Author Archives: Michael J. Jung

About Michael J. Jung

Michael J. Jung is a professional freelance writer for hire. He loves learning about new side hustles and promoting nonprofit groups. When he's not writing or selling books, you can find him volunteering as Darth Vader or Spider-Man for children's events. Check out his Sell Books Fast eBook series on Amazon!

How to Earn More Money Selling Books Online by Buying Discounted Books

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If you’ve been selling books online using Bookscouter and the methods described in this blog, you’ve probably realized that the profits you earn from your books depends greatly on how much you bought them for in the first place.

Think about it – even if a thrift store offers a lot of books you can sell to buyback companies for $5 per book, your profit margin will be pretty slim if that store makes you pay $4 for each book. Sure you’ll make some money – but is a 20% profit per book worth it when you have to invest $4 up front just to make $1?

On the other hand, let’s say you find a bunch of books in a library sale’s $0.25 bargain bin that will each sell for $3 to various book buyback companies. Suddenly, you’re making $2.75 net profit per book – $11 for every $1 you invest – or an 1100% net profit!

That’s a great profit margin – and one that should show you that you should always find ways to buy books as cheaply as possible, so your profit margin is as high as possible.

Here are three tips for how to find and buy discounted books.

Collect Thrift Store Coupons

Many thrift stores offer coupons that can offer you a nice regular discount (usually anywhere from 10%-25%) on the merchandise in their store. You can usually just download these coupons from their website and print them up to show to the cashier when you purchase your books.

Some stores require you to sign up for their email newsletter to receive discount coupons. I highly suggest you do this – not only will the store usually email you coupons, they’ll also inform you of any special sales that can give you even bigger discounts.

A few stores offer what I call a “stamp card” discount – you get a card that gets stamped every time you buy something from the store. After so many stamps (usually 10), you get a discount on your next purchase. While it can be tedious to remember to get these cards stamped, if you go to a store on a regular basis, this can also save you some money.

Please keep in mind that certain coupons come with specific restrictions (for instance, you might need to purchase a certain amount of merchandise before receiving a discount and you usually can’t combine multiple discounts). Make sure you know the rules of each thrift store coupon and you’ll know the best place to buy discounted books.

Shop for Discounted Books on Thrift Store Sale Days

Thrift stores and library bookstores are like any other retail business – they need to keep selling off their older merchandise to make room for new merchandise.

As a result, almost every thrift store will offer special sale days where virtually all of their merchandise (including books) are sold even cheaper than usual. Usually, this means a 50% off sale, although I’ve seen thrift store sales that discounted their books by as much as 75%!

These are gold mine days for people who like to sell books through Bookscouter – and you should make an effort to always visit stores on these days.

Many of these stores offer these sales on a regular basis (usually twice a month or every other week). Some of the sales can get pretty hectic, so be prepared to brave a lot of crowds, especially if you come early.

Many library bookstores also offer regular sales which you can learn about by signing up for their email lists. You’ll enjoy some amazing discounts on these days – many libraries have “brown bag sales” where you can fill an entire bag with anywhere from twenty to thirty books and purchase the entire bag for only $5. Since that means you bought each book for only $0.16 to $0.25 a piece, your profit margin will be fantastic when you sell those books using Bookscouter.

Develop Good Relationships with Your Book Suppliers

Okay, but what happens if you shop at stores that don’t have discount coupons or thrift store discount days?

Simple – create your own!

If you’ve read my article How to Build Good Relationships with Your Book Suppliers, you’ll know that it’s very possible to form special business arrangements with the thrift stores you shop at. As long as you can show you are a reliable shopper who buys books in bulk on a regular basis, many managers will be open to offering you a special discount since you’ll be clearing out their overstock.

Please keep in mind that this is only something you should do if you already sell books online on a regular basis. If selling books for cash is just a hobby for you and you don’t intend to shop at these stores regularly, don’t try to get a “one-time-only” discount.

That being said, building good relationships with your book suppliers is an important part of selling books online, and if you intend to make selling books for cash a part time business, you should definitely look into getting better prices for your books this way!

I hope this article has given you some ideas for how to make more money selling books online! Remember, you can receive more tips and tricks for how to sell books online for extra money by subscribing to my blog!

If you enjoyed this article, I encourage you to check out Make More Money Selling Books Online with Bonus Codes. You’ll learn how buyback companies like Cash 4 Books and Valore offer great bonus coupon codes that will increase the money you can make selling books online.

Do you have a question or suggestion for a future blog article? Email me at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com.

How to Build Good Relationships with Your Book Suppliers

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Pop quiz – what is the most important resource that will allow you to sell more books online?

A free website like Bookscouter that lets you resell thousands of books for profit? Nope.

Barcode scanners like the Bluetooth Cordless Hand Scanner or the SP2100 that save you countless hours when you search for valuable books to sell online? Important, but not indispensable.

No, the most important resource an online bookseller can develop is something far more valuable than anything you can buy or find online.

It’s the relationships you develop with the thrift store employees and library volunteers by practicing good etiquette when you shop at their stores.

Think about it – thrift store and library managers, employees, and volunteers are the gatekeepers between you and all the books in their inventory. It only makes sense to develop a good relationship with these folks – one that you can both benefit from.

Yet, ironically, a lot of the book scouts I see shopping alongside me at thrift stores and book sales rarely get to know these people or treat them that well. A few even go out of their way to hide what they’re doing – as if they’re afraid that they’ll get thrown out if the employees discover they’re reselling books.

As someone who’s benefited from positive relationships with thrift stores and library bookstores, I can tell you – nothing could be further from the truth. While I have encountered a few exceptions, the majority of the people I’ve met at thrift stores and libraries have been very supportive and welcoming to online booksellers like me.

Quite a few have even offered me special discounts and privileges that have greatly increased my ability to sell books online for profit.

Here are three tips for how to develop good relationships with employees and volunteers – and how these relationships can help you out in the long run.

Introduce Yourself to All Employees and Volunteers

Do you know the names of the cashiers who ring up all your book purchases or the employees who restock the bookshelves? Do they know you by name?

You should – and so should they. Make a point of thanking your cashier by name (a lot of them wear name tags) and introducing yourself to a new manager. Once these people get to know and recognize you as a regular, they’ll be much more welcoming and friendly.

And don’t be shy about telling them you’re an online bookseller! A lot of thrift store managers are thrilled to know that they can expect to sell a lot of books to the same person week in and week out.

I once introduced myself to a manager and let him know that he could expect to see a lot of me (since his store offered a lot of good books at reasonable prices). Before I was even done telling him my name, he introduced me to all the cashiers in the store and told them to give me a 50% discount on any book I bought.

Another time, a manager at another store asked if I’d be interested in scanning through a large box of recently donated books since her shelves were overstocked. Not only did I end up finding over $500 worth of books, the manager was so happy that I wanted them, she sold me the whole box for $10.

Naturally you can’t expect these kinds of finds or VIP treatment at every store you shop at – but the fact is these stores need to sell their inventory. If you present yourself as someone who can buy a lot of their stock, they’ll view you as a valuable customer.

(Tip: If you’re comfortable with this, offer to give the manager your email address and/or phone number. I’ve gotten a lot of good tips about big book donations this way).

Practice Good Thrift Store Etiquette

A lot of book scouts I see shopping next to me follow a rather disturbing pattern (especially at big book sales). They grab books off the shelf, scan their barcodes, and leave them in large piles on the floor (yes this really happens).

I suppose they think that by rushing through the store like this, they can shop at more stores in a day, find more books, and earn greater profits.

But it sure doesn’t make them popular with employees or volunteers. These people have to reshelve these books and clean up these messes.

Be neat when you scan. If you have to take some books out of the shelf, put them back after you’re done scanning. Some book sales have large bins for customers to place their unwanted books so volunteers can re-shelve them in the right places. Use them.

Get to know each store’s policies. If you know a certain library bookstore only accepts cash, be sure to carry some when you shop there. If a store doesn’t always have enough bags for every shopper, bring your own.

A lot of store employees that offer me discounts and special deals often comment that they do this because they appreciate the fact that I’m neater and more careful with their books than other book scouts.

Ask to Visit the Storeroom and Buy Books in Bulk

A number of managers that I’ve gotten on good terms with have allowed me to visit their storeroom and scan their books before they end up on the store’s bookshelves.

Naturally, this has allowed me to find a lot of valuable books, since these are books that no other bookseller has had the opportunity to look over. Moreover the store benefits since they can sell these books quickly to me and prevent them from going into overstock.

Don’t be shy about asking to look at books in the storeroom – if the manager is open to it, you can even arrange to make this a regular visit.

Be aware, however, that visiting the storeroom is a privilege and that you should never barge into a storeroom without permission.

I once saw a book scout walk into a storeroom only to be politely stopped by an employee. The customer claimed he had permission from the manager (who wasn’t there), and when the employee said he didn’t know about this arrangement, the book scout cussed him out. He was later banned from the store.

Remember – receiving special privileges doesn’t mean you’re entitled to them. Be grateful when you get them and be polite if new policies or circumstances take them away.

Hope these tips help you build a better relationship with your book suppliers! Remember, if you’d like to receive more tips for how to sell books online for extra money, you can subscribe to my blog!

Do you have a question or suggestion for a future blog article? Email me at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com.

Make More Money Selling Books Online with Bonus Codes

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These days, thanks to book buyback comparison sites like Bookscouter, more and more book buyback companies are competing for your business.

So it should come as no surprise that many of these buyback companies offer special incentives for you to sell them your books – including bonuses and entries in contests that can earn you cash prizes and/or cool giveaways like gift cards, iPads, and tablets.

As someone who’s taken advantage of these offers, I encourage you to keep your eyes open for such opportunities – especially when you have a lot of books to sell online. You can get more money for your books (particularly if you have over $200 of books to sell and the company is offering a 10-20% bonus) and it’s always fun to win a contest.

How do you get these cash bonuses and enter these contests? Most of the time, it’s a simple matter of requesting e-mail alerts for special offers from these book buyback companies when you create a free online account with them.

Each company will then email you special bonus codes that you can enter when creating a buyback order. Creating a buyback order with these codes also usually enters you in the company’s contest, giving you multiple chances to earn extra money.

Quick tip: These special bonuses do not show up on Bookscouter when you look up buyback bids online for your books, so you’ll want to keep that in mind when you choose a buyback company to sell your books to.

Here are three book buyback companies I’ve regularly received cash bonuses from.

Cash 4 Books

Cash 4 Books is one of my favorite book buyback companies to sell to since they offer a new bonus and/or contest practically every month. These bonus codes are often good for the entire month (although some are valid for only a few days) so you’ll want to keep your eyes open when one shows up.

What kind of bonuses and/or prizes can you expect from Cash 4 Books? In the past few months, I’ve received offers for 10%-15% cash bonuses on my buyback orders, entries for $300 gift cards, and chances to double my buyback cash order.

(Full disclosure: I’ve never won one of Cash 4 Books’ contests – although I have enjoyed frequent cash bonuses from them).

To get these Cash 4 Books bonus codes, all you need to do is send Cash 4 Books your email address. Just visit the Cash 4 Books website, enter your email address at the bottom of the main page where it says “Sign up for special offers,” and click “Subscribe.”

Now every time Cash 4 Books offers a bonus or contest, they’ll send you an email with a special bonus code in it. Enter this bonus code when you create your buyback order and you’ll increase your money and be automatically entered into one of their contests.

Tip 1: Before selling your books to Cash 4 Books, go into your email account and do a search for “Cash 4 Books” to see if you received any emails with bonus codes in them in the last few days or weeks. If the code is still valid, you can use it in your order.

Tip 2: These bonus codes can usually only be used once – so use them with a large order if you think you’ll be sending Cash 4 Books multiple orders in the same month. There’s also a limit on some of these bonuses (normally $50) so be sure to read the bonus code terms at the end of your emails.

Tip 3: Some of these special offers may require you to sell more books than usual (Cash 4 Books normally requires you to sell them only $5 worth of books per order, but you may need to send them bigger orders to get certain bonuses).

As with any book buyback company, you’ll want to make sure the books you send Cash 4 Books match their book condition requirements.

Valore Books

Valore Books cash bonus codes are typically best used by people who have a lot of books to sell and/or books that receive high buyback bids as you usually need to have high buyback orders (often about $100) to receive these bonuses.

This may actually work for students who sell back their textbooks, so be sure to keep Valore in mind when you’re looking through Bookscouter for any good buyback bids.

The bonuses can range from an additional $5 up to $100 bonus per order and you can receive the codes through emails you sign up to receive from the Valore Books website.

In addition to bonus codes, I’ve received emails offering to enter me in drawings for $1000 bonuses if I ship my buyback orders within 5 days (something I normally do anyway) as well as survey contests asking me to rate my experience with Valore Books (with an entry into a prize for a Visa Giftcard).

Students selling their textbooks to Valore Books may also be interested in contests asking them to review any of the books they sold to Valore. Such contests also come with an entry into a drawing for a Visa Giftcard.

(Full disclosure: I’ve never won one of Valore’s contests, although I have enjoyed some of their cash bonus codes).

If you’re interested in receiving cash bonus codes and/or contest offers from Valore, sign up to receive their emails when you create a free online account with them, and do a search for “Valore Books” in your email when you want to sell books to them to see if you can get a bonus code.

TextbookRush

One thing I like about TextbookRush’s bonuses is that you don’t need to enter any bonus codes – if they offer a bonus, it will be stated on their website and will be automatically added to your order if you fulfill their requirements.

In the past, most of the bonuses I’ve received from TextbookRush had to do with the quantity of the books I sent them (for instance, if I sent them more than 3 books, I’d receive an automatic $5 bonus on my order).

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen many such bonuses offered by TextbookRush lately – but keep your eyes open when you visit their website if this changes.

If you sign up to receive emails from TextbookRush, you may receive offers to complete a survey on your experience with them for an entry into a drawing (often for an iPad).

Final Tips

Once again, please let me reiterate that the books you sell to these companies (or any buyback company) should fulfill each company’s book condition requirements. It doesn’t do any good to use a bonus code and then send in a badly damaged book – you won’t receive any money for it.

Likewise, once you’ve created a book buyback order, send the books out ASAP! Most buyback companies give you a week to send your books to them, but if you want to get your money fast, you need to send your books out fast – in two days if possible. (And as you’ve seen with Valore Books, some buyback companies even offer greater incentives to send your books as quick as possible).

Hope these tips help you make more money from your buyback offers! As always, if you have any more questions, feel free to contact me at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com.

And if you’d like to learn more about selling books online to make extra money, please subscribe to my blog for constant updates!

How to Make Money From Books You Can’t Sell Online

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It’s an annoying truth about selling books online – sooner or later, you’ll find some of the books you bought can’t be sold for a profit.

The reasons for this vary – maybe the books you listed on Amazon suddenly dropped in value, leaving you with a lot of worthless inventory. Maybe the buyback companies that offered good prices reduced or removed their bids. Or maybe you found some of the books you bought were damaged, preventing you from selling them for extra money.

When this happens, you’ll need to have some strategies in place that will let you sell or trade those books for a profit and institute some clutter control on your home.

Here is a simple 4-step plan you should follow on a regular basis to get rid of that excess stock as soon as possible.

Step 1: Keep the Books You Expect to Rise in Value

Sounds kind of counter intuitive, doesn’t it? After all, isn’t this article about how to declutter your home from excess books?

Well it is. But it’s also true that a lot of book buyback companies you find on Bookscouter tend to buy the same books over and over again – and even when a certain book doesn’t receive any bids one day, it will suddenly receive multiple cash offers the next day.

A lot of this has to do with when you sell the book – many textbooks and other educational materials become more valuable before a new college semester when the book buyback companies are building up their stock. So sometimes, it pays to wait for a while and see if your books rise in value.

As you become more familiar with selling books online, you’ll discover what books and titles you can expect to reliably sell over and over again. (Quick tip: many of the same classic American and English literature titles regularly receive attractive bids from many buyback companies, particularly Textbooks.com, eCampus, and Sell Back Books.)

Here’s what I suggest – keep an empty cardboard box by your desk as you look up buyback bids (preferably with a scanner if you want to make your job easier) for your books on Bookscouter. When you come across a book you think will be eventually profitable but isn’t currently receiving any bids, place it into the box.

Over the next few days, re-scan the ISBNs of these books through Bookscouter and see if any book buyback companies are offering any bids. Odds are, you’ll be able to still re-sell some of these books for a profit.

After a week, if you have any books left, you’ll want to get rid of them using some of the strategies below.

Step 2: Return Any Books to Thrift Stores with a Return Policy

Some thrift stores offer a return policy on the items you buy from them, allowing you to exchange some of your worthless stock for trade credit that you can use to buy more profitable books.

There’s often a time limit on how long you can keep the merchandise before returning it (usually about two weeks), so make sure you learn the store’s policy when you purchase books from them.

Most stores also require you to have your original receipt with you when you return items, and the price tag may need to still be on the book so the item can be re-scanned back into their inventory.

To ensure that you have all these materials with you, follow this simple strategy – whenever you find a book you know you can’t sell (i.e. one with water damage, torn pages etc.) stick the store receipt into the book like a bookmark. Then toss the book into a second cardboard box marked “Return.”

Once you’re done scanning all your books through Bookscouter, you can then take the box and return all the books back to the thrift stores and exchange them for trade credit.

This will go a long way in reducing your overhead costs (since you’re basically reusing your money to buy better books), which will help you keep more of your profit!

Step 3: Exchange Books at Used Bookstores for Trade Credit

If you find you can’t sell your books on Amazon or through buyback companies you find on Bookscouter – and if the stores you bought them from don’t offer a return policy – you can still profit from them.

Just load those books into a third box labeled “Trade.” Then, take them to all the used bookstores that offer a trade credit program. (You may have to do an online search for used bookstores and call them up to confirm they exchange books for trade credit).

One nice thing about this strategy is that a lot of the books you buy to sell to buyback companies tend to be very popular (bestselling fiction, recent textbooks, popular nonfiction etc.) so used bookstores should be interested in a lot of them.

Some used bookstores may even offer you a cash deal for your books – but I tend to favor exchanging them for trade credit since you get more this way.

And while selling your books for trade credit isn’t the same as selling them for cash, you can still profit from this method by buying profitable books from used bookstores with your trade credit and then re-selling those books through Bookscouter.

Step 4: Donate Books to the Library or Thrift Store for a Tax Deduction

If all else fails, you can donate the books to the library bookstore or thrift store you bought them from and receive a tax write-off.

While this isn’t the same as getting money for your books, it can save you a few dollars when tax season comes around – and more importantly, it helps reduce the clutter created by your excess book inventory.

Be sure to ask the store for a receipt that you can file away for your taxes (many thrift stores have a pre-made form that you can fill out on your own later).

Hope this helps you profit more from your books when you sell them online! As always, if you have any more questions, feel free to contact me at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com.

And if you’d like to learn more about selling books online to make extra money, please subscribe to my blog for constant updates!

How to Sell Used Homeschool Books Online

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Recently, while shopping at a thrift store to find used books to sell for cash, I met a mother who home schools her kids.

It seemed she’d been buying a lot of homeschool books and other supplies – many of which were now lying around unused since her kids had graduated to higher levels.

She was eager to sell these homeschool books online for cash – but like a lot of inexperienced online sellers, thought her only options to sell books were Amazon.com and eBay.

I immediately referred her to my blog, which I hope can help not only her but also any parent seeking to declutter their house and turn their sell their homeschool books for cash by selling them to buyback companies – which can then be used to provide funds for their children’s education.

Homeschooling families are actually in a great position to make extra cash by selling books online since many of their textbooks are recent editions – which makes them easier to sell for higher prices (provided they sell them as soon as their kids are done using them so the books don’t have time to be replaced by later editions).

Families seeking to sell their used homeschool books and other curriculum materials online should follow these three steps:

Step 1: Visit Bookscouter.com

Once your kids are done using their textbooks, visit Bookscouter.com and enter the ISBNs of your books in the search bar to see if you can immediately sell your books for cash to buyback companies.

This is the fastest and simplest way to get money back for your books – but to make sure you get the best prices you need to sell these books immediately after your kids are done with them since textbooks depreciate rapidly as new editions replace the old ones.

(If your books are already a few years old, you might still be able to make a few dollars from them, but don’t expect them to sell for anywhere near what you bought them for).

Be sure to create a free Bookscouter account to ensure you receive offers from as many buyback companies as possible. If you’d like to know which buyback companies I feel pay the best and the fastest, read my articles 8 Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Books To and 2 More Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Books To.

(Incidentally if you’re looking for a great book buyback company to sell textbooks to, I recommend K-12 Book Buyer. This company specializes in buying grade school, middle, grade, and high school textbooks — as well as clean workbooks — so you should be able to sell quite a few books for extra cash to them).

Also, if you have a lot of books to sell, I suggest you invest in a barcode scanner — the wired versions are very affordable and will make selling your books a lot easier.

As you find buyback company bids from your books on Bookscouter, you may discover you can sell your books for higher prices by selling them yourself on Amazon.com. This is also a good option (especially if you want to turn selling books online into a side business) but please read my article Should You Sell Textbooks on Amazon or to a Book Buyback Company to Make Money? to learn how much Amazon takes in fees and commissions before you get paid.

As always, you’ll want to make sure that the textbooks and other educational materials you sell are still in good condition before you send them in. For instance, if your kids have filled out all their workbooks with answers, you won’t be able to resell them. (This is particularly true of buyback companies like Powells Books which will pay you well for your novels, textbooks, and nonfiction titles, but only if the books are in excellent condition).

For a more detailed list of book condition guidelines, read my article Is the Book Condition of Your Textbook Good Enough to Make Extra Money?

(After reading that article, I’m sure you’ll agree that it pays to keep your textbooks in good condition if you want to sell them!)

Step 2: Consider Re-Selling Textbooks for Trade Credit Instead of Cash

If you’ve read my articles, Should You Sell Your Books for Amazon Credit? and Advantages of Selling Books for Powell’s Trade In Credit, you know you can exchange your books for trade credit to companies like Amazon, Powells, and TextbookRush.

This can be a very attractive option for home schooling parents since many buyback companies offer more in trade credit than cash when they buy books online.

This trade credit can then be used to buy additional homeschooling books and materials as your child requires them. You can even keep exchanging these educational materials for trade credit to these companies over and over again (provided you keep them in good condition), saving you a lot of money in the long run.

You can find trade credit bids for your textbooks on Bookscouter.com as well (just be aware that your trade credit bids will often be higher than the amounts Bookscouter reports – Powells, for instance, offers a 50% bonus on all bids reported on Bookscouter if you accept payment in trade credit).

Step 3: Trade Books at Used Bookstores

If you find your used homeschool books are out-of-date and don’t receive very attractive bids on Bookscouter, don’t lose heart – you can still profit from them.

Just do an online search for used bookstores in your area. Then call them up and check to see if they buy books for cash or exchange them for trade credit.

Odds are most used bookstores have a trade credit program – and will accept many of your old textbooks. You can then use the trade credit to buy additional educational supplies at the bookstore.

If you find a lot of used bookstores in your area, be sure to check them out before you trade with them – you’ll want to make sure the bookstore actually has items you’ll want to use your trade credit on.

Final Thoughts

By the way, while I do believe in selling homeschooling books as fast as you can (given how quickly new textbook editions pop up), if you find you can sell your books for a significantly higher profit on Amazon than on Bookscouter, you may still want to try and sell your books on Amazon (while keeping buyback companies as an alternative).

If you’d like to learn some good tactics to sell your books faster and for better profits on Amazon, feel free to check out my new Sell Books Fast Online eBook series.

I hope these tips help homeschooling families save money. If you have any more questions about how selling books online can aid in your child’s education, feel free to contact me at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com.

And if you’d like to learn more about selling books online to make extra money, please subscribe to my blog for constant updates!

2 More Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Books To

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One of my most popular articles on this blog is 8 Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Books To.

It seems a lot of people really want to do their research before they start selling their books to book buyback companies to make extra money.

That’s smart. While there are a lot of book buyback companies you can find by going to Bookscouter, the best book buyback companies accept more books, pay more, and send your cash faster.

So to help you out, here are my reviews of two additional book buyback companies I’ve personally worked with – and the types of books they will and will not take.

Both of these companies appear on Bookscouter.com – however you’ll want to sign up for a free Bookscouter account to make sure they appear in your searches.

Sell Back Books

Located in Lexington, Kentucky, Sell Back Books is an excellent book buyback company that I’ve sold hundreds of books to over the years.

This company accepts a very wide variety of books that includes textbooks, self help books, university small press books, and even several adult fiction titles.

I’ve noticed that Sell Back Books is very partial to literary fiction (especially American and English literature), so if you have classic literature novels you’d like to sell, be sure to visit their website and check their bids on your books.

Sell Back Books accepts ex-library books, as well as books with minor highlighting, underlining and handwritten notes in the margins (as long as the markings do not obscure the actual text).

As always, you should never send any book buyback company books with water damage, unpleasant odors, stains, missing pages, broken bindings, or torn covers. Workbooks and study manuals should also be free to any markings to the worksheets in their pages – so be sure to check your books before sending them in.

One nice thing about Sell Back Books is that they only require you to have $5 worth of books to complete a buyback package (pretty easy since they accept so many books).

Unlike most book buyback companies, Sell Back Books does not offer payment via PayPal. Instead, you’re given a choice between being paid by a mailed check or direct deposit into your bank account. (Notably, eCampus, a buyback company that takes almost all the same books Sell Back Books does for comparable prices, does offer payment via PayPal).

If you choose to be paid by direct deposit, you’ll need to enter the routing and account number of your checking or savings account in Sell Back Books’ website when you place your buyback order and select your payment option.

I’ve always chosen to be paid by check, and while this is slower (often taking four to five weeks after I send the package in), I’ve never had a problem with being paid by Sell Back Books.

Finally, Sell Back Books offers a free UPS label you can print out for fast shipping – just make sure to drop your package off at a UPS store.

Chegg

Chegg is a great book buyback company in Antioch, Tennessee that I sell books to almost every week.

You can sell a lot of different books to Chegg, from textbooks to best selling novels to self help books. I’ve sold multiple business and religious texts to them as well.

Chegg also accepts several literary fiction titles – so college students should make sure to check the prices for their English and American literature novels once the semester ends.

Chegg’s book condition requirements aren’t as strict as other book buyback companies – you can sell Chegg ex-library books and books with minor highlighting, underlining, and margin notes. However, you should always make sure your book is free of any water damage, has strong binding, and no missing or torn pages.

One unique thing about Chegg is that they don’t have a minimum requirement for a book buyback package – so even if they offer only a couple dollars for a single book, you can still send in that one book and get paid.

(That said, I do suggest you try and include at least three to five books in each buyback package – it’s easier than packing each book one at a time).

You can choose to be paid in three ways by Chegg – PayPal, a mailed check, or store credit (which you can use to shop in Chegg’s online store).

Personally, I suggest getting paid by PayPal. Chegg pays extremely fast this way (most of my payments arrive in less than two weeks).

Chegg also offers a free UPS shipping label with all its buyback orders.

Final Thoughts

Both Sell Back Books and Chegg receive a lot of my business since they accept most of the books I find. Their low minimum buyback order also makes it easier to sell books to them on days when I don’t find as many books.

If you’d like to see buyback bids for your books from these companies when you’re using Bookscouter.com, be sure to sign up for a free Bookscouter account and make sure to include these companies in your Vendor Selection. (Sell Back Books will not show up in your searches if you do not do this).

Ideally, as you increase your Vendor Selection to include reputable book buyback companies like Sell Back Books and Chegg, you’ll broaden the number of buyback companies you can sell books to for cash – increasing your overall profits.

Got even more textbooks you’d like to sell? Check out my latest article, 2 Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Textbooks To.

Like this article? Please remember to subscribe to my blog if you’d like to receive more tips about book buyback companies you can sell your books to for extra money.

Want me to review other book buyback companies? Send me an email at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com and let me know!

How Much Money Can You Make Per Hour Selling Books Online?

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Hey guys! Thanks for sending me all your questions – I really appreciate the feedback!

Recently, I got an email with a question that I’m sure is on a lot of people’s minds when they start selling books online for extra money.

“How much money can you make selling used books online?”

It’s a fair question – and one that will influence not only your decision to sell books online but how you choose to sell books online as well.

The good news is this – if you adopt some good strategies for selling books online (like the ones I teach in this blog) and keep using them, the money you make in an hour will not only become substantial but also keep growing as you continue selling books online.

For instance, my part time job selling books online currently allows me to make $20 an hour. This net hourly wage is calculated by taking into account the time I spend looking for books to sell, listing books on Amazon, selling books to buyback companies, and packing books for shipping.

However, before you start expecting to make this money right away, there’s something you should know.

This wage includes the money I make selling books to buyback companies and Amazon.com. In other words, while you can make money by only selling books to buyback companies, if you want a higher hourly wage, you need to sell books on Amazon.com and to buyback companies.

Let’s take a look at how different strategies for selling books online can affect how much money you make per hour.

Selling Books to Buyback Companies

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know I’m a big advocate for selling books to buyback companies you can find on Bookscouter.com. There are a few reasons for this.

First, it’s a lot easier to find books to sell for extra cash to buyback companies. These books include many subjects – popular fiction, textbooks, science, history etc. – and can be found anywhere from thrift shops to library bookstores to garage sales.

And while the buyback bids offered for these books might not seem high (most sell anywhere from $2 -$10), if you buy the books cheaply and pack several of them into a single box, you can still make a decent profit from each buyback order (I make a net profit that can range from $15-$50 for each buyback package I send).

Second, you can sell books immediately to buyback companies. There’s no need to wait for a customer to find your book in your online bookstore and place an order – these companies want the books now and will pay quickly (usually about 2 weeks after you send the books to them).

Because this turnaround is so fast, you don’t have to worry about all your money being tied up in inventory – you can liquidate and reinvest your books on a regular basis and generate a steady stream of revenue.

And finally, by using a free book scouting service like Bookscouter.com to find books to sell online, you can keep your overhead costs even lower since you don’t have to pay for a book scouting service.

Along with these positives, however, come a few downsides.

For one thing, you’ll need to find a lot of books to send to these buyback companies if you expect to make a decent profit. This can be time consuming (which will reduce your hourly wage) which is why I highly recommend investing in a good barcode scanner that will make finding profitable books much faster and easier.

Another snag I’ve found is that some thrift shops and library bookstores are located in Internet “dead zones” which makes it harder for me to use a free online service like Bookscouter.com. This also eats up time, so it can be handy to use a PDA and scanner which find books using a downloaded database that doesn’t need Internet access.

And while you will find books that buyback companies will bid high prices for (I regularly sell single books for $50-$80), the vast majority of the books will still sell for only $2-$10, which can limit your profits.

So how does this affect your hourly wage?

Well, when I first started selling books to only buyback companies, I could make $8 to $10 an hour selling books online. Not bad if you’re looking for a way to raise money for a vacation or Christmas, but not that great either.

Over time, I invested in a barcode scanner and learned to spot the books buyback companies would want while bypassing the ones they didn’t. This let me find and sell more books in less time, letting me make about $12 to $15 an hour. Better – but I was still spending more time for what I felt should be a higher return.

To really make more money, I needed to merge other internet bookselling techniques with the Bookscouter book selling technique.

Which brings me to –

Selling Books on Amazon

This is the strategy most online booksellers think of when they sell books online. And it comes with some benefits – some of which I cover in my article, Should You Sell Textbooks on Amazon or to a Book Buyback Company to Make Money?

To recap: When you sell books on Amazon.com, you can list your book for any price you want. If you want to sell your book for $300, you can list it for that price. You don’t have to let an online buyback company’s bid dictate what you sell your book for.

The problem is that you need to wait for someone to purchase your books for that price to see any return on your investment. This isn’t a big deal for someone with a large amount of inventory who can sell books every day – but it is a problem if you’re just starting out and only have a couple dozen books listed on Amazon.

It could take months or even years for some of those books to sell – and while the time and effort to pack a single book isn’t that much, you’ll need to keep building your inventory if you expect to make a decent hourly wage.

Another issue is that Amazon.com will take out its own commissions and fees before you get paid – and you may have to invest your own money for postage and/or insurance. This isn’t such a bad deal if the book is an expensive one – but if you only sell cheap books, a lot of your profit will be sucked out.

That’s not to say people can’t earn a good hourly wage by only selling on Amazon.com – many established sellers with huge inventories claim they earn over $30-$40 an hour. But unless you can quickly build a large inventory of profitable books – and keep replenishing them as they sell – you won’t make a lot of money fast this way.

Having said that — I have learned and developed several strategies over the years that have allowed me to sell my books faster and for higher prices on Amazon. If you’d like to take advantage of these special tactics, please feel free to check out my Sell Books Fast Online eBook series.

How to Make More Money an Hour Selling Books Online

So how do I use Amazon.com to make more money selling books online?

Simple – I list books that go for very high profits on Amazon.com. Then I sell the rest to buyback companies using Bookscouter to find the best places to sell online.

It’s a basic technique that’s worked out very well for me. The money I make immediately from buyback sales more than covers the cost of any books I list on Amazon.com.

Then, over time, the books I list on Amazon.com start selling. Sometimes it takes weeks, months, or even years – but since I’ve already recouped my initial investment on those books, I don’t need to worry about not getting my money back.

And once I start generating regular Amazon.com sales, my hourly wage increases – and will continue growing since my income comes from two streams – buyback companies and regular Amazon.com sales.

How Should You Make Money Selling Books Online?

So should you sell books on both Amazon.com and to buyback companies like I do?

Well, that’s up to you.

If you just want to raise money for a vacation, project, or gift, then maybe you don’t have to sell on Amazon. Just invest a few weeks selling books to buyback companies (use a barcode scanner if you want to make the work faster and easier) and you’ll earn the extra money you need.

On the other hand, if you want to generate a source of regular income and earn a decent hourly wage, then you’ll want to sell to both buyback companies and Amazon.com. It doesn’t take long to list a book on Amazon, and the time you invest will pay off once your inventory grows and you make more money selling used books online.

Want to receive more tips and tricks for how to sell books online for extra money? Subscribe to my blog!

Do you have a question or suggestion for a future blog article? Email me at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com.

How to Find an ISBN and Use it to Sell Books Online for Profit

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Okay, you’re all set to start making some extra money selling books online. You’ve read my blog, know all about Bookscouter.com, and how much money you can earn selling books through buyback companies.

You are ready to find the best places to sell books online and start making extra money!

Then you go to Bookscouter.com and see the following words in their search engine:

“Search an ISBN”

Wait. What the heck is an ISBN?

What is an ISBN?

An ISBN can be your best friend or your worst enemy when it comes to selling books online – depending on how much you know about it and how easily you can find it.

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number and is a numerical code often found above a book’s barcode or in the publication information page. The code is like the book’s social security number and identifies the book’s publisher, its edition (i.e. hardcover, paperback, 13th edition of a textbook etc.), and where it was published.

Every book (as well as different editions of the same book – especially textbooks) has a different ISBN. Almost all books published after 1970 have an ISBN.

ISBNs are all 13 digits or 10 digits long.

13-digit ISBNs begin with the numbers 978.

10-digit ISBNs in the U.S. all begin with a 0 or 1. (If the book was published in a different country, the 10-digit ISBN might begin with a different number).

So what does this mean to you?

It means if you find out how much money you can sell your book for, you need to locate the ISBN of your book and enter it in Bookscouter.com. Bookscouter can then look up the book and tell you how much different buyback companies will pay for that book.

Sounds easy, right?

Well… not always.

Problems with Finding the ISBN of a Book

Most of the time, finding and using the ISBN is as easy as turning to the back cover of the book and scanning the barcode with your barcode scanner. The ISBN will then appear in the Bookscouter.com search bar and bring up all the buyback company bids.

The problem is, sometimes the barcode on the back of a book doesn’t contain the ISBN.

Instead, the barcode contains what’s known as the Universal Product Code (UPC) which is a different set of numbers that also identifies the book.

Unfortunately the UPC makes no sense to Bookscouter.com and you won’t get any information on the book if you scan that code.

(You can tell if a barcode contains an ISBN or UPC by glancing at the numbers below the barcode. If the numbers begin with 978 it’s an ISBN. Otherwise it’s often a UPC).

Other times, even if the barcode contains the ISBN, it’s covered with a sticker from the store it’s being sold in. These stickers have their own barcodes – so your scanner reads that barcode instead of the ISBN and brings up no information.

In these situations, you need to peel off enough of the sticker (making sure not to damage its barcode) so you can scan the book’s actual ISBN barcode.

Sometimes the sticker is stuck too hard for you to scan the book’s barcode.

It’s frustrating. Believe me, I know.

There have been times I found a book I was sure would fetch a great price – and then wasted a lot of precious time trying to find and scan the ISBN.

A lot of people give up early in the game because of this – and I can’t entirely blame them. While selling books online is a fun way of making extra money, problems like this can lead to a lot of headaches if you don’t develop a strategy to deal with them.

So how do I get around these problems?

Like this:

Top Three Places to Find the ISBN Barcode

While the back cover of a book is the most common place to find the ISBN barcode, it is not the only place where one can be located.

Thus, your first strategy when you can’t scan the back cover is to see if the ISBN barcode is somewhere else in the book.

If the book is a paperback, flip to the inside front cover. A lot of paperback books have a second ISBN barcode inside the front cover that can be easily scanned.

If the book is a hardcover with a dust jacket, look at the inside edges of the dust jacket, where the ISBN barcode can also be located and scanned easily.

Other Places to Find the ISBN

Sometimes, a book doesn’t contain a barcode (or has one that’s covered by a sticker) but does have an ISBN you can locate.

In these situations, you need to enter the ISBN manually into your phone, tablet, or laptop since there’s no barcode to scan with your barcode scanner.

This can be annoying, but if you find a book you think can sell for a lot online, it’s still worth it to spend the extra time typing in the ISBN – especially since a lot of other book dealers may have passed it over, increasing the chances of it being worth something.

First, look at the back cover again. Even if the book doesn’t have a barcode, it might still have the ISBN printed on the back or on a sticker.

If that doesn’t work, flip to the publication information page (it’s usually one of the first five pages of the book) and find the ISBN there.

Be careful – sometimes the publication information page lists multiple ISBNs for the hardcover and paperback versions of the book, so you need to enter the ISBN for the version of the book you’re looking up.

Speeding Up Your Search With a Scanner

Despite these problems, most of the time, finding the ISBN is still just a matter of finding the barcode on the back cover of a book and entering it into Bookscouter.com.

However, you can probably tell by now that entering a 10-digit or 13-digit code manually every time you want to look up a book can be time consuming and lead to a lot of headaches.

That’s why I strongly suggest anyone who wants to sell books online for extra money invest in a barcode scanner before they start selling books online to buyback companies or on Amazon.

These scanners will save you a lot of stress and you’ll find they pay for themselves many times over thanks to all the additional books you can find in less time.

You can read my reviews of some of these scanners at How to Make More Money Selling Books Online with the Bluetoorth Cordless Hand Scanner.

How to Sell Books Online for Profit with the Textbooks.com Buyback Program

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Hey everyone! This blog post marks the first in a series of interviews with textbook buyback companies that let you sell books for cash online.

Instead of just reading my articles on the best buyback textbook website, you’ll now learn what books these companies buy, how much they’ll pay, and how you can send books to them to make extra money – from the people who pay cash for your books!

Our first interview is with one of my favorite textbook buyback programs – Textbooks.com. I’ve sold thousands of books to Textbooks.com over the years and have earned thousands of dollars from them.

Textbooks.com’s Director of Contact Center Operations, Chris Gibson, was nice enough to answer some questions about how Textbooks.com buys books. Thanks Chris!

Let’s see what he has to say:

How long has Textbooks.com offered a book buyback program?

Textbooks.com was established in 2006 and has offered a buyback program since that time.

How many books does Textbooks.com buy each year?

Textbooks.com purchases hundreds of thousands of books across many subjects, genres, and majors each year.

Can anyone sell used books for cash to Textbooks.com?

Anyone with an Internet connection can sell books to Textbooks.com! We have one of the largest buyback programs available online and offer free UPS shipping for our buybacks.

Do you have to live in the US to sell books to Textbooks.com?

You have to be based in the US, with a US address, to sell books to us. We do not ship or do buyback internationally.

What types of books does Textbooks.com buy?

We offer buyback value on books across all subjects and genres. These buybacks range from human biology and algebra, to a variety of Shakespeare classics.

What types of books does Textbooks.com not buy?

We typically don’t exclude specific genres or subjects from the buyback program, but we don’t purchase international editions or annotated teacher’s editions.

Textbooks that are international or teacher’s editions will usually have “International Edition” or “Teacher’s Edition” printed on the cover.

How much money will Textbooks.com offer for a book?

We offer a wide range depending on the demand for the book. Trade titles like The Great Gatsby are among the lowest value books that we purchase back, while some titles related to biology, microeconomics, and calculus have buyback values well over $100.

While we don’t have a specific minimum for an individual book, there is a $10 minimum to process a buyback order, so it can be made up of several lesser-priced books.

Are there certain times in the year when Textbooks.com buys more books?

While we offer buyback value on a large list of books year-round, certain times of the year – like December and May – see an increase as students finish using their books for a semester.

How to Check If Your Book Condition is Good for Textbooks.com

Do you buy books that have underlining and/or highlighting in the pages?

Any color or mixture of color is acceptable for highlighting, as long as it does not obscure any portion of the text. If any of the text becomes unreadable, we’re unable to purchase that book. Our guideline for writing or underlining is limited to 50% of the book, provided that it does not obscure any portion of the text.

Workbooks and study guides are graded differently due to the nature of needing to work directly in the book. Up to five pages can contain writing in pencil; any writing in pen is unacceptable.

These guidelines are put in place to benefit future customers. We hand-inspect all books that are sold back to us and we guarantee our used books. On the website, you’ll see books sold directly from Textbooks.com marked “Certified Used,” which provides peace-of-mind to our customers.

Sometimes, the book’s previous owner writes notes in the margins of a textbook. Do you accept books like these?

Notes in the margins are acceptable, as long as they are not written on more than 50% of pages in the text and as long as they don’t obscure any of the text.

Do you buy ex-library books with library stickers and stamps?

Yes, we purchase ex-library books. As long as the book is in good condition, it’s eligible for our buyback program.

When is a book considered not in “good condition”?

Textbooks.com won’t buy books with the following conditions:

• Water damage or stains of any kind
• Missing, torn, or loose pages
• Damage to the cover, binding, or spine
• Any marking inside the book that makes text unreadable
• Publisher defects

While publisher defects are not common, the most prevalent issues we see are sections that are out of order, a section missing while another is repeated in its place, or text that is printed upside down in relation to the front cover.

Some textbook retailers sell books with lower standards than Textbooks.com. We see some books come through the buyback program with signs of water damage, stains, or ruffled pages that may have been present when the student purchased a book elsewhere.

This leads some students to think that water damage is acceptable for used books, but we’re unable to purchase a book that has any degree of water damage.

It is also possible that a customer may have a book that has been stickered incorrectly. Instead of using the ISBN found on the sticker on the back on the book, it is best to use the information available on the copyright page.

What is an ISBN?

An ISBN is a 10- or 13-digit code assigned to a book. It’s located on the copyright page inside the book and usually also on the bar code on the back cover, although we recommend using the one on the copyright page.

Searching by ISBN ensures you are getting a quote for the correct book. There can be many versions or editions of a given title; some may be custom editions, some may come with online access, some may be packaged with additional components. Each “version” of a title will have its own ISBN, so it ensures we’re talking about the same book.

Sometimes the book’s bar code shows the Universal Product Code (UPC) which is not the same as an ISBN. Remember – 13-digit ISBNs start with “978,” and 10-digit American ISBNs start with a “0” or “1” (foreign ISBNs can start with different numbers).

What else might make a book unacceptable to Textbooks.com?

Any components listed in the title of a book need to be included with a buyback; that means items like DVDs, CDs, workbooks, etc.

If a buyback quote is supposed to include supplemental components and the book is sent back to us without them, we attempt to pay the customer for what is received, which may be less than the original quote. Sometimes a package won’t have any value unless everything listed in the title is included.

When looking to sell a loose-leaf item, it is important to make sure the correct ISBN is being used. While we may be purchasing a hard or soft cover text, we won’t always be purchasing the loose-leaf version of that same title.

What do you do with buyback books sent to you in poor condition?

If we receive an item in unsellable condition, we notify the customer by email and detail the reason why it can’t be purchased. We also provide instructions on arranging a return if the customer would like the item back. If the customer decides they no longer want the item, it is recycled.

How to Sell Books Online to the Textbooks.com Buyback Website

How do I create a free online account to start selling books to Textbooks.com?

To create an account on Textbooks.com, go to the Log In page in the top right corner of our website. Or you can create an account during the buyback checkout process.

What information do I need to give to get a free online account at Textbooks.com to sell used books and start making extra money?

To sell books to Textbooks.com, we would need the following information for your account: name, email address, phone number, a US-based address, and payment preference (PayPal or check).

Once I open that account, how can I check to see how much Textbooks.com will pay me for my books?

Customers can go to Textbooks.com from their computer, laptop, or mobile device and select ‘Sell Textbooks’ at the top of the page.

Enter any ISBN in the search field to see the buyback value we are currently offering for that book. From there, you can add more books to a quote.

Once all books are added, the seller enters their info and finalizes their quote.

Once finished, you print a packing slip and a prepaid UPS shipping label, and then ship the book(s) to us.

Our buyback quotes are good for 30 days. However we recommend sending in your books right away – so you get your cash faster! But it’s peace of mind for students who want to lock in a good price and still need their book for finals.

Also, customers who have purchased books from Textbooks.com can log into their account and check the buyback section in “My Account” to see what value we’re currently offering on those titles.

How to Send Your Used Books to Textbooks.com for Money

How would you like books to be sent to you?

As long as the packaging is sturdy and the books are packaged well, they should arrive to us in good condition!

It’s important to consider the size of box or envelope that is used based on the number of books being sent. Too much extra room allows books to slide around and can damage them. If any filler is used, make sure it is something that won’t stain. For example, newspaper isn’t a great choice for this!

Wrapping the books in plastic is helpful, in case the books come in contact with any water on their journey to us. This will help prevent any damage in transit.

We’ve had a few buybacks received in cereal or pizza boxes – we definitely wouldn’t recommend those!

What type of free shipping do you offer?

For buyback, we offer free pre-paid shipping labels via UPS. This provides door-to-door tracking and shipments are typically received in our warehouse within 3-5 business days.

Do you provide any insurance with your free shipping labels?

Our buyback labels are not insured. While we rarely see any damage to shipments that are sent to us, customers always have the option of purchasing insurance for added peace of mind.

What other tips you can share for making sure books arrive in good shape so Textbooks.com can pay you money for them?

This is all about packaging! As long as books are sent in sturdy packaging and don’t have a lot of room to slide around inside the box or envelope, they should arrive in good shape.

It’s a good idea to wrap books in something plastic to prevent any kind of exposure to water, especially during rainy seasons. Sellers also have to be sure to include all supplemental components quoted in the offer.

How long does it take for books to get to Textbooks.com – and how long does it usually take before a person gets paid?

Shipments usually arrive to our warehouse within 3-5 business days, depending on the distance from our centrally located warehouse in Columbia, Missouri.

From there, sellers typically get their payments in 1-2 weeks, depending on whether a seller chose Paypal or check. We say to allow up to 4 weeks from the day you send your books to the day you get your money. Paypal is the fastest way to receive a payment.

How can people contact you if they have more questions?

If sellers have questions about the buyback process, they can visit our Help Desk for answers to the most commonly asked questions. It’s definitely the best place to start. For questions about existing buyback quotes or returns, we have a dedicated customer service team and sellers can submit their questions to us via the Contact Us page, email us anytime, or call our toll-free number.

Thanks again Chris! I hope Chris’ answers to my questions have made you more aware of the best ways to sell your used books online for a profit to buyback companies.

If you’d like to start selling your books online, go to Textbooks.com and sign up for a free online account. You’ll be glad you did (I know I was!)

And as always, if you liked this interview and want to receive more tips and tricks for how to sell books online for extra money, subscribe to my blog!

Want to ask me a question or offer a suggestion for a future blog article? Email me at sellbooksfastonline@gmail.com.

Hey, did you know that you can also buy discounted textbooks for college from Textbooks.com and sell those textbooks back to Textbooks.com for cash when the semester ends? Learn more at How to Buy College Textbooks for Less on the Textbooks.com Website.