After being in college for three years, I have learned a lot about selling textbooks. I will do anything I can do make a few extra dollars back, or save a few dollars when buying books, so I’ve done lots of research and testing. I’ve tried to sell textbooks to several different websites, some with luck, and some not so much. However, I have been able to make a lot more selling to websites than I would have made selling books back to the bookstore. Based on my experience, here are the top 3 Places to Sell Your Used Textbooks to:
1-Facebook Marketplace
The Facebook marketplace is where I have managed to make the most money back from selling my used textbooks. You can list your books by ISBN number or title, and people can message you if they have any questions or are interested in buying them. This is an especially great way to sell your books because you can typically sell them to students who are at the same university as you (through the Facebook network) and then you can just meet them to exchange the book for money. By doing that, you get paid cash or check which you can immediately cash, and you also don’t have to worry about shipping the books. I would definitely recommend giving this a shot!
2- http://bookbyte.com/
Bookbyte is a great website to sell your used textbooks to. You simply go to the site, put in the ISBN number and the site tells you how much you can get paid. While the rate may not be as high as you would like, I can guarantee that it will probably be more than your local bookstore will offer you. It is a simple and easy process, if you decide to sell your textbook to Bookbyte, they cover all shipping charges, so all you have to do is print out the shipping information and put your books in the mail. You get paid once they receive the books and make sure that you shipped what you said, but they are very accurate about paying quickly and the money can be deposited directly to your Paypal account.
When all else fails, I usually go to Ebay to sell my old textbooks. Since this is a site that you can sell virtually anything on, you will probably have decent luck selling your used books. You may not be as profitable selling on Ebay as you will selling to a site like Bookbyte, however there are some books that Bookbyte won’t buy, and Ebay does not discriminate. It’s worth trying to sell your books on Ebay because you never know who might be searching for it.
So there are my tips for the 3 best places to sell your used textbooks. If it sounds too difficult and you just want to sell them back to the bookstore, then go for it, but I am telling you from experience that you won’t be as profitable as you could be.
