I don’t think I was the brightest person at college, but when I heard my classmates complaining about how much they’ve spent on their textbooks, I couldn’t help but feel smart. While my colleagues were taking out larger loans to cover their books, I actually made $200 between my sophomore and senior years. In this article, I’ll share what I did to make money selling textbooks.
One of the biggest parts is initially buying your textbooks at a low price. It’s very hard to make any money when you overspend to begin with. Usually this involves buying online and at the right time. Please read my other article about buying textbooks here; it will teach you how to find them at the best price.
Also, keep a list somewhere, ie saved on your computer, of how much you bought your books for. It will be useful to have when you are selling your books back.
Now, imagine this scene with me – You’ve just finished your last final and are ready for your summer break. Students are lined up at the bookstores buy-back, selling their textbooks for cash. You hear someone mumble, about only getting $20 back for that $100+ book, but at least they got some money to pay for that pizza tonight. In this situation, don’t jump in line. They are selling to the wrong people at the wrong time.
Sell to the right people. The campus bookstore usually won’t buy your book back for very much. Sometimes other local bookstores (if they deal with textbooks) might. The best bet is to sell them online. After semester was over, I would jump online onto Half.com and see what the going rate is for each of my textbooks was. I would then take my books to the bookstore and ask them how much they would buy it for. If they were willing to buy it higher than my initial buying price or the price on Half.com, I’d sell it to them. If not, then I’d just tell them I want to hold on to them.
Then you would hold on to the books, at least until the semester is about to begin again. By waiting until August, you’ll be able to sell your books at a higher price because that’s when all the students are buying. The whole idea is supply and demand. In June, many textbooks are for sell at low prices and in August, there is a high demand for those same textbooks.
Find an online company, such as Amazon or Half.com to list your textbook. Find one that you are comfortable with. You’ll also want to see how they work shipping (if the seller pays or the buyer) and also commissions the site receives from your sell. Be honest with your listings with condition, edition, etc. Also note that some textbooks are harder to sell such as, Custom University Editions, International Editions and even Teachers Editions. You can do it, but usually you must sell them at a lower price.
You’ll be amazed with how much money you can save and even how much money make with textbooks. Remember that half the work is buying textbooks at a low initial price, so check out my buying textbooks article here.
