Selling Old Books Online: A Step by Step Guide

Are old books worth anything? 

You can make anywhere from $20, $200, or even $2,000 selling old books online. So, yes, selling old books is worthwhile. However, your books need to be in excellent condition. Scarcity also determines whether your old books are worth buying or not.

Check out this post to see how much used bookstores buy books for?

So, where can you sell your old books online?

There’s  a ton of places to sell old books online including Amazon, eBay, Sheepbuy, Abe Books, Textbooks.com, and WeBuyBooks.co.uk.

Why sell your old books anyway?

Perhaps you’re wondering “why the heck should I sell my old books in the first place?”

If you are still going to need your old books in the future, selling them might not be your priority.

Nevertheless, there are those old books you read once and you’re sure you will never need them.

In that case, selling old books online will help you in many ways such as:

1. To free up space in your shelves

If you’re a bookworm, then you must have a heap of books gathering dust on your shelves. Living in a cluttered environment is not very healthy. Selling your old books will help you create more space in your home.

2. Boost your savings

Who doesn’t want to save more money these days? Think about it. Jeff Bezos is a multi-billionaire yet he’s still looking for ways to save money. Well, selling used books might not make you a billionaire quickly, but it’s a great way to supplement your savings account.

3. Get extra funds to reduce your debt

Using one source of income to pay down debt can be detrimental to your financial wellness. Having multiple sources of income can help you reduce your debt fast.

Even though selling used books cannot complete your debt payment, it may help you cover a few monthly loan payments.

4. You can sell old books to buy new ones

Why spend the money in your wallet to buy new books when you can sell those you’ve already read and buy books you need?

Yes, it’s possible – and it can help you to spare your hard-earned dollars.

Learn how to make a full time income selling used books.

Types of Used Books to Sell Online

Generally, old, used, or second-hand books are categorized into two groups: The first category includes those that you own (or are owned by someone) and can be sold at a percentage of the original price.

The second category of old books is the rare and collectible books. These are books whose value is determined by their condition, scarcity, and their income potential.

You can also become a book flipper where you buy books online and sell them at a profit, if you don’t have old books on your shelves.

And if you’re wondering what used books sell well on Amazon (of course Amazon is the largest bookselling platform currently) here are those worth trying:

1. Textbooks

The old textbook market is currently an $8 billion business. If you have tons of old textbooks collecting dust on your shelves then you’re sleeping on a gold mine.

Currently, many people are buying and selling old textbooks on Amazon and eBay.

2. Modern-day first-edition books

As the name suggests, these are books that were published not many years ago. Most books in this category were published around 30 years ago.

These could be those books from authors who inspire you.

Typically, modern-day first editions are collectibles.

Before you sell your books in this category, find out whether it’s a first edition or modern-day first edition as the prices are different.

3. Out of print old books

These are old books you will find at your local bookstore or thrift store.

Ideally, you cannot make more money selling these types of books online.

And given the fees charged by online marketplaces for selling books, you will never get any profit selling these books. However, you could consider selling them on our very own marketplace Sheepbuy. There’s no selling commission on the basic tier, and you can post up to three items at no cost. 

The last category of second-hand books is collectibles and antique books.

How to Evaluate Your Old Books For Selling

When evaluating your second-hand books for selling online, consider the following key points:

·        Is the old book rare?

Rare books are those that aren’t easy to find either online or offline. Your old Bible or encyclopedia doesn’t fit in this category because perhaps as you read this article, everyone in your home has one of these.

According to Forbes, books with a limited amount of copies sell better. A case example is First Folio, a book by Shakespeare that was sold at around $5.2 million in 2006.

·        Is the used book first-edition?

First-edition books are among the best-selling books currently as long as they are in good condition.

·        How OLD are your old books?

When selling old books online; you want to consider books published around 1970 going back – although you can still make money selling first edition books by famous authors.

·        What’s the condition of your old books?

The condition of an item can determine whether it will sell or not, regardless of whether it’s new or old.

For instance, don’t expect to make money selling old books that have a ton of missing pages or are full of stains. In fact, if you sell old books with clean covers on Abe Books, you get bonus points.

·        Do the books contain the signature of the author?

The last thing is to check whether it has an author’s signature. You can make more if you’re selling a book by a famous author and it has their signature.

However, you need to be careful as people will try to forge signatures. This is an important point to consider for people who buy old books from online stores for reselling.

Tips For Selling Your Used Books Online

To maximize profits when selling old books online, here are a few tips and tricks to put in mind.

Make sure the books are in sellable condition

The condition of the book determines whether it will sell better or not.

If you have tons of books lying on the shelves and you wish to sell them someday, start protecting them.

A good rule of thumb is to keep your old books in a good dry room. Also, don’t expose them to direct sunlight as that may lead to fading of the book’s content. Keep them upright on the shelves as well.

And if you’re looking to sell them now, make sure the books don’t have torn or missing pages.

Clean your old books

Typically, your old books will have a lot of dust. You can use a blower to dust off the books or use a soft toothbrush to remove dirt from the edges.

If you have been writing notes in your books (especially for textbooks), use an eraser to clean the interiors.

If you’d like to learn a step-by-step method for removing mold from old books, click here.

Research prices

The last thing you want is to sell your old books at the lowest price on one  platform only to come and realize that the book is worth more on another.

So, before you get started selling, do some research to learn the market price of your books.

You may want to search in the most popular marketplaces like Amazon or eBay to get an idea of how to price your old books.

You can also compare the prices on different bookselling websites.

Be transparent

To make money selling old books online, you have to be transparent. No matter how careful you protect your old books, there are high chances that they will still have some hard-to-notice defects.

Always let customers know about the condition of the books beforehand.

Take good photos

Try as much as you can to take clear and bright photos. You can do this using your phone anyway.

That said; let’s see where to sell old books online.

5 Popular Places To Sell Used Books

Here are the most recommended places for selling old books on the internet.

1.   Amazon

Amazon was started as a book-selling website before it became the largest e-commerce platform. It’s still the best website for selling your old books.

The good thing is that anyone can sign up and sell books on Amazon.

You can also use their buyback option to sell your books.

However, to make good money selling old books on Amazon, you need to choose valuable books because of the fees and rates you will incur.

You will also be paid in gift cards and before you start selling on their website, you need to familiarize yourself with their policies.

2.   Abe Books

Abe Books has a buyback service as well. To maximize your profits selling books on Abe Books, you need to keep them in good condition.

If you have a ton of rare books, Abe Books is the best online marketplace to sell them.

3.   eBay

You can sell anything you have on eBay as long as it is in good condition.

The good thing about this website is that you can list many items free per month but you’ll pay a certain fee when your list exceeds 1,000 items.

You don’t pay any fee if your books don’t sell but the website deducts 10% of your total sales when you sell books.

To maximize the chances of making huge sales on eBay, you need to make your books discoverable by using catchy titles and keywords.

4.   Sheepbuy

You can sell anything you have on Sheepbuy in any form of condition, permitted by paypal of course.

The good thing about this website is that you can sell up to three items for free. If you’d like to increment your selling capacity plans range from $2.99 up to $12.99.

You don’t pay any fee if your books don’t sell.

The best part is when your item sell there are never any selling or hidden fees.

All transactions are strictly between buyers and sellers. All purchases are safe and secure via paypal. For more information on buyer protection by paypal click here.

Sheepbuy only caters to verified sellers as an added protection to buyers.

Thus sheepbuy sellers must have their paypal account verified. Meaning their phone, email and bank account must be verified inorder to link their account onto Sheepbuy.

As in any other marketplace make your book title and description as best can be to attract more view and sell more.

5.   WeBuyBooks.co.uk

WeBuyBooks.co.uk is also another awesome place to sell old books online. The website is based in the UK, and it has a swift system for selling used books.

6.   Textbooks.com

From the name, you might think that Texbooks.com sells only textbooks, but you can sell almost any old book you have as long as it is valuable and in good condition.

There are many places to sell used books currently. You just need to make sure your book satisfies the condition shared above and you’re good to go.

You can also sell old books on Facebook or through offline stores.

And if you don’t wish to sell your used books, consider donating them to free up space on your shelves.

Final Word

Selling old books online is not an easy option, but it is possible.

You just need to know the types of used books that sell well online then follow the information shared in this article to start selling your used books on your preferred book-selling website.

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• How to use Sheepbuy?
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