<p>My bookshelves are overflowing and, truth be told, I’m at a time in my life where I’m looking to downsize. If I bring books over to the local used book seller, he just insults everything and offers me a pittance. I’ve also donated books to the local library, but I was thinking I’d like to start selling some. Has anyone had success on Half.com or any other online venue?</p>
<p>I’ve sold books on and off thru Amazon for about 5 years. Mostly textbooks once I or my Ds are done with them. I’m also in the process of listing my late husband’s professional library for sale. (Specialty field–very limited market.) I’ve been successful in selling between 1/2-2/3 of the books I’ve listed so far.</p>
<p>One of the libraries I work at is also using Amazon and a couple of other sites to sell specialty books (which have been donated) for a higher price than they would typically get thru a used book sale locally.</p>
<p>Older paperbacks and most older hardbacks, fiction and non-fiction alike, are a tough sell, often selling for a couple of $$ for HBs and pennies for PBs. If they sell at all.</p>
<p>So the success of re-selling—it all really depends on what kinds of books you’re selling.</p>
<p>BTW, with any of the online used book markets, the seller is the one who does the packaging and mailing and bears the cost. Amazon (and I’m sure all of the others too) collect a set fee as reimbursement for your shipping costs, which may or may not cover your actual costs. </p>
<p>There is also a requirement that you ship the books within 48 hours of a buyer initiating a sale. (So consider whether you’ll be able to get to the PO of UPS within a short time window before listing a book.)</p>
<p>I’ve found it more cost effective to create a list of books, then check a few sites to see if a book is listed and its price. If there are many copies listed and the prices asked are low, then I donate the books and take the tax write off. If there are only a few or no copies, it’s worth listing the book for a trial 3 months to see if there’s any demand. Generally speaking if the book doesn’t sell within that period, it’s not going to.</p>
<p>Powells.com is also a good site to use.</p>
<p>I have been doing this for a few years- I read most of my books electronically now ( I can see much better with the backlighting on my ipod/laptop)
My memory is so bad, that even the books I have read before are like brand new to me!</p>
<p>When I was growing up I loved books but we had very few, so I have been going overboard ever since. however…
we never did upgrade to a larger house & I am not going to do it now. I wont get rid of any of my bookshelves- but I can’t make room for new ones either- I would rather have windows.</p>
<p>If you have 1/2 price books in your area, they take almost all used books, I also have sold books through Amazon & donated some to youth centers, jails etc.</p>
<p>[How</a> to Get Rid of Old Books - wikiHow](<a href=“http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Old-Books]How”>4 Ways to Get Rid of Old Books - wikiHow Life)</p>
<p>I use BookFinder.com ([Sell</a> textbooks and used books - Buyback comparison @ BookFinder.com](<a href=“http://www.bookfinder.com/buyback/]Sell”>Sell textbooks and used books - Buyback comparison @ BookFinder.com)). You enter the ISBN and get a list of offers from various booksellers. I just entered the ISBN for the 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, and received offers ranging from no offer from TextbooksRUs to $8.83 from Amazon. Offers from ValoreBooks, BookByte, AbeBooks, and eCampus ranged from $2.10 to $3.00. They all provide a free label, so all you have to provide is a box. Textbooks get much better offers–I’ve gotten over $70 for some.</p>
<p>S has sold a lot of textbooks on Half.com. Never had a problem with it.</p>
<p>I have had great success selling books online. I have used Amazon.com and Half.com. I like Amazon better. </p>
<p>For the books that have no real market on either of these two sites, I use bookscouter.com (similar to bookfinder.com, but with 44 potential online buyers) to tell me highest used buybacks. These buyers usually pay shipping, if amount is over a certain limit. You pack and ship. </p>
<p>The last place I try to sell is Half Priced Books- yes, they will take just about any media (print, CD, tape, VHS and DVD) but they do not give the best prices. </p>
<p>I have also found that the market for used books fluctuates daily. Particularly in the area of textbooks. Top prices paid in July/August and Nov/Dec- just before the start of semesters. </p>
<p>For CDs and DVDs, I have had success with Secondspin.com and Cash4CDs.net.</p>
<p>I’ve sold them on half.com and had a lot of luck - especially for text books. If you sell on there make sure you price yourself accordingly. I always tried to set my prices so that I showed up on the main viewing page with the best 4 or 5 prices in each category because if your prices are too high you won’t show up in there and they will have to do some additional clicking to bring up the rest of the higher priced listings… and why would the buyer want to pay more for the same thing.</p>
<p>With textbooks, the timing of when you list them can affect the value significantly. You want to list them when the demand is high, like the beginning of the semester, and offer fast shipping options (get a postage scale). Then you will be getting optimal price.</p>
<p>Don’t forget craigslist. I have left stuff out front for folks to pick up and leave the money in my mailbox. I figure if I get stiffed a few bucks it isn’t a big deal and less hassle than having to package and mail. I have never been dtiffed, btw. I have found that with half.com that they do not usually reimburse you the full amount of shipping, so if you sell a book for less than $3 or $4 it really isn’t worth the effort, imo. I have had luck selling lots of books on ebay. I just bundle by category: ie chick lit, kids, scifi, etc and list.</p>