Earn Extra Cash Selling Books on eBay

I love to read. When I was in the 5^th grade, I told my teacher I was going to read every book in our city library. She smiled and told me she thought it was a great idea, so I made a trip to the library on my way home from school that night.

Our library, located in a small town of less than 5000 people, was also small, but, try as I did, I only managed to read about halfway through the A's before my parents moved our family from that town.

The move didn't squelch my love for books though, and to this day, I have a spare room with more books that I will ever get around to reading.

I used to feel a bit of a letdown when I finished reading a book, especially a very good book, and made an effort to find someone to pass it on to who also enjoyed a good read.

Now, with the price of books rising and the economy falling, I have learned that I can recoup some of the money I spend on books by selling them on eBay after I (and sometimes a friend) has finished reading them. Besides the money the books bring in, I also have the satisfaction of knowing that another person, and maybe more than one, will also enjoy them.

If you have some used books sitting around gathering dust, try selling a few on eBay and see just how easy it is to make a little extra money from them.

To start, sign up for an eBay account if you don't already have one and read the self-explanatory directions on selling on eBay.

Then do a search for books and read a few ads other people are writing about the books they are selling and how much they are charging.

List several of your books on your own eBay site. You have a choice of auctioning the books or listing them with a "Buy-It-Now" price. Many people prefer the "Buy-It-Now" price because the book can be on its way to the buyer immediately rather than having to wait for a 7 or 10-day auction to end.

Pick up a price schedule from your local Post Office so you can estimate the cost of mailing the book to your customer and include that information in your ad. Be sure to check out eBay's listing and final value fees so you can add them to the price of the book. Otherwise, you may just break even or even lose money on the deal.

By using books you already have on hand, you can find out if selling books on eBay is going to be profitable for you. After a few sales, if you decide to continue, you can find an endless supply of used books for your site by visiting neighborhood garage sales, and the local St. Vincent DePaul or Goodwill stores.

Once in a while, I see a book I have sold on eBay, return to an auction on its way to bring pleasure to still another reader. If you enjoy books, and would like to make a little extra cash from home, give eBay a look. I think you'll enjoy it.