Selling Textbooks
10th May 2008
With money, there are always options that will earn you more money, and usually the earning more money for you corresponds to being more work for you (or more hassle at least) As an example, here are my options right now for my textbooks:
1. Keep all my textbooks forever. This means I will not get any money back on them. This is DH’s method and it KILLS me inside. Seriously, I think a small part of me dies everytime I think about it. So, let’s not think about it anymore…
2. Sell books back to the bookstore at the school. This is a total scam on the bookstore’s part. They sell you a used book at $30, then they buy the same book back from you for $15. Then, they proceed to sell the same book again for $30. A total scam. Gross.
3. Sell books on the Internet. Your best bet. Wait until Fall semester right now (around the early August timeframe is best) to get the best prices. It’s a hassle to have your books sitting around, but worth the extra $10 or so you’ll get for Fall semester vs. Summer semester.
4. Cut out the middleman by finding a student yourself. You can make much more money by looking at University bulletin boards or Craigslist. We have a bulletin board at work that works well for this for local universities and community colleges.
What other methods of unloading your textbooks am I missing?
May 10th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I wish I had sold my textbooks. they are boxed up somewhere in the basement. I moved 6 times he first 6 years I was married, so I got to the point that I never unpacked them.
Best Wishes,
D4L
May 11th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
My suggestion to get the most for your money when selling it:
http://mrsnespysworld.blogspot.com/2008/02/tip-for-you-college-kids.html
May 11th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
You can try listing your textbooks on your local Craigs list. I have not tried this with textbooks, but it has worked like a charm with land, plants and computers!
May 11th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
You can always post a flyer at the community board at your college with a listing of the course the book was used for. Of course, you would need to make sure you get permission to post the flyer but easy sale.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
[…] Ahh, the wonders of college expenses. Dollar Frugal talks about Selling Textbooks. I remember the sticker shock of not buying the textbooks which were $120 dollars a book, but the $35 bucks the bookstore “paid” for my book after 4 months of classes. And the kicker was, the bookstores would turn it around and sell it for $90 bucks. Who says college isn’t a business? […]
May 20th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Textbook secret #1: Half.com!!!!!!!!!!
I just bought $240 worth of summer college text books for $27.30. No Joke! and that includes expedited shipping!!!
A savings of $212.70!
I have been patting myself on the back for a few weeks now. And that savings don’t even include the interest I saved by not having to buy the $240 worth of books with my loan.
If you are going to use half.com though make sure you are getting the right books. Typically text books are confirmed on the first day of class, but you can often email your professor ahead of time to check what book they will be using and get a copy of the syllabus.
Also, check with the professor about the edition of the book. A huge chunk of my savings is because my Art History professor stated (in email and on her official syllabus) that using an older edition or comparable text is ok.
It isn’t unusual for professors to not care about the book so much as learning the info. In some cases, they themselves prefer an older edition, but the school likes to have the newer books to rip off, er I mean sell to students.
Also, if buying on half.com check out the condition of the book. All of the books I ordered were marked as merely acceptable on the site but they were comparable to what I would have bought used at the bookstore anyway. But the difference in price between acceptable and “good as new” was significant.
As far as Craig’s list, I have last semester’s books posted on there right now, which I confirmed are the same ones being used this summer, and haven’t received a single response… either the students at my campus aren’t as tech savy, which is hard to believe, or they just don’t feel like paying half of what the bookstore is charging.
:(