Best way to sell all of these books?

[Lynn_Bodoni]

My suggestion, echoing several above, is check a bunch on Amazon (don’t bother with Abe, Alibris, Biblio, etc.–Amazon price is the real-world price). Do the ones that have ISBNs; looking up the others will be more trouble than it’s worth unless you’re convinced you have a valuable item. Any that show on Amazon for $0.01 are kindling (or keep for sentimental value).

That said, it’s quite possible that even the Amazon price is bogus–since you have no way of knowing if any have sold at that price. Also, rare/pricey items sell less often (duh). Try eBay and check the completed auctions (also as suggested upthread) which will give you a better idea–if you can find one.

Actually, if you do a search on COMPLETED items on eBay, you can see if an item has sold, and what price it sold for. So there’s one way to check for the market value, or at least the approximate market value.

[Crime_Scene]

@NoCoolUserName

I have a hobby bookstore and sell on Amazon all the time–a couple of books a week, which is not big volume but I make a few bucks on it.

It sounds like you’d rather see them go to someone who will read them rather than use them for kindling. If so, selling them individually is the way to go; a bookstore will trash most and sell a few. Library donation is also a good option, they sell them at the annual extravaganza (I’ve bought many there) and then get rid of the rest.

My suggestion, echoing several above, is check a bunch on Amazon (don’t bother with Abe, Alibris, Biblio, etc.–Amazon price is the real-world price). Do the ones that have ISBNs; looking up the others will be more trouble than it’s worth unless you’re convinced you have a valuable item. Any that show on Amazon for $0.01 are kindling (or keep for sentimental value).

That said, it’s quite possible that even the Amazon price is bogus–since you have no way of knowing if any have sold at that price. Also, rare/pricey items sell less often (duh). Try eBay and check the completed auctions (also as suggested upthread) which will give you a better idea–if you can find one.

The literal bottom line: if you check 100 on Amazon and they’re all listed for under $10 it’s unlikely that you’re going to get enough to justify the effort unless you’re doing it for fun (which I am). On the other hand, if you’re getting some personal satisfaction out of the fact that the ones you sell are going to someone who will use them, it might be worth it.

I think I’m going to take this route; I always have extra time on my hands this time of year. The post office is about 7 miles away, which is the nearest town so I have to go right by it anyways.

[Morgyn]

@Lynn_Bodoni

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.

Out of curiousity, what game?

[Lasciel]

@Crime_Scene

I think I’m going to take this route; I always have extra time on my hands this time of year. The post office is about 7 miles away, which is the nearest town so I have to go right by it anyways.

If you’re interested in selling them online, you could also contact Thriftbooks.com - they have a whole slew of used books that they sell through lots of individual sellers - their prices are pretty universally low, but (to me) they have a much better organizational structure than Amazon Marketplace does. Might be worth checking out.

(full disclosure fyi - I have three like-new textbooks/scholarly nonfiction for sale in Amazon marketplace, all for significantly less than my competition has them listed, and have sold none of them in the 6 months they’ve been listed. It’s sad.)

[Lynn_Bodoni]

@Morgyn

Out of curiousity, what game?

Psi 5 Trading Company. I found a couple of old copies, bought them both (at six bucks each) and now I’m waiting for them to arrive to test them out. In fact, I’ve got a “Wanted to buy” thread in Marketplace, which I just updated.