Category Archives: Book Buyback Companies

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What Are Book Buyback Companies?

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Laptop and Books RESIZED

Wondering where to sell books online and make extra money fast?

Most people think if they list their books on Amazon.com or eBay, the money will come rolling in.

But while these markets are great places to sell books worth $20 or more, if your books are worth less than $10, you’re going to be disappointed.

Remember, both Amazon and eBay deduct fees and commissions from the sales you make on their websites – which will cut into your profit margin.

Plus, you’ll be competing with other online sellers – so if your books don’t sell fast, you may need to lower your prices to stay competitive, causing you to lose more money.

On top of that, it can take time – sometimes weeks or months – for some of your books to sell on Amazon or eBay, which can be a problem if you want to make extra money fast.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other places to sell books online – and one of the best places for people who want to make extra money fast is a book buyback company, like the ones you can find on Bookscouter.com.

What Are Book Buyback Companies?

Book buyback companies (also called textbook buyback companies) have their origins in pre-Internet days when college bookstores would “buy back” textbooks students had finished using and resell those used books to new students.

Most students didn’t like this since they could usually only sell their books back for a fraction of the original price. If a student wrote in his or her book, that price could be lowered. Worse, when a college stopped using a textbook, they stopped buying the book even if it was still in excellent condition.

With the coming of the Internet, however, students gained new options for selling books. If students weren’t happy with what their college bookstore was paying, they could go online and see if stores in different parts of the country were buying the book for a higher price. They could then mail their books to these bookstores and be paid by mail.

Today, this service has evolved into many online book buyback companies that operate year-round and can be found on online services like Bookscouter.com. Moreover, these companies don’t just buy textbooks but also novels, self-help books, religious texts, recent bestsellers, computer game guides and more.

Each book buyback company offers a website where people can check how much the company will pay for their books. People can then fill a box with those books, send them to the company, and receive payment in two to three weeks (by Pay Pal) or one month (by mailed check).

Most book buyback companies also provide free shipping labels customers can print out and use to ship their books. This is great since book buyback packages can get pretty heavy, which could eat up a seller’s profits if they had to pay for postage.

Are Book Buyback Companies the Best Place to Sell Books Online?

Sometimes. And sometimes not.

Some people don’t sell books to book buyback companies because they think they’ll always get a better price for their books if they sell them on Amazon.

While it is true that there are some books that sell better on Amazon than to a buyback company, the reverse is also often true.

That’s right – there are a lot of books you can buy very cheaply at thrift stores and garage sales that only sell for a penny on Amazon, but can be sold immediately for $2, $5, or even $10 to a book buyback company.

Moreover, since you ship books to buyback companies in bulk (most of your packages will contain five to ten books) the combined net profit of all those books will often match or exceed the profit you could make from a single package you sell on Amazon.

I call these books “gold dust books” and you can read more about them in my post, What Are Gold Dust Books – And How Can They Make Me Extra Money?

The trick is to see book buyback companies for what they are – another option in a large online market that you can sell books to and make substantial profits.

In future posts, I’ll go into more detail on how you can determine whether or not to sell your book on Amazon or to a book buyback company – so be sure to subscribe to my blog to get all the latest updates.

At this point, you’re probably wondering how you can find some of these book buyback companies — and which ones will pay the most for your books — so find some answers by reading my articles, How to Sell Your Gold Dust Books Online for the Best Prices and  8 Great Book Buyback Companies To Sell Books To.

8 Great Book Buyback Companies To Sell Books To

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Selling books online to book buyback companies can be a great way to make extra money – if you know which buyback companies to sell your books to.

The problem is new sellers don’t always know which book buyback companies are the most reputable, pay the fastest, or even pay at all.

Moreover, some don’t bother to learn what type of books a buyback company will and will not accept before they send them a box of books.

As a result, rookie book scouts can send books worth a lot of money to book buyback companies, only to receive an email telling them the book is not in “acceptable condition” and will not be paid for.

Fortunately this won’t be a problem for you, since I’ve created a list of the 8 best book buyback companies I’ve personally sold used books to – and what type of books they will and will not take.

Read this list carefully! It could mean the difference between a great payday and no payday at all!

(By the way, all of these book buyback companies appear on Bookscouter.com, making it easy for you to compare price quotes between them).

Textbooks.com

Located in Columbia, Montana, Textbooks.com is one of my favorite book buyback companies to sell books to. They buy a wide variety of books including textbooks (of course!), paperback novels, history books, recent bestsellers, science books, business books, classic fiction titles, self-help books, and even a few young adult novels.

Textbooks.com will accept ex-library books as well as books with minor highlighting, underlining, and handwritten notes in the pages.

That said, you should never send Textbooks.com (or any book buyback company for that matter) books with water damage, unpleasant odors, stains, missing pages, broken bindings, or torn covers. If you find a workbook or study manual, make sure the pages aren’t already filled in – no book buyback company will be able to sell that book.

One fantastic feature of the Textbooks.com book buyback program is that they guarantee their price quotes for 30 days – so the price quote you receive for any books you sell to them will not change for several weeks, unlike other book buyback companies whose price quotes can change every day.

You can also buy books from Textbooks.com and receive a 10% bonus if you re-sell books that you bought from Textbooks.com back to them. To get this bonus, you’ll need to log into the Textbooks.com account you used to buy the books in the first place so Textbooks.com can see you’re re-selling a past purchase.

If you sell books to Textbooks.com, be aware that you need to sell at least $10 worth of books before they’ll let you complete your order (not usually a problem since they buy so many books and offer very competitive price quotes).

I’ve never had a problem receiving payment from Textbooks.com which can come via Pay Pal (which usually takes two to three weeks) or by check (about a month).

By the way, Textbooks.com offers a free UPS label you can use to send your package that provides very fast shipping – just remember to drop your package off at a UPS store!

Want to learn more about Textbooks.com? Check out my interview with them!

Cash 4 Books

In recent years, I’ve sold many books to Cash 4 Books since not only do they offer nice competitive prices for books, but they also pay very fast (sometimes in as little as one or two weeks). The minimum order for this company is only $5.00 worth of books.

According to their FAQ page, Cash4Books will accept ex-library books, but only if they are marked as “withdrawn.” (I personally rarely send them ex-library books unless they offer me a really good price).

Cash 4 Books will accept books that have minimal (as in less than 50% of the book) highlighting, underlining, and/or writing.

Cash 4 Books also offers a free app that you can download onto your iPhone or Android and use to scan book barcodes and find Cash 4 Book’s buyback prices. Personally, I prefer using Bookscouter (since you can see prices from multiple buyback companies) but the Cash 4 Books app can be useful if you run into a situation where you can’t use Bookscouter.

Finally, Cash 4 Books regularly offers bonus codes that you can enter when placing your buyback orders, giving you some extra money on your buyback order. You can arrange to have these bonus codes emailed directly to you when you sign up for a Cash 4 Books account.

Powells Books

While many book buyback companies buy and sell only online, Powells Books actually has a giant bookstore located in Portland, Oregon. Book buybacks are sold through both this store and their website.

I’ve encountered advantages and disadvantages from selling to Powells.

First, Powells accepts more books than almost any other book buyback company I’ve dealt with. From recent bestsellers to children’s books to self-help books, if you can’t sell your books to other book buyback companies, odds are Powells will make you an offer.

Powells also offers a 50% bonus on all their books if sellers accept payment in trade credit. This trade credit is deposited in an online Powells account you can use to buy books or DVDs from the Powells store. If you’re a student looking to buy your textbooks for a better price or a movie buff, you can get great deals this way.

On the flipside, the books you sell to Powells must be in excellent condition. Where a few book buyback companies might accept books with a little underlining or bent pages, if you send a book like that to Powells, you won’t be paid for it.

Because of this, if you find a book that Powells offers a price quote on, make sure to flip through the book before you buy it for re-sale.

Powells will not accept ex-library books, books with underlining, highlighting, notes, weak bindings, or covers with any markings or excessive wear. Book Club editions of popular books will also be rejected.

To sell books to Powells, you’ll need to get a combined price quote of $5.00 or send them a minimum of three books.

Because of Powells high standards on book condition, some of the buyback packages I’ve sent to them have been reduced in value due to a book that did not meet their standards. Nevertheless, I continue to sell books to Powells since they accept so many books and because they always send me my payment fairly quickly via Pay Pal.

By the way, Powells offers a free Media Mail shipping label that you can slap onto your package and ship via the United States Postal Service.

Sell Back Your Book

Located in Aurora, Illinois, Sell Back Your Book also accepts a wide variety of popular fiction and nonfiction books. In the past, I’ve sold them parenting books, art history textbooks, books on the paranormal, and business books.

Like Powells Books, books sold to Sell Back Your Book must be in excellent condition. That means no ex-library books, texts with underlining/highlighting/notes, or any book covers with lots of wear.

Minimum buyback orders to Sell Back Your Book must be at least $5.00. Sellers also have the option of choosing a free Media Mail shipping label or a faster FedEx label that will deduct $3.00 from your payment if your total buyback order is less than $50.00. I recommend choosing the free Media Mail shipping label.

Like Powells Books, I’ve occasionally had some of my buyback packages lowered in value if some of my books do not meet Sell Back Your Book’s high standards. Because of this, I’m very careful to only send books in virtually new condition to this company.

Payment arrives very fast (usually in two to three weeks) by Pay Pal.

TextbookRush

Located in Grandview Heights, Ohio, TextbookRush (formerly TextbookRus) offers very high price quotes on the books it wants (I’ve sold books for as high as $70.00 to this company). Most of these high-price books tend to be textbooks, but I’ve also sold novels, business books, pop culture encyclopedias, and even gardening books for good prices.

TextbookRush will accept books with minor highlighting, underlining, and handwritten notes. They’ll also buy ex-library books, but only if the books have been stamped “Withdrawn.”

Unlike some textbook buyback companies, TextbookRush will buy (and sell) International editions of textbooks (which are textbooks that are sold overseas and priced cheaper). Instructor editions of textbooks (or textbooks meant for teachers with answers to the quiz questions inside) can also be sold. Just make sure to indicate this when you sell them the book.

Minimum buyback orders to TextbookRush must be $15.00 or more. All buyback orders also receive a free SmartPost shipping label – make sure to check if it needs to be dropped off at a USPS or Fed Ex location.

Like Powells Books, TextbookRush offers a bonus if sellers accept payment via trade credit that they can spend at TextbookRush’s online store. However, this bonus is very small, so unless you buy a lot of books from TextbookRush, take the money.

Sellers can choose to be paid via Pay Pal or check – I recommend Pay Pal as I’ve found TextbookRush pays extremely fast this way. Most of my Pay Pal payments arrive in less than two weeks and I’ve even had occasions where I was paid in less than a week.

By the way, TextbookRush often offers bonuses and special promotions that can substantially increase the value of your buyback package – so be sure to check their website for any special offers when you decide to sell books to them!

CKY Books

CKY Books is located in Nicholasville, Kentucky and purchases a wide selection of books including textbooks, medical, religious, political, history, art, parenting, and self help books.

Books with minor highlighting, underlining, and notes are acceptable. Ex-library books are also accepted, but CKY will deduct quoted prices by 30% for these books (so you’re probably better off selling ex-library books to Textbooks.com).

Minimum buyback orders to CKY Books must be worth at least $20.00. Pay Pal payments come fairly quickly (about two weeks after your buyback package arrives) and CKY provides your choice of free UPS, FedEx, or USPS shipping.

One cool thing about CKY is that they buy additional items like movies, music, and games, and you can earn even more extra cash by including these additional items with your book buyback orders.

For more information on CKY, be sure to check out the informative interview I recently published!

Valore

Valore is yet another textbook buyback company I’ve had a lot of success selling to. Many of my textbook buyback packages to them have been worth well over $50!

Valore currently has a minimum buyback order of $15, although once again, since their high textbook buyback price usually keeps this from being a problem. You can also print free UPS shipping labels for your buyback packages.

One cool thing about selling books online to Valore is that it frequently offers bonuses at different times of the year which you can learn about by signing up for email alerts when creating your Valore account. These bonuses come in the form of codes you enter when selling your books, and can give you a 5%, 10% or higher bonus on your buyback order.

Valore pays quickly – I’ve had most of my PayPal payments come in less than 2 weeks after shipping the books. If you request to be paid by check, you’ll probably have to wait an extra week.

Book it Buyback

Based in Alton, Illinois, Book it Buyback is a book buyback company I’ve sold to multiple times with success. They buy textbooks, science books, and also books on paranormal subjects. However, they typically don’t buy paperback fiction titles.

Books with minor underlining and highlighting will be accepted. You can also sell ex-library books to Book it Buyback – but according to their policies, you’ll only receive 50% of the price quote for these books.

Unlike most book buyback companies, Book it Buyback also buys Advance Reader Copies, which are uncorrected proofs of books sent to book reviewers before the book is actually published. However, Book it Buyback only pays 50% of the price quoted for these books.

(By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve never sold an Advance Reader Copy to this company, so I can’t really comment on how well this works).

Minimum buyback orders for Book it Buyback must be at least $10.00. They currently offer a Media Mail shipping label. Payment arrives fairly quickly via Pay Pal.

Final Thoughts

Depending on what type of books you find to sell online, you may find yourself selling most of your books to one or two of the book buyback companies above.

Visit some of the websites listed above. Learn more about their buyback policies and enter some of the ISBN numbers of your books into their buyback search to see if they’ll offer you a good price quote for your books.

It’s also possible that you may have better luck selling to some of the other book buyback companies offering price quotes on Bookscouter.com. If you’d like to learn more about these companies, check out 2 More Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Books To and 2 Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Textbooks To.

To learn more about how you can use this free online resource to make extra money, read my article, How to Sell Your Gold Dust Books Online for the Best Prices, and then subscribe  to my blog to receive all my latest tips for selling books online fast!

Want to learn even more ways to sell books online quickly and for higher prices? Check out my new Sell Books Fast Online eBook series and discover great strategies for selling books for better profits on Amazon!

 

Advantages of Selling Books for Powell’s Trade In Credit

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Powells

If you’ve sold books online to Powell’s Books, you may have noticed that Powells offers a choice between getting paid for your books in cash or Powell’s books trade in credit.

This trade credit bid doesn’t appear when you see Powells’ online bid on Bookscouter, but can still be an attractive option for you.*

First, let’s look at the difference between selling books online for cash or trade credit.

Selling Books for Extra Money or Trade Credit

Selling books for cash means what it sounds like – the company will send you either a check or a PayPal payment for your books. (PayPal payments are much faster and you can sometimes have your cash available in as little as a week after you send your books).

Selling books for trade credit is different. When you ask to be paid in trade credit, the buyback company records your payment in a trade credit online account you open with the company.

You can then use your trade credit to buy things from the company’s website – which can include college textbooks, trade paperbacks, DVDs, Blue Rays, and more.

If you keep requesting payment in trade credit every time you send a new shipment of books, more money (in trade credit) gets deposited into your online account, meaning you can buy some pretty expensive things online if you save your trade credit.

And since most websites offer a choice between cash or trade credit every time you sell your books online, you can ask to be paid in cash sometimes and trade credit other times.

Advantages of Using Trade Credit

So which is better – cash or trade credit?

Most people would say cash since you can spend that anywhere, while trade credit can only be spent on that buyback company’s website.

But before you select the “cash” option every time you sell your books online to Powell’s Books, consider some of the advantages of using trade credit.

First, when you sell books for trade credit to Powell’s Books, you get a 50% bonus on the original buyback offer.

In other words, if Powell’s Books offers you $20 in cash for your books, you can also choose to sell them for $30 in trade credit.

This lets you stretch your dollars a lot farther if you buy stuff online.

For instance, let’s say the average price of the books you buy to resell is $1. Let’s also say you can sell your books for cash to Powell’s Books for an average price of $2.

In other words, you make a 100% profit on every book you sell to Powells (or $1 profit on every $1 you spend).

But if you choose to sell your books to Powells for trade credit, you’ll sell them for an average price of $3 ($2 + $1 bonus). You’ll make a 200% profit on every book you sell to Powells (or a $2 trade credit profit for every $1 you spend).

Getting Huge Discounts on Powell’s Books

Another way of looking at the scenario above is that you’ll receive a 66% discount on anything you buy online at Powells (since you’re actually only spending $1 of “real money” for every $3 of trade credit you spend online).

When might you want to do this? Well, if you know that Powells Books sells a lot of the textbooks you’ll need next semester, you’d save a lot of money by building up some trade credit in your account and buy textbooks at a discount for college.

Likewise, if you do Christmas shopping on a budget, you can stretch your dollars by building up a supply of Powells trade credit over the year and then using it to do your Christmas shopping online.

And if you have your eye on a rare book or DVD that Powells is selling, buying it on trade credit can be a great way to get what you want while saving money.

Final Thoughts

Finally, let me reiterate that you’re given the choice to sell your books for cash or trade credit every time you sell your books to Powell’s Books. In other words, there’s no reason you can’t sell your books for cash sometimes and trade credit others.

Moreover, there are other buyback websites that can offer a more attractive online bid for your books in both cash and trade credit – including Amazon.com. Be sure to read my article, Should You Sell Your Books for Amazon Credit? to learn about these other websites.

* Keep in mind if you use Bookscouter, you can just add 50% to any online bids you receive from Powell’s Books to see what you can sell the book for in trade credit.

How to Use Bookscouter’s Pricing History to Find Books That Rise in Value

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Price History 2

If you’ve been earning extra money by using Bookscouter to sell books online to textbook buyback companies, you’ve probably noticed that many buyback companies tend to purchase the same book titles throughout the year.

These books (which can include classic literature, self help books, and popular science texts) are known as “backlist books” and are considered required reading by several colleges, universities, and book clubs. As a result, buyback companies purchase these books on a regular basis, since they know there’ll always be a market for them.

That said, there will be certain times in a year (or even a month) where the price quotes for these backlist books will rise dramatically in value as buyback companies seek to replenish their stock. So depending on when you sell your book, you could be earning anywhere from $5 to $30 for the exact same copy of the book.

Things get trickier when you come across backlist books experiencing a temporary “dry spell” where no buyback company wants to purchase them – but which may still get a dramatic rise in price a few weeks or a month later.

This leaves you with a dilemma – naturally you don’t want to waste your money on books you can’t sell, but you also don’t want to pass up on a chance to buy several bags of books for pennies and then sell them all for huge profits a few weeks later.

That’s where using Bookscouter’s Price History features can really help you decide which books can help you make the most money.

Studying a Book’s Price History

If you go to Bookscouter’s home page right now and search for a book with its ISBN, you’ll notice two features that show the book’s price history.

The first is the View Price History feature, located right below the book’s publication information. By clicking on this feature, you’ll see a list revealing the maximum price, average price, and number of price quotes for that book over the last couple years.

The second is the 52-Week Pricing History graph that appears above all the buyback company price quotes. This graph shows the average price quote for that book for every week in the last year.

I recommend using the 52-Week Pricing History graph when you’re debating on whether or not to purchase a potentially profitable book. You’ll be able to see, at a glance, if that book has been selling for high prices in the past. This will let you quickly decide whether to buy the book or leave it.

One thing I love about using the 52-Week Pricing History graph is that you’ll be able to find books other online book scouts will pass up. Since most book scouts only look at the current price quotes offered by buyback companies when looking up prices on Bookscouter (and not their potential future price quotes), you’ll be able to buy more books to sell for money, which will vastly increase your profits.

Using the 52-Week Pricing History Graph to Make More Money

When looking at the 52-Week Pricing History Graph, you’ll want to watch for certain key signs.

First, check to see if there are any dramatic rises and falls in the book’s price – and if these price fluctuations show up on a regular basis. If the graph reveals that a book consistently sells for $20 every three weeks but then dips down to $2 between these high points, then you’ll probably want to buy the book and wait for it to rise in value again.

On the other hand, if the graph reveals that a textbook was selling for $20 six months ago but has been steadily dropping in value over the last several weeks, you’ll probably want to pass it up (or sell it quickly if you can still make a profit).

Also, don’t underestimate your own hunches. If you’ve been selling the same copy of the book multiple times to buyback companies over the last several months, odds are that title will continue to be in demand – which should factor into your decision to buy or pass up a book.

Selling Potentially Profitable Books

If you do end up buying a bunch of potentially profitable books, be sure to keep them in a box next to your laptop. You can look up their current price quotes on Bookscouter while you’re selling your other books – which will help make sure you sell them for their highest price.

And if you find you can’t sell some of these books – don’t worry. You can still profit off of them (read my article How to Make Money From Books You Can’t Sell Online to find out how).

Final Thoughts

In general, while I find Bookscouter’s Price History feature to be a useful way to spot more books to sell online for cash, it can be confusing for someone who’s just started selling books online. For this reason, I consider using Price History an intermediate technique for book scouts who are already comfortable making money by selling books online and want to increase their profits even more.

So if you’re new to this business – stick with learning the basics. Read my article How to Make Extra Money Every Day “Flipping” Books Online to get familiar with the concept of “flipping” books for profit. Learn which buyback companies are the best ones to sell to (I recommend Textbooks.com, Sell Back Your Book, eCampus, and Cash 4 Books) and pay close attention to the condition these books should be in to make you money.

Then, once you start making some money by selling books online (trust me, it won’t take long), start using more advanced techniques like Bookscouter’s Price History. You’ll be amazed by how much you’re profits will increase!

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 Earn Money When You Can’t Sell Many Books to Buyback Companies

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Hey guys! It’s been a while since I’ve posted an article, and I wanted to share something that’s allowed my book dealing business to generate a constant cash flow even when I can’t find many books to sell to buyback companies to earn fast extra cash.

The strategies I describe here are especially relevant if you want to make online book dealing a part time (or even full time) business – but “casual” booksellers can benefit from the tips I share as well.

As those of you who have been following my tips to earn extra money by flipping books may have realized, summer is a very busy time for buyback companies since they need to purchase a lot of books to sell to students when the school year begins.

For online book dealers, this is both good and bad. On the plus side, if you can find a lot of untapped thrift stores, library bookstores, and garage sales and buy hundreds of popular books cheaply, you can make a lot of money fast by going to Bookscouter and re-selling those books to buyback companies that offer the best prices for them.

Unfortunately, summer is also the time when finding good books to sell is difficult since a lot of people who don’t normally sell books online (especially college students reselling their textbooks) are using Bookscouter to make extra money from books for their education and vacation funds. This means the pickings at your favorite thrift stores can get sparse as your competition rises.

For those of you who encounter this problem – take heart. Much of this competition is temporary and you’ll soon find you can buy tons of books again to resell to companies like Textbooks.com, Sell Back Your Book, Cash4Books, and Valore for quick cash.

In the meantime though, how can you still make money selling books online during these potentially “lean” times?

The answer lies in doing something very simple throughout the year.

Using Amazon.com to List Your Stockpile Valuable Books

Much like a squirrel stores nuts to prepare for the winter, the smart book dealer doesn’t sell all the books he or she finds for an immediate profit. Instead, he or she lists the really valuable books on Amazon, realizing that sometimes, it makes more sense to wait weeks, months, and yes – even years for the right book to sell for the right profit.

If you read my article Should You Sell Textbooks on Amazon or to a Book Buyback Company to Make Money? you’ll see I provide a detailed explanation for when you should sell your books to a buyback company like Valore, and when it makes much more sense to list your book on Amazon and wait for it to sell for a higher profit.

For now, however, you should realize that keeping a collection of highly profitable books listed on Amazon is the best way to ensure your books continue to make you money even when you can’t find a lot of books to sell to Bookscouter’s buyback companies.

I’ve personally sold several hundred books on Amazon during these “lean times” for several times the profit I would have realized if I’d sold them immediately through Bookscouter. (Most of the books I sell through Amazon give me a nice net profit of $20 – and I’ve sold several books for hundreds of dollars via Amazon that most buyback companies would have only bought for $15).

As an added bonus, packing and shipping one $200 book you sold on Amazon is a lot faster and easier than packing 20 or 30 books to ship to a buyback company (which is something you’ll appreciate when the summer heat picks up!).

To ensure you have this stockpile (and keep profiting from it) please follow these tips:

Make Listing Books on Amazon Part of Your Regular Routine

To ensure you find those valuable books (which I like to think of as rare “diamonds” or “golden nuggets” you find among the “gold dust” books you sell to buyback companies), make sure you get a free Bookscouter account.

This will ensure that you can see what that book is selling for on Amazon as well as to buyback companies (sometimes the price difference can be quite extreme). Be sure to buy these books even if they aren’t selling a lot on Bookscouter (just make sure they’re in at least good condition).

Then when you get ready to check your books on Bookscouter to sell them to buyback companies, make sure to set aside the books that command a high price on Amazon (you may want to double check these prices on the actual Amazon website as prices can fluctuate quickly).

Make sure to list these books on your Amazon Seller Account as quickly as possible. As long as you make this a regular part of your bookselling routine, you’ll soon have a substantial collection of books selling on Amazon for high prices that will keep your cash flow constant.

Check Periodically To See if Any Amazon Books Can Be Sold Through Bookscouter

Since prices can and do go up and down quickly on both Amazon and Bookscouter, you may want to compare the price of your Amazon books against the current bids for that book on Bookscouter.

This will enable you to still profit from your book if it starts to depreciate quickly on Amazon – and gives you another stockpile of books to sell to buyback companies during those lean periods where you can’t find a lot of books to sell through Bookscouter.

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.

2 Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Textbooks To

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Dollars in the Books RESIZED

With the school year just about to end, I thought I’d create another blog article promoting even more of the great book buyback companies I’ve sold books to. This list is geared particularly towards students since I know you guys are looking for good places to sell your textbooks to for extra cash over summer vacation.

These buyback companies tend to pay high for textbooks and have a long and reliable history of paying quickly for books, so they make a good choice to sell your end of the year textbooks to for extra money.

As always, you can find these buyback companies on Bookscouter!

Blue Rocket Books

Blue Rocket Books is located in update New York and pays very well for books – if you go to their website, you’ll see they’ve paid anywhere from $80 to $90 (and more) for textbook buyback packages of only 2 or 3 books.

Aside from textbooks, Blue Rocket Books will also buy books on religion, philosophy, computers, art, literature, travel, hobbies, gardening, and science (among other subjects) so students in a wide variety of majors can usually sell some or all of their books to this buyback company.

Minor highlighting, underlining, and written notes that appear in less than 20% of the book is considered acceptable (although workbooks should obviously be free of any writing). Make sure to include any CDs, DVDs, and/or computer codes that were in your book originally.

Blue Rocket Books does not accept ex-library books (if you have any ex-library books to sell consider sending them to Textbooks.com, Chegg, or Sell Back Books.)

As always, water damage, stains, strong odors, missing (or torn) pages, major wear to the binding, and smoke damage all make a book unacceptable to Blue Rocket Books (or any buyback company).

This company has a $15 minimum buyback order amount which is slightly higher than other buyback companies, but since Blue Rocket Books offers high price quotes for books, this generally isn’t a problem (some of the books I sold to them in the past sold for $10 or more a piece).

Blue Rocket offers free USPS or UPS shipping labels (with tracking numbers that let you know when your books have arrived at their warehouse). Make sure to ship your books as soon as you finish your buyback order so you can get paid faster!

Payment comes in the form of PayPal or mailed check – and I’ll just add that I’ve never had a problem with being paid by Blue Rocket Books.

K-12 Book Buyer

I’ve only sold a few book packages to K-12 Book Buyer – however when I do, my payments tend to be larger than most of my other buyback orders and payment always comes promptly.

As the name indicates, K-12 Book Buyer purchases textbooks. While most buyback companies tend to purchase mostly college textbooks, K-12 has bought grade school, middle school, and high school textbooks from me in the past, so if you’re a teacher and/or home school parent with a lot of extra textbooks and clean workbooks, it might be worth it to see if this company will buy your books.

Aside from textbooks, K-12 Book Buyer purchases fiction, literature, and art books, as well as books on religion, philosophy, computers, travel, science, technology, hobbies, crafting, and cooking.

K-12 Book Buyer does not buy ex-library books (again consider selling those to Textbooks.com, Chegg, or Sell Back Books) and you should make certain that any workbooks you send them are free of any writing, notes, underlining, or missing pages. Supplementary materials (like CDs or DVDs) should also be included in the books if you want to receive the full quoted price for those books.

K-12 Book Buyer has a minimum buyback order policy of $10 (which is pretty standard) and offers free USPS shipping for its packages. Payment comes via PayPal or mailed check (I recommend PayPal if you want to receive your money sooner).

Final Thoughts

I hope this gives you a few more options to sell your textbooks for cash once the school year ends. As always, you should become familiar with their policies before selling them your books, so be sure to visit their websites.

And if you’re interested in learning more about the best places to sell books online, be sure to read 8 Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Books To and 2 More Great Book Buyback Companies to Sell Books To.

Want to get regular tips and tricks on how to sell books online fast and make more 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 Sell Books Online for Extra Cash to CKY Books

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Hey guys! This is the second in a series of interviews with textbook buyback companies that pay cash for books you sell to them online.

Today, we’ll be talking with Todd Bradley, the Account Manager of CKY Books. Located in Central Kentucky, CKY has been a reliable book buyback company for several years and has provided me with fast, efficient transactions for all of the buyback orders I’ve shipped to them.

Let’s hear what Todd has to say:

How long has your company been in business and how long have you offered a book buyback program?

We started selling books online in 2001, through Amazon, Alibris, Ebay, Half, etc…[but] sourcing new inventory was always challenging. In 2004 we decided to create a venue where the average reader could sell their used books for a fair price and repurpose their books at the same time.

How can I sell my books online to CKY and earn extra money?

Once you create an account you are ready to create an order to sell CKY books, games, movies and music.

Creating an account with us is very simple – all we need is your name, address, email address and your preferred payment method [PayPal or check]. We don’t ask for phone numbers or any financial information.

You can enter the ISBNs/UPCs [of your books, DVDs, games etc.] into our site and see the amounts we are offering. Once you get to a total of at least $20.00 you can finalize the buyback and access the free shipping labels. You pick your shipping method. Print your packing slip and shipping. Pack your books and send them to us.

Can anyone sell books to CKY?

Almost anyone. You need to be over 18 years of age [but] it is pretty common for a parent to create an account for a child to use with the adult supervising.

You need to have a US mailing address as our FREE inbound shipping only works from inside the U.S.

However we do have some small percentage of accounts where people find ways around this. Some Canadian customers somehow ship books from a U.S. address but have their checks sent to a Canadian address. Same for some other countries.

What types of books does CKY buy through its buyback program?

Current textbooks are almost always being bought, same with the newest fiction releases. Religion, Political, History, Art, Self Help, Parenting, Medical. CKY buys a bit of everything

On any given day, we are buying roughly 3 million titles. We have purchased between 500k-900k items each year over the last 7 years.

What types of books does CKY never buy through its buyback program?

Well, I never like to use the word never, because as soon as I do I will find an exception to the rule. Generally though, romance novels are bust. Popular fiction that is more than a year old usually has very little value. Everyone reads that stuff, me included, so the market is flooded with it.

There are many TYPES of items we cannot buy, including Teacher’s or Instructor’s Editions Textbooks, International/Foreign Edition Textbooks, Custom Edition Textbooks (textbooks printed for a specific school or university).

Advanced reading copies, uncorrected proofs, and promotional copies of books (books that state “review copy”, “free copy”, “sample copy”, “examination copy”, “complimentary copy”, “not for resale”, or “not for sale” anywhere on the book.

Books with one-time use access codes & subscription/registration-based software/online course materials.

Partial sets or incomplete sets (i.e. only volume 1 of a 2 volume set) cannot be bought.

Items where the ISBN the customer used does not match the ISBN of the item.

Pornography or otherwise offensive and explicit material.

Dated materials/books, calendars, daily planners, dated diaries or journals (this includes code/tax guides that are now obsolete or have been superseded by a newer version).

Book Club Editions and rebound books also cannot be accepted.

Are there certain times in the year when CKY buys more books?

CKY’s biggest buying times coincide with the beginning of college semesters due to the large numbers of textbooks. So January, May, and August are usually very busy.

Acceptable and Unacceptable Book Conditions

I understand you accept books with some highlighting, notes, and underlining in them. How much highlighting/writing and underlining is considered “okay” by CKY?

Great question. CKY does buy books with highlighting and underlining. [But] explaining how much is acceptable is the hard part. The determination of how much is too much is left to our inspectors and their experience in handling hundreds of thousands of books.

We tell our customers this, “If you look at the book and wonder if it has too much highlighting/writing or underlining, then we will likely have the same questions and you are better off not sending that item.”

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

Yes, we do purchase ex-library books but your payment amount will be 30% less than the quoted price – please note that ex-library books frequently have issues and they make up the largest portion of all rejected items.

When is a book not considered in “good condition” – and unable to be sold to CKY?

This is again based on experience selling used books. Our inspectors thought process runs like this: they are trained to buy as much as they can while reducing or rejecting as little as possible. They understand that with every rejection or reduction we might lose that customer.

That being said, if we see a book that is visibly stained, or has pages that are wrinkled from water/liquid damage, we are not going to buy that book. If it is missing pages, we are not going to buy it.

Think of it this way, if you would not want to buy the book you are selling to us because it is in poor condition, we are not going to want to buy it either.

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

Books that are rejected are held for 15 days in a special holding area. After 15 days they are either put on a pallet for donation or they are destroyed. It depends on the issue with the book and they type of book it is.

If you decide to not pay for a book will you send the book back to the original seller?

YES. Items not accepted/rejected by CKY will only be shipped back to the Seller at the Seller’s expense. Items not accepted will be held for 15 days; after that time, these items will be recycled, donated, or used to support the community and environment at CKY’s discretion.

CKY will post a notice of any deductions for items not accepted via email on the seller’s account after the customer’s order has been processed.

If the Seller would like their unaccepted items returned, the Seller must contact CKY promptly, through email (info@ckybooks.com) or phone (877-311-9544), to provide payment for return shipping costs.

Packing Books to Ship to CKY

What should sellers pack their books in when shipping books to you?

We prefer sturdy boxes unless you are just sending a book or two.

What type of free shipping do you offer?

We offer FREE Shipping via United Parcel Service (UPS), Federal Express Ground (FedEx) or United Postal Service (USPS – Post Office).

I would personally like to suggest that all customers use either FedEx or UPS as they are fast and reliable. Last year FedEx lost 5 shipments out of roughly 11,000. Last year UPS lost 13 shipments out of roughly 15000. Last year USPS lost/damaged 312 out of 2100 shipments.

Do you provide any shipping insurance for packages sent through your buyback program?

Yes. FedEx and UPS are both insured for $100 per package.

CKY may provide a fee paid FedEx/UPS shipping label. CKY does not accept responsibility for packages lost by the carrier.

CKY can file a claim for damages/loss on the shipper’s behalf if requested. It is the shipper’s responsibility to maintain a record that may assist with filing any claim that may arise. This might include photos of the items and packaging or other documentation. Failure to maintain such a record can result in rejection of the claim by the carrier.

Postal packages do not have insurance. We encourage customers to purchase shipping insurance at their own expense if they wish to use this service.

What are the biggest pet peeves you have about the types of books you receive through your buyback program?

Our biggest pet peeve is poor packing of the books for shipment. You would be amazed at how many packages we get with a single $100 textbook tossed into a big screen TV box with no padding or protection. Please take a few minutes to package your items safely for travel to ensure your get paid your full amount.

Selling DVDs, Music, and Games to CKY

What other products does CKY buy?

CKY also buys games, movies and music. What you earn is based on the value of what you sell. Newer games and movies etc are worth more than older ones.

Do you need a different account to sell non-book items to CKY?

No. You can use the same account to sell anything you might have.

If you have a lot of books, movies, CDs, and games to sell, can they be shipped in the same package, or should different products be shipped separately?

They can all be shipped together, to consolidate shipping. Just remember to pack them securely so nothing gets broken. We cannot pay for broken items.

Thanks Todd! Remember, if you’d like to contact CKY with more questions about selling your books for extra cash, you can reach them via email at info@ckybooks.com or their Toll Free Phone number (877-311-9544).

CKY also has a “Leave a message” box on their website, in the bottom right corner that can double as a live chat feature.

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 Pack Your Books and Ship Them to Buyback Companies

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One of the biggest pet peeves buyback companies like Textbooks.com and Sell Back Your Book have is when people send books in poorly packed boxes that get damaged in transit, resulting in torn up or even missing books.

The reasons for this damage can vary. Maybe the seller shipped the books in a flimsy box that fell apart on the way. Or maybe the box was too big for the book, causing the book to bounce around inside the whole trip until its binding broke and the pages tore.

Regardless, the end result is the same – buyback companies can’t pay for missing or damaged books, meaning you won’t get your money.

This can be a costly problem – especially if you’re a student who just sent out a textbook you expect to be paid $100 for, only to be informed that your book was damaged in transit and can no longer be accepted.

To keep you from encountering these problems with any of the buyback companies you might send books to through Bookscouter I’m going to take you step-by-step through how you should pack your books and ship them.

Please take the time to read through this article carefully – it could mean the difference between a nice payday and no money at all!

Step 1: Assemble Your Packing Materials

In my previous article, Finding Free Boxes for Shipping the Books You Sell Online, I showed you how to find, select, and store free sturdy cardboard boxes that are ideal for shipping books.

Once you’ve stored your boxes, you’ll want to keep the following items close by:

  • Strong Packing Tape: Be sure to buy a few rolls of strong packing tape, along with a tape dispenser if you don’t already have one. This is something that really makes the difference between a sturdy and flimsy package, so be sure to buy high quality tape. Never use scotch or masking tape.
  • Newspaper: Get in the habit of storing the newspapers you’ve already read in a separate box. You can also store junk mail (just remember to tear out any identifying information).
  • Plastic Bags: Fill up another box with plastic bags you saved from your trips to the grocery or thrift store. Make sure they’re all clean, dry, and free of any smells.
  • Scissors: You’ll need these to size up your shipping labels

If you want more high-quality packing material, you can also buy some bubble wrap or packing paper to secure your books.

One type of packing material you should never use is packing peanuts (those plastic or Styrofoam pellets some people use for packing household appliances). They’ll constantly shift in transit, resulting in damaged books. Shredded paper is also considered a poor packing material for the same reason – it won’t provide enough support.

Step 2: Choose a Box for Your Books

Once you’ve completed a buyback order and printed your packing slip (which lists all the books you’re selling and the prices the company will pay you for them) and your shipping label, it’s time to start loading your books.

Select a box for your books and fold up the bottom flaps so you can see how well the books fit inside the box.

The books should fit easily in the box – you shouldn’t have to squeeze them in (and possibly damage the edges). Make sure the box isn’t too big for all your books. Check out the photo below to see how the books should ideally fit:

books in box

If your box looks too big or too small, switch it out with another until you find a better fit. Once you’ve selected the box, seal up all the bottom flaps, including those at the sides, with packing tape.

Step 3: Secure Your Books

Take out each stack of books and slip them into a secure plastic bag (be sure to put the packing slip in with the books). Tie the bag and put the books back into the box. This will protect the books from the newspaper you’ll use to later pad the box.

Wrapped Books

Step 4: Pad the Edges and Top of the Box

Take a few sheets of newspaper and crumple them into some plastic bags to form some packing cushions for your books. Be sure not to over stuff the bags – the cushions should squeeze easily into any gaps in the box to keep the books from shifting.

Packing pillows in box

Now stuff one more bag full of newspaper and lay it on top of the books – this will protect the books from being damaged when the box is cut open.

Packing Pillow on Box

Putting the newspapers in plastic bags will keep the books from being stained by newsprint – however, if you’d like to use more quality packing material, you can use bubble wrap or packing paper.

Step 5: Seal up the Top of the Box

Tape the top of the box with packing tape the same way you sealed up the bottom – be sure to tape up all the sides of the flaps to keep the box from popping open.

Sealed Box

Step 6: Attach Shipping Label

Use the scissors to trim the shipping label to size and attach it onto the box with packing tape. (Be sure not to cover any barcodes with tape).

Take the package to your closest UPS, FedEx, or USPS drop off (depending on the shipping label you used). You’re done!

Final Tips

  • Try to limit the amount of books you put in each buyback order to keep your packages from weighing too much – 10-20 books per order should be okay.
  • Once you’re done packing your books, pick up the box and shake it a few times – if the books don’t rattle inside, they’ve been properly cushioned.
  • If you’d like to make your boxes look “cleaner” you can always turn them inside out – however I’ve never had any problems with sending my packages with markings on the boxes.
  • That said, do not turn the USPS Priority or Express mailers found at the United States Post Office inside out and use them for boxes. The free shipping labels provided by most textbook buyback companies will not cover the cost of priority or express shipping and the mailer must pay the extra cost.

I hope this article informed you on how to pack your books. If you’d like to receive more tips and tricks for how to sell books online for extra money, please subscribe to my blog!

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

Finding Free Boxes for Shipping the Books You Sell Online

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If you’ve been reading my interviews with buyback companies like Textbooks.com and Sell Back Your Book, you’ll know that one of the biggest pet peeves these companies have is when people send them books in flimsy boxes that get damaged during shipping.

Amateur book sellers have been known to stuff books into cereal boxes, shoe boxes, even used pizza boxes, only to have those packages get torn apart and shredded mid transit – resulting in a bunch of damaged and lost books that buyback companies can’t pay you for.

It seems these sellers are just too lazy or plain clueless when it comes to selecting good cardboard boxes for packing and shipping books. They just grab whatever box is lying around the house – no matter how flimsy or dirty – and then act surprised when their books get damaged during shipping.

Please don’t adopt these bad habits! None of the buyback companies you’ll find on Bookscouter will accept books damaged in transit – meaning you need to find strong boxes to ship all of your books in!

Fortunately, sturdy cardboard boxes are not only incredibly easy to find but also 100% free – if you know where to look.

Here’s how I find, select, and store my free boxes for shipping books.

Visit Discount Retailers

If you’ve ever shopped at a big discount retailer (particularly Walmart and Target), you know they unload boxes of merchandise every day to restock their shelves.

Guess what? Once the merchandise is unpacked, employees are more than happy to let you have the boxes for free. It makes their job easier (since they don’t have to throw out as many boxes) and gives you a steady supply of sturdy cardboard boxes for shipping books. Win-win!

These stores unpack most of their boxes late at night (around 11pm or midnight) so be prepared to make a few nightly visits two or three times a month to load up on boxes. Be polite and ask the employee on duty if you can take a few boxes (I haven’t met an employee yet who said no).

Selecting the Best Boxes for Shipping Books

Be sure to get cardboard boxes made of corrugated cardboard. This is a thicker type of cardboard made from two layers of cardboard with a third ridged layer sandwiched between them. It’s very sturdy and will easily support the weight of all the books you’ll load into them.

Do not get boxes made of a single layer of cardboard (like cereal boxes). These are way too flimsy and will tear apart during travel.

Also, make sure the flaps on the boxes fold up completely to seal both the bottom and top (some boxes used for storing canned goods and cereal have open bottoms and/or tops, which makes them impractical for shipping books).

Choose small and medium-size boxes that can hold anywhere from 2 to 20 paperback books. Refrigerator-size boxes and most computer boxes are too big for shipping books.

I’ve found my best boxes for shipping books in the office supplies and plastic utensils sections of discount retailers. These boxes (which were originally used to ship notebooks and plastic forks) are sturdy and ideally shaped to securely transport several books.

Do not get boxes that were used to ship detergent, scented candles, or other items with strong odors. These smells cling to cardboard and will get into your books.

This is especially important when you ship books to companies like Powells and Sell Back Your Book which insist the books arrive in the same excellent condition they were in when you packed them – even if the box protected the books, any strong odors will damage the books and prevent you from getting paid.

(Be sure to double check your boxes for any strong odors when you’re ready to store them – strong smells can seep into other boxes and make them unfit for shipping).

Storing Your Boxes

Most of the boxes you’ll find at Walmart or Target will have the tape on their bottom and top flaps cut off, allowing the boxes to be folded flat. Keep your boxes this way – they’ll be easier to transport in your car and store in your house.

Find a cool, clean, dry place like a closet to store your boxes until you need them.

I like to divide my boxes into two piles – small boxes (that fit 1-3 books) and medium boxes (that can fit anywhere from 5-20 books). This’ll make it easier for you to select the type of box you need when you’re ready to start packing.

Finally, keep a supply of strong packing tape in a container near your boxes to seal them up again when you’re ready to start packing your books. You’ll also want to keep your other packing materials in that same container I’ll cover exactly what you need and how to use them in my next article How to Pack Your Books and Ship Them to Buyback Companies.

I hope this article informed you on how to find better shipping materials for your books. 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.