How to Sell Your Textbooks and Put Cash Back into Your Pocket

It is the end of the semester for thousands of college students. Many may be preparing for summer courses in hopes of an earlier graduation date while others will be taking a break from textbooks, tests, and classrooms. Whatever your plans as a college student may be, you may also be asking the question, how can I get the most money for some of these textbooks? Oftentimes, the campus or university bookstore makes arrangements for students to sell their textbooks back. Yet, many students have decided to keep the books after finding out what the buyback price is for a $90 book. On several occasions, it is not worth the sale. Therefore, what are the other options for students who would like to sell their textbooks?

First, try to find out if the textbook will be used for the same class during the next semester. If so, you can offer to sell the book to other students who may be registering for the course. In addition, with permission from the university, you could develop a flyer and post it somewhere on campus. One of the best locations may be near the bookstore, near the registrar office, or near the campus eatery. Think of locations where you can gain the attention of many students.

Second, explore other textbook buyback stores in the area to see where you can get the most bang for your buck. If you are not interested in store hopping, then why not use the internet? There are several sites that will buyback textbooks, offer price comparisons, or even let you know of sites where you can post your book for sale. With the price comparisons, you can really see what the going rates are and then determine which company has the best offer. Another benefit of such sites is that several cover postage and all you have to do is print out the postage label on your laser printer. A few of the sites that seem to have very good rates include First Class Books (http://www.firstclassbooks.com/buyback), Cash4Books (http://www.cash4books.net/), and College Books Direct (http://buyback.collegebooksdirect.com/default.jsp). Therefore, if you have accumulated tons of textbooks over the semesters, it is time to start cleaning out and seeing if you can turn books into cash.

Third, seek to post your books on the online selling sites. Several college students peruse these sites to find the lowest cost for the edition they need, so why not add your books to the list? One site that provides selling price comparisons as well as great online sites to post your books for sale is Bigwords (http://www.bigwords.com/book/). Sites where you can post your books include Amazon (www.Amazon.com), Half.com (http://www.half.ebay.com/), and Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/).

So, if you want to sell back some of those textbooks, these may be some great steps toward making a profit.