want. Yes, I know you’re talking about books, but the principle is the same. Anyway, I search for this game on eBay periodically. There’s one guy who has a copy of this game, new old stock (this means that it was never even opened), and it’s in Mint condition. Yeah, it’s nice…but I’m not about to pay $80 bucks for a vintage game. On the other hand, apparently the fair market value is somewhere above $15, because that was my max bid when someone else put up the same game in Fine condition, and the person who bid half a buck more won the game. The guy who wants eighty bucks has had the game up for sale for some months now, while the guy who started his auction at six bucks sold the game in less than a week.
My point is, most people will price their items way too high. Even if an item is in Mint condition (and Mint has a specific meaning), if the buyers don’t value the item that highly, it’s not going to sell well. You need to decide whether you want money and you’re willing to wait for it, or whether you want the space back.
You MIGHT luck out and find a collector who is particularly interested in history, and who needs your books. But that’s unlikely.
Thank you all for your input; it is greatly appreciated and enlightening. I figured there isn’t a big demand for old fashioned books with the market moving towards e-readers. For me, it isn’t so much about the money, but the space. I’m moving my mother in and we need my library/office redesigned as her living quarters.
I have a huge emotional attachment to my books. Even though I’ve read some of them three and four times I still love to have them on hand. Plus, they are great bartering tools for dvds or books I’d like to read as collateral on getting them returned. Books are truly the only material possession I collect and take care of, so getting rid of them is causing me some stress. I need, I guess, to just keep three or four book cases and liquidate the rest.
Most of the books are hardcover. While I wouldn’t say they are in mint condition, but they are in great shape; most of them would pass as new.
The stores I know will buy books, but you get less than the amount of store credit they would give you. So if the store has books you want credit would be the way to go.
I did something similar last year. I reduced my book collection by two thirds. Feels kind of naked but you get used to it.
Selling used books is work. Even big stores will only take probably a quarter to a half of your books, give you some cash (less value than credit), and then you still have a stack of books to do something with. And for you it is going to be a drive and perhaps a day waiting around. You don’t want to mail them out one at a time to online buyers either.
If it isn’t about the money I would ask your public library if they would like first crack at them. Then offer them on craigslist. Then offer them on freecycle.
My library has a fundraiser at least once a year in which they sell donated books they can’t put into circulation. Maybe yours does too.
If the OP’s main concern is decluttering, then store credit isn’t going to be very helpful. I’d suggest the OP look online at Amazon and ABEbooks. Some out of print titles could be worth 10 or 20 bucks each. The more obscure, the better.
I’m also in the same space. 18 months ago we moved. And with us moved more than 100 medium-sized boxes of books. Quoth our movers, “You guys have more boxes of books than anyone we’ve ever moved.”
But with our transition to ebooks recently I’ve been opening boxes (still unopened from the move!) and taking them to our local library. I suppose I’ll get a write off but they seem very appreciative and it’s doing good in the world.
Plus, think how much simpler it will be should we move again.
Take the plunge. Go paperless. Things are just a burden. Unburden yourself from their tyranny.
Throw them away. Put them in the recycle bin. Give them to your library for their used book sale. Call the local hospital and ask the volunteer department if they want used books. Same with nursing homes.
Bottom line is they aren’t worth much money-wise (I can’t speak to your emotional attachment) so don’t spend much time getting rid of them.
If your collection includes any sets of books by famous authors, you might be able to package them up and sell them that way.
I sold off all my Stephen King hardbacks in one big lot a few years ago. There were about 20 books in the lot, and I got $100 for it on eBay. I was pretty happy with that. I’m very sure I wouldn’t have got anywhere near to $5/book if I’d sold them all individually.
Also, if you have any specialty press books (e.g. Easton Press) those will probably sell well.
You might be able to get some decent money off Amazon for the non-fiction if they’re academic. I’ve been able to sell a few hundred dollars worth of used bucks on Amazon, but yeah, those were all academic books. They sell in waves, usually in August, December, and March–when school starts up.
If they’re just basic non-fiction, something like 1776, give them away or recycle them. The money you get back will not be worth the cost/effort.
BUT, check to see if they have any Amazon trade in value. You may only get $.50, but because Amazon pays for shipping you really aren’t out much money, just try to send them off with as few shipments as possible.
You prepare listings and ship your books to Amazon. Amazon will store your books, take orders, ship the books, do customer service – sort of a consignment system. One big advantage is that buyers who have Amazon Prime don’t pay for shipping, so your book is going to be $3.99 cheaper for those buyers.
Last time I checked, you can send all sorts of things by media mail…cassette tapes, movies (Blu-Ray, DVD, even VHS), computer programs on physical media, etc. That’s why it’s called media mail. You can’t enclose a letter, unless you also affix a first class stamp, but you can enclose a packing slip.
If you would like to make some money from your books, by all means check them out. My wife once wanted to get a book that was written as a third-party add for a software program called Fontographer which I think is now legacy, but in searching around online for it she found it ran $300 a copy. Shocked her, but apparently it was out of print. Hell, I have a paperback called “Magicians of Gor” that has been sitting on my shelves for a decade or two, I checked it out on Amazon recently and a copy of the same book (first printing, so is mine) sold for 48 bucks on Ebay. So … pays off to check ebay and Amazon prices out.