<p>Does anyone have any input on selling textbooks online? We have been the buyer but not the seller. Is it worth it? Is it better off just taking them to the college bookstore or nearby college used bookstore? If being the seller has been successful for you,can you point us in the right direction? Thanks!</p>
<p>I haven’t done it, but I’ve been looking into it. Amazon takes a cut - is it 15%? It’s probably where I would go, simply because people trust the site. Also, they automatically add on shipping costs. (It’s up to you, though, to make sure the add on is enough to cover an oversized book, and adjust your selling price if it isn’t.) You have to register a bank account with Amazon. That is what is holding me back. I need to open a new account just for this, because I am not willing to give them access to my regular accounts!</p>
<p>The shipping costs start at something like several dollars, which is why people can sell paperbacks for a penny. I guess Amazon doesn’t make anything off those books, but the seller gets $4.50 mailing costs or whatever, and it only costs a dollar or two to mail.</p>
<p>My D’s school, though, has just started a new online site that I need to investigate. It says students can sell textbooks there, too.</p>
<p>But I have a stack of old books other than college texts that I’d like to sell, so I still may go with Amazon.</p>
<p>Amazon is good.</p>
<p>Why do you want to sell your books? Are they books for your major?</p>
<p>We just bought “used” texbooks at the college bookstore and paid 75% of the new price, which seems high to me. I wonder what they typically pay the students!? The only advantage was we could look through the used textbooks and found some had lots of highligting and hand-written notes, while other books looked like the previous owner must have dropped the class early-on.</p>
<p>toledo, you can do the same thing on Amazon, the sellers have to state all the problems with the book–highlighting, hand-written notes, etc. </p>
<p>I started buying books from Amazon since my sophomore year in college, and I have never been disappointed.</p>
<p>I have sold a few books. My kids go to a private 6-12 school so I hand books down from one to the other and then try to sell to others, and as a last resort I sell them online. I have listed books on amazon and half / ebay. For textbooks I have had to pay more than the stock $3.99 shipping so factor that. I try to put a personal description unlike the standard one from the high volume sellers so the people have more reason to buy from me a low volume seller. The prices tend to fluctuate with lower prices earlier in the summer. The company our school uses as their “official” bookseller also buys back old books for I think 40-60% new which isn’t that bad. This year I was going to be away for a lot of the summer so I didn’t want an offer to come in when I couldn’t immediately ship the book so I sold through the school site.</p>
<p>I’ll let you know how it works out in 5 days. I spent all day yesterday listing books on Ebay. Some were college books and others were home school books. I didn’t want to do something like Amazon, because I just want the books sold and gone. By the way, I posted a ridiculous number of test prep books (AP & SAT subject tests), so if anyone wants my ebay name, pm me. :)</p>
<p>I’ve used textbooksrus.com with some success. Not sure if it is better or worse than the college bookstore but it is easier…kid just brings them home at the end of the semester and Mom deals with it. Of course Mom keeps the payment too!</p>
<p>I have sold most of my kids’ textbooks on amazon (these are ones they would never use again). Sometimes the schools wouldn’t buy back books if they were not being used again the next semester. Also, one of the kids’ schools wouldn’t buy back if you had bought used to start with.</p>
<p>I have had good luck with amazon. No, you don’t make a bunch of money off of them, but you get some money and they are out of the house (that alone makes it worthwhile to me)</p>
<p>I sell my textbooks on amazon all the time. Sell my kids’ books too. I find I get a better price than I’d get if I sold them back to the campus bookstore–which offers less than half the original price. </p>
<p>Amazon is convenient and easy to set up an account on. It’s worked great for me since I’m a distance education student and I couldn’t sell my texts to the local U’s bookstore anyway since they don’t offer the course of study I’m taking.</p>
<p>I have sold on Amazon (bought on Amazon, too). I have been very pleased.</p>
<p>I believe Barnes and Noble buys used textbooks. Check their site on line.</p>
<p>Those of you who use Amazon - did you just give them your bank account info, or did you open a new account for this? I’m paranoid about giving anyone access to my bank accounts.</p>
<p>I have a small checking account that I only use to put money in for transfer to the kids if they need something and for use with amazon. I am a little paranoid like you, binx—with this account, someone wouldn’t be able to get much!</p>
<p>I also use Amazon to sell books that my S no longer needs or wants. I keep my credit on account and then turn around and buy books using that for the next semester.</p>
<p>I am selling my kids books on Amazon also. I like not paying a fee upfront, and if I need something to go fast, I price competitively, and the books are gone. Amazon takes 20%, but I found it’s still much better than reselling back to college bookstores, where my D’s roommate once got under $2 for a $60 book.</p>