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Are you looking for the best places to sell textbooks and books online?
Maybe you’re a college student and moving into a new semester.
You don’t need last semester’s books and so you want to sell them!
Or, maybe you’re a bookworm and you have a ton of old or recent books you’ve devoured and you’d like to sell those books to recoup some of the cost or you might be looking to make some extra money with books lying around the house?
Whatever your reason may be, there are tons of ways that you can sell your textbooks and books online easily and effortlessly.
Keep reading and make sure to bookmark this article so you can come back to it later as we dive into these 22 places to sell your books online.
Also, make sure you read until the very end where we’ll share an opportunity where you can actually buy and sell books for a living or a great side hustle!
1. Selling Your Books Through Bookscouter
First we’re going to talk about this app available on your cell phone or mobile device called Bookscouter.
Now, Bookscouter is a free app that you can install and use to help you sell your books for cash.
The way the app works is that it allows you to quickly find out for each of your books how much money you could get for selling them.
Once you download the app it’s really easy to find out how much each book is worth.
All you do is type in the ISBN number, which is on the back of your book, or you can use the “scan barcode” feature on the app to quickly scan your books and see how much cash you can get.
Okay, so first, you’ll get a quote from a list of book companies that may be interested in buying back your book.
You’ll be able to see which company is offering what price and then you can choose from there, what company you want to sell your book back to.
So it’s a really easy and quick process.
If you have a bunch of books that you are selling, once you scan or add the ISBN for each of the books to the Bookscouter app, you can pile them all in one box and ship them back to Bookscouter.
They pay for shipping and then you get a check for your books!
What you’ll find is that every book that you check through Bookscouter may not be eligible for buyback.
In that case, you can choose to sell the book through other means, which we’ll share in our roundup, or you can keep the book, give it away or donate to Goodwill or charity.
Head to Bookscouter to learn more and get started.
2. Selling Books on Ebay
Ebay is a huge online marketplace where buyers and sellers can come together to exchange goods for money.
It’s like shopping at the mall but, online.
You can sell a variety of products from mattresses, bed comforters, audio equipment, coffee makers, and more.
What makes Ebay unique is that you can buy and sell used as well as new goods, which makes it a great contender for selling textbooks and books.
Getting started is pretty simple.
Here’s how it works:
First, signup to Ebay for free.
You’ll register an account adding your name, address, and other important information to get your account registered, including picking a username, etc.
Then, to sell your book, you can go one of two routes:
- Sell button
- Search then “Sell Now” button
The Sell button is the first option available to sell your books.
It’s located in the upper right hand corner near the area where you’d access your profile in “MyEbay.”
Click “Sell” and you’ll be taken to your Seller Hub where you can create one or multiple listings.
For a single book to sell, click the single listing option and start filling out the fields to sell your book:
- Title
- Category
- Condition
- Photos
- And more!
Don’t forget to pay close attention to the Price and Shipping options on this page.
For pricing, you can choose an auction-style or fixed-price listing.
In an auction, you will have multiple buyers bid to buy your book and the top bid wins.
For example, you could start your auction at $5 and receive bids up to $90 before the auction ends so, your book will sell to that top bidder at $90.
Auctions are attractive because they can stir up a lot of activity and get multiple people vying to purchase the same item.
This competition can cause the price to go up so even if you start at $1 starting bid, the price can climb quite quickly and you can end up selling your item for a lot.
With fixed price listings, you choose a price to list your book at and one person will choose to buy at that price.
There are some additional options with these pricing structures as well, like reserve price, buy it now price, etc. which you can review in the pricing section of this page.
When you’re done setting up the listing, you will be able to launch your listing.
Depending upon if you’ve sold on Ebay before or not, you may have the option to create a template beforehand.
A template is like a cheat sheet for your listing.
It allows you to set up a listing in a specific way and apply that template to future items you might sell.
It makes the listing process a lot faster in the future.
If you have this option to Create a Template, take advantage.
It’s free and a big time saver to help you on future listings.
Next, you can search the book you want to sell on Ebay and on the product page click “Sell Now.”
Going this route saves some time in creating your listing, as it takes you right to the listing page to fill out the details of your seller listings like shared above but some of the fields will be pre-filled, based on the product you will similarly sell.
This is the route I usually take when I sell my books and products on Ebay.
You will go through this seller listing page, fill out the fields and then launch your listing.
That’s all there is to it, to sell your book on Ebay.
3. Your Local Campus Bookstore
When I was in college, this is how it would work with selling back books to the bookstore.
After the semester ended, all the students would rush the bookstore trying to sell their book back and get some cash back.
It was a simple process where you’d wait in line, hand your book over, have the bookstore attendant scan your book and offer you their buy back price and then pay you in cash.
After standing in line for an hour or longer usually, I almost always accepted the price they offered me but the truth is, you can probably get a better price if you try to sell other places.
So the question is, take a gamble and try to sell elsewhere, investing your time in waiting for that perfect buyer?
Or, get instant gratification and sell to your campus bookstore for quick cash immediately?
Today, many bookstores offer an online option where students can sell their book back through the campus bookstore website.
This is a super convenient way to get paid that eliminates you standing in line for an hour, waiting for a book appraisal.
If your local campus bookstore or local bookstores in your area offer this option, take advantage.
4. Booksrun
You can sell, buy, or rent textbooks and ebooks with Booksrun.
They offer free shipping, the ability to buy and rent books quickly, and other perks which will make you interested to work with this company.
How the Buyback Process Works
First, your books are priced.
This is done simply by entering your ISBN on your book.
Then, you ship your book to Booksrun for free with their prepaid shipping label.
Lastly, get paid within 4 days!
Advantages of Using Booksrun
- Sell your used college textbooks all at once
- Get paid quickly via PayPal or check
- Free shipping, including tracking
- The ability to use their coupons and promo deals to get the best buyback price
Disadvantages of Using Booksrun
- Payment is not instant
- Payment is not cash
So, like a lot of online bookstores, you won’t get instant cash payment like you would if you went to your college bookstore in person but, they make it very convenient to effortlessly sell all your books at once and with multiple payment options, which are some reasons why we think this option might be worth it.
5. Ecampus
Ecampus is the place to help you buy, sell and rent textbooks.
You get the opportunity to sell on their marketplace and enjoy no hidden fees, easy payments made via ACH, dedicated marketplace support, and more.
Rewards
They offer a rewards program that helps you earn points to redeem up to $20 off textbooks.
- 175 points gets you $5 off
- 250 points gets you $10 off
- 325 points gets you $15 off
- 400 points gets you $20 off
What you’ll like about the rewards program is that they make it super easy to earn points, doing tasks like signing up (you earn 175 points), referring friends (you earn 250 points), and more!
And you can track your progress with Ecampus and show off to friends by earning badges, based on your activity level.
For example, you can unlock the Freshman badge by completing your first purchase.
6. Decluttr
At Decluttr you can sell back your media including books and textbooks!
- To start the process, you begin by scanning your textbook to get an instant price.
- Then, you simply send in your book by packing it into a box and shipping it to Decluttr for free.
- Lastly, get paid cash for your book buyback via check, PayPal, or direct deposit.
You can sell your books to Decluttr using their website or app.
The app is super convenient and available on Android and iPhone and it has the scanner feature that lets you scan the barcode to get your instant price for your book.
On the website you’ll just simply type in the barcode into their barcode search bar on the Sell page to get your price.
When your items arrive back to Decluttr, they’ll be checked and they will pay you the day after arrival via your payment method of choice, as shared above.
You also have the option to donate your total order value to charity.
Sound interesting?
Click here to check out more on Decluttr.
7. Powell’s
Next up is Powell’s, which is perfect if you’re local to the Portland, OR area.
They allow you to sell books in person and online so if you’re not near Portland, you’re in luck!
Here’s how the process works to sell your books online:
You can enter the ISBN of each book you wish to sell, and get your offer immediately.
If you’re happy with the price, all you do is ship the books to them (they cover shipping fees) and receive payment in the form of:
- Credit to your Powells.com account or,
- PayPal payment
To sell books in person, you just visit a Powell’s bookstore and sell your books Monday through Sunday, at any of their stores.
Just bring your books to the used book counter to start the process and you can earn cash instantly or store credit, your choice.
8. Barnes and Noble
Did you know that Barnes & Noble has an option to sell back your textbooks to them?
The process is really simple.
First, you identify your book by entering and your ISBN and get a quote on the price, as shown on the Barnes and Noble website.
Then you submit your book return.
Lastly you can complete the process and be on your way to getting paid.
They require that you have at least $10 worth of books to sell in order to participate in their Sell Your Textbooks program.
Learn more about Barnes & Noble – Sell Your Textbooks.
9. TextbookRush
TextbookRush call themselves your online campus bookstore and they’ve been around since 2001.
They’re great for buying, renting, and selling your textbooks plus, they have ebooks available too!
They even have an app!
The app helps you sell your books on the go.
Downloading the free TextbookRush sell textbook app helps you to scan and list books right from your smartphone!
Whether you want to sell books from your dorm room, your favorite coffee shop or anywhere, the app makes it a foolproof process.
Just scan your book barcodes, get quotes and get paid.
You don’t have to waste time manually entering ISBN’s and you don’t have to wait months for someone to buy your book from you.
The app is an easy solution to get an offer for your book and get paid right away.
There’s a 3-step process for selling your books using the app:
- First, scan or search for your book.
- Next, get a quote.
- Lastly, get instructions for shipping your book back and get paid!
Perks of selling to TextbookRush
- Free app
- Super simple to use
- Quick price quotes right on your phone
- Quotes stay valid for 20 days
- They pay shipping fees!
- Work with a trusted bookstore, since 2001
Common Questions You Might Have About TextbookRush
1. Is there a listing fee?
No, there’s no fee for listing your book to sell on TextbookRush.
2. How does the shipping work?
They pay shipping! You will get $2.99 for standard shipping or $5.49 for expedited shipping.
3. How does payment work?
You have 3 options for getting paid: Check, PayPal, or ACH (direct deposit)
What Customers Are Saying About TextbookRush…
“This is the first app of this kind and I find that scanning the code is so much faster and more accurate than having to type it in. I really like this app.” -Josh C.
“If you’re selling textbooks look up @TextbookRush! They’re amazing. Sold my books and got my money 3 days later.” -JPrieto03
10. BookFinder.com
Since 1997 Bookfinder has been helping people find the books they need for the best possible price.
When you visit the site you will love the streamlined, user-friendly interface which makes it so easy to search books, right from the homepage.
To learn about selling your book, head to the Textbook Buyback section where you can compare buyback prices and choose the best offer.
Their textbook buyback program helps you get the most money for your used textbook so you’re not missing out on lost money by going to your college bookstore to sell your book.
BookFinder.com makes the process so simple and they even pay shipping!
Check out what people are saying about them…
“The good news is that there’s a new tool this year to make it easier to shop online for textbooks.” -New York Times
“More amazing than even Amazon.com.” -Entertainment Weekly
“Top 10 back to school tools for the organized student.”-Lifehacker
11. Chegg Books
You may have heard of Chegg Books.
They actually help with buy/sell/renting books, along with test prep, tutoring options and much more.
Selling your books to Chegg is super easy.
Here’s how it works:
First, you can get an instant quote to find out how much your used textbook is worth just by entering and the textbook ISBN.
Next, ship to Chegg for free by printing your free shipping label and dropping it off at a local UPS Store.
Lastly, get paid and make money on your textbook sale.
You get paid when they receive your book.
12. Campus Books
At Campus Books you can sell your textbooks for cash and get the best prices on the web.
Enjoy a streamlined selling experience to help you get the most cash for your book possible.
Do things like:
- Compare buyback prices, where they searched dozens of buyback sites to get you the best buyback
- You’ll enjoy free shipping on most textbooks
- BuyBacks and get paid fast via cash, check, PayPal, or store credit
Best Practices for Selling Textbooks
Here’s some best practices that they share on their site for selling your textbooks:
- Compare buyback prices
- Search by ISBN
- Check the condition of your back
- Check supplemental materials
- Avoid disputes
- Sell early
- Sell off season
Comparing Buyback Prices
Comparing buyback prices is something that you absolutely have to do!
Don’t just stop at your first bookstore.
Shop around so you can get the best possible price for your book buyback.
Don’t leave money on the table.
If you think about it, not only will you be competing with thousands of students in person but, even tons more that sell online.
This is an awesome perk that you’ll really like with Campus Books.
They have a free service that instantly Compares buy back prices at dozens of the top buyback sites.
After you search for your book, you can click your offer for your buyback and complete your buyback right on their site.
Search by ISBN
The ISBN or International standard book number is a unique number located on the back of your book.
It’s really the DNA that identifies your book by title, author, and edition.
It can be different numbers.
Sometimes it’s 10 numbers long and sometimes it’s 13 numbers long.
Searching by the ISBN helps you save a ton of time, ensuring that you’ll be quoted the correct price for the exact book title, and edition that you’re selling.
Check Your Book’s Condition
Before you sell your book, make sure that you thoroughly evaluate the condition, as a lot of book buyback sites only accept used textbooks that are in good condition.
You want to comb through the entire book, look through all pages to make sure that there are minimal marks, highlighting, little to no damage, torn pages, broken spine, water damage, etc.
Check for Supplemental Materials
Make sure you check if there are supplemental materials included with your book.
Some buyback sites will not accept your book if it is missing supplemental materials.
A lot of times you can even get a much higher price if you have the supplementals.
Either way it’s great to check beforehand to see if your book includes this before you start the buyback process.
Avoid Disputes
The best way to avoid a dispute is to ensure that a book is in the condition you represented when you were quoted the Buy-Back price.
Sell Early
did you know that as soon as a new edition of your book comes out the value of your book drops dramatically so you want to try to sell your book as quickly as possible when you’re finished with it
13. Valore Books
Valore Books promises to get you the most cash back on over 1 million products.
Here’s how the selling process works:
- First, select a product and view the prices.
- Then, ship your items to Valore Books for free.
- Lastly, get paid by check or PayPal.
That’s all there is to it!
Why sell your used textbooks to Valore?
You’ll get a chance to purge your bookshelf, earn some extra cash, and sell your textbooks fast and easy to earn some extra money.
They offer the highest textbook sell back prices free shipping and easy order tracking the biggest variety of textbook titles as well as fast and flexible payment.
Learn more about Valore Books.
14. Sell Back Your Book
At Sellbackyourbook.com you can sell, buy, or rent books.
They paid out over 10 million dollars to book sellers!
To get started you begin by entering in the book’s ISBN number and you’ll get an instant price quote.
From there, you’ll be able to sell your books with free shipping, enjoying a worry-free experience and no longer wondering about if your book will sell or not.
Their online book buyback tool is a simple way to get value out of your used books.
Head to Sell Back Your Book to read more.
15. Textbook Recycling
If you’re looking to sell your textbook and you want free shipping, fast payment, and a hassle-free process, take a look at Textbook Recycling.
After selling your book you can get paid via check or PayPal.
Checks can take up to 7 to 10 business days mailed out via USPS and PayPal payments issued 5 to 10 business days after your bu back has been processed.
What you will like is that the buyback prices are honored according to their Buyback policy.
Books are required to be dropped off at their shipping carrier and trackable within 3 business days in order for them to honor the buyback price.
To learn more about the buyback process, you can check out their FAQ section where they answer questions about: packing and shipping books, determining if you would classify your book as new or used, acceptance of special book categories like International editions, determining if your book is a non-authorized or counterfeit copy, supplemental materials included with your book, and much much more.
Learn more on Textbook Recycling.
16. BookByte
BookByte was started in 1999 and offer buyback prices on your used books, with a 30 day guarantee.
So, for example, you can get your quote through BookByte, then try to sell on Ebay for a week and see if you can get a better price and if your book title does not sell, your BookByte quote will still be good (it’s good for 30 days).
They offer:
- Free shipping on U.S. orders
- Buyback price good for 30 days
- Payment via check or PayPal
How the Selling Process Works
Start by entering the ISBN or title of the textbook you want to sell in the “Sell” search bar.
Check how much BookByte is offering for it and you agree to sell your book at that price, click “Continue Sale” to complete next steps and finish off the process.
You will get a prepaid shipping label and they’ll receive your book within 4 to 14 days of shipment, in which they will pay you via check or PayPal.
Easy!
17. CKY Books
CKY Books has a core focus to help others sell their books.
When you land on their homepage, you will be greeted by their “Sell Your Books for Cash” tool that allows you to easily enter your books ISBN to get a quote.
Like others on our roundup, the 3-step process for selling includes:
- Selling your books
- Shipping your order
- Getting paid
Orders get free shipping and orders over $20 qualify for free fast and safe shipping.
Payment is via check or Paypal, your choice.
Read on to learn more about CKY Books.
18. TextbookX
They pride themselves in offering top prices for your book buyback and boast that you can earn 2X more selling on their marketplace.
You get to sell anytime and you name the price.
The process with TextbookX is similar to selling on a marketplace.
First you list your book, as a TextbookX seller.
You will get paid when someone purchases your book.
The commission is 15% plus $1.50.
They also offer a shipping credit.
Payment options include PayPal or store credit.
They can also make you an instant offer which you can choose to accept or decline.
Click here to start selling your books today with TextbookX.
19. CollegeBooksDirect
CollegeBooksDirect accepts your unwanted books in good condition.
You start by listing your book, using the ISBN and they will pay you via check or PayPal.
Learn more about CollegeBooksDirect.
20. Student 2 Student
Student 2 Student is a textbook exchange with tons of features like price comparison, and no middle man!
You get the chance to sell a book to a student on campus.
Sell your textbooks to students who need them and make some extra cash.
What Makes Student 2 Student Different
- Hassle free
- No shipping
- Cash payment
- Verified buyers
- Quick sale
- Free
21. AbeBooks
The book buyback service from AbeBooks offers you an easy, convenient way to sell your new and used books.
Find your books, ship to AbeBooks for free, then get paid.
Your shipment ships through FedEx and is insured up to $100 per package.
You get paid via check or PayPal and payments are issued 5 to 10 business days after your shipment is processed.
22. Amazon
Amazon marketplace is the last on our roundup of best places to sell textbooks and books online.
They are a top seller of books and media.
First, they offer a trade-in program called Amazon Trade-In Program.
They pay you for books (electronics, video games, and other media) via Amazon gift card.
You can read more about the process, including condition requirements, how long you have to ship items, and more here.
How to Start An Online Book Selling Business
You can buy and sell books for profit, creating a side hustle or full time income for yourself.
It’s called book flipping.
You can start by gathering all the used books you can, from around the house, friends and family, places that are giving away free books, etc.
In fact you can actually start this business for under $100, including your setup cost, equipment, and inventory.
Does that pique your interest?
To be honest, it really doesn’t take a lot of money to start building your inventory for your book reselling business.
If you’re open to looking for deals and giveaways you can really get far.
Books can be really cheap and you can find them just about anywhere including places like yard sales, estate sales, the public library, and places online like Craigslist or Freecycler.
The process looks like this:
- Source books
- Resell for profit
How to Source Books
Sourcing means that you are locating low-priced books for the purpose of reselling.
This can include:
- Textbooks
- Cookbooks
- Fiction and nonfiction books
- Manuals
- And, more!
There are some really cool ways for you to find used books for free.
Enough to create your starting inventory for your business.
Here are some places where you can source books:
- Craigslist
- Freecycle
- Nextdoor
- Letgo
- Offer Up
- Facebook Marketplace
- Local garage sales or estate sales
- Friends and family
Why Would People Buy Used Books
People love to be entertained and books are a great way to deliver that entertainment.
Not to mention books are a cheap way to indulge in fantasy and dream, curled up in a cozy chair day or night.
Book reselling is one of the few industries that does well year-round, year after year, even during tough financial times because people always need to be entertained and reading a book is an inexpensive way to achieve that!
How to Make Your Business Profitable
Building a profitable book reselling business is a lot easier today than it’s ever been.
That’s because with resources and tools available online that actually price books, it makes it super simple for anyone to break into this market and start their own book reselling business.
It works like this…
You find a book, you check the purchase price, and then you check the resale price online.
If there’s a gap between the purchase price and the resale price and that’s where you can make your profit.
So you rinse and repeat this process and you’ve got your hands into a nice little profitable business.
Okay so now let’s dive deep and take a look at the different types of books that you can sell.
Sell These Books to Make the Most Money
There are tons of different books available that you can sell in your business but you really want to target these four types of books to make the most money in your business:
- Textbooks
- First edition books
- Out of print books
- Collectible books
Okay, so first we have textbooks.
Reselling Textbooks
The used textbook market is huge, soaring up to 8 billion dollars, according to the source.
So you can see there’s a lot of money to be made in the used textbook market.
A lot of used textbook purchases do you happen at college.
You can also get your hands are some great books through Amazon and eBay as a lot of people are still buying and selling used textbooks on these marketplaces.
We shared some sources above for where you can find books.
Sourcing Books Online Versus In-Person
You can either go the online route or you can go in person.
Online will save you some time, as you can browse website to website to check inventory, scan and look at cheap books easily, and then turn around and sell them at a higher price.
You can even do marketplace arbitrage with this, where you source a book from eBay for example and resell on Amazon or vice versa.
In addition to marketplaces, some great online places to find used textbooks include neighborhood sites like LetGo, Facebook Marketplace, and Nextdoor. These are great because they’ll share current inventory locally where you can check out the inventory online in advance do all your research ensuring that you can resell for profit and then purchase.
Next sourcing in person is a great opportunity to find some really awesome deals on used books.
You can go to garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, second hand stores, Goodwill, etc.
Where to Sell Used Textbooks Online?
When it comes to selling your used textbook online you can use any of the resources we listed up above in our roundup.
If you’re doing book reselling as a business, we recommend the following textbook marketplaces to sell:
First Edition Books for Reselling
The next category of books that you should try to get your hands on and sell to earn the most money are modern first edition books.
These are books that have been published in the last 30 to 40 years.
For a lot of people these are very collectible and created by their favorite authors and these are great for the potential of becoming a collectible someday.
First edition books aren’t very difficult to find if they’ve been a recent best seller but depending upon how far back in the timeline you go, the level of difficulty can increase.
As your sourcing books first edition books, if you’re unable to determine if a book is truly a first edition, you can check out this resource which will explain how you can tell.
What you will like is that first edition books usually command a higher price.
To give you an idea about the profitability of first edition books, you can source used first edition books fur around 1 or $2, for example and resell for between $8 to $20!
Reselling Out of Print Books
The next category of books recommended to sell is called out-of-print books.
These are just books that you’ll find at your bookstore, thrift store, or online, for example.
Out-of-print books are the least lucrative from our list of four most profitable types of books to sell but, there still can be money to be made here if you have patience and can sell on a platform with the least amount of fees, or in person.
For example, an out-of-print used book may cost you $2 and sell for $6 leaving you $4 in profit which is fine but if you sell on an online platform that charges you $3 or more in fees then that can really eat up your profit, so you want it really be careful with that here.
Reselling Collectible and Antique Books
The last category of books that you should consider sourcing and selling are collectible and antique books.
Now like you might expect, these can be quite profitable if you can find them.
As you might expect collectible and antique books are highly sought-after and you can get more money for them.
To get an idea on how to price these kind of books, consider looking at the sold listings on online markets like eBay or Amazon to see what antique and collectible books similar to yours or your exact title (if you can find it) have sold for and then price your book competitively.
Selling Books Online
Reselling books is a business that has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years.
What you’ll like about book reselling is the hunt.
It’s very rewarding to find a gem of a book at a great deal and be able to resell it for a nice profit.
This will drive you in your business and make it really fun.
It can be like a game to challenge yourself to find a better deal on the next book.
In short…
If you’re considering breaking into the book reselling/flipping industry some key takeaways are:
- Startup costs can be low
- There is opportunity to source and sell online and offline
- There is part-time and full-time potential
Final Thoughts
There you have it.
You see there are several ways to sell your books and textbooks online and in person from online marketplaces, your campus bookstore, book buyback companies, and more.
Have you sold books or textbooks before? Do you have any other places to add to our list of the best places to sell textbooks? If so, please share your experience in the comments below!
20 Best Places To Sell Textbooks (And Books) Online
Jennifer Leach
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