Using eBay to Sell and Buy School Books

If you’re getting ready to head back to college and hate spending all that money on your school books I can completely understand. It doesn’t have to be as bad as we all make it out to be however; because if the price is what hurts your wallet I would suggest you use online sites such as ebay to help. A lot of colleges allow you to look up your book list long before you have the class and as a result you could look on a site like ebay to find a used version of the book for a hell of a lot cheaper than you would have to pay for the new book in the college book store.

While this does help your wallet in the long run, it does not allow you to resell your books to your college book store in most cases, because you don’t have the mark of that bookstore on them. This isn’t a problem however; because with site like ebay, they make the ability to resell very easy. As long as you clearly state your book’s condition and its appearance to the buyer you will do fine. Don’t expect to make a large profit and price things Farley. You have to understand that the buying will be looking for the cheapest book and as a result you should look at all listings of a used version of the book and list yours accordingly. This will increase your ability to sell and have bids on your item above the others.

The other thing you will notice is that if there is say a day or so left on an item that has a few bids, that you should price yours a bit lower then that book and just wait for the bids to arrive. The reason for this is very logical of course in that there is only one book and they are all looking to bid on it so that they can win the item. If those who bided on the item currently listed know they have no chance of winning the item they will bid on the other book with a hope that they will win yours instead. As a result you may make more money then you every anticipated simply because those bidding need your book and realize that it will be far cheaper then what they would have to pay at their college book store.

The other thing to remember is that you may not get much for the book that you sell on ebay, but as for me I have made far more of a return on books then I would have ever got from the college bookstore. The first and only time I sold them a book back was the first quarter of my freshman year when they took my math book I had purchased for one hundred and gave me just ten for it then turned around and resold it to someone used for seventy dollars. I can tell you from this experience that you have a far better chance of recovering funds from the book if you sell it on ebay then you will ever get from selling it to your bookstore.

The thing to remember if you are selling your book on a site like ebay is that the buyer is a trusted one and that you properly pack the book. You want to make sure that the book is protected during shipping and that it can’t move around during the shipping and is packed tightly. The better your package arrives, the better review you will get and the more likely that person and others will order from you in the future if they are looking to purchase something. You need to treat it as if it was your business and send the package just as you would want to receive it from them.