7 Important Tips for Selling Used Textbooks Online

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Clever Finances
selling textbooks online

If you are a student and you had to purchase expensive textbooks in the past, then most likely you will know how daunting it is to sell your textbooks after you have finished your course! Despite certain inconveniences, you should always remember that selling your used textbooks will declutter your space at home and will let you earn some extra cash along the way! Below is the information that you need to consider when you are thinking about where to sell your old textbooks online.

The Condition of Your Book

Before deciding on the place where you can sell textbooks online, you should honestly evaluate their condition. It will save your time, money and efforts in the future! For example, if there are torn pages and water damage in your textbooks, then most likely you will not be able to sell them to any online bookseller so you will need to consider other options.

The Book Binding

The condition of your textbooks’ bindings matters a lot: you must ensure that they are not torn or separated from the cover of the books. Each page needs to be attached to the binding as it was originally designed. If some of the pages are detached, then textbooks with such compromised bindings will not be accepted.

Torn or Missing Pages

If you want to sell back your books, you have to make sure that every page is intact, i.e. it is in the same condition as at the time when you purchased your book. This basic standard means that there are no ripped, torn or detached pages because in this case, you will not be able to sell your old books online. If you have a textbook with missing pages, you can try to find someone on campus who will want to buy it at a discounted price for the next semester. You can easily evaluate if there are any missing pages in your book if you look at the side of your textbook.

Water Damage

Water damage is another popular drawback that has a serious impact on the quality of textbooks that you are trying to sell. Coffee stains or water damage happens regularly when you are studying all the time: you tend to keep your textbooks next to you no matter what you do during the day. Nevertheless, if you are thinking of selling your textbooks later, try to take care of the books to avoid wrinkled pages. Moreover, if your book has a musty odour, most likely it will not be accepted by any online book retailer! So make sure you are an accurate book reader from the very start!

Note Writing

Nowadays most textbooks come with practice tests and quizzes that have empty lines to be filled in with answers. It is so tempting to write your answers right there! Once again we would like to remind you that if you want to find a customer for your used book when you no longer need it, then you should train yourself to write your answers for practice tests on a separate piece of paper. If you have markings that make the text behind them illegible, then you will not be able to sell it online! Keep your books in good condition from the start of the semester to earn some cash at the end of the semester!

Other Unacceptable Types of Books

There are cases when students try to sell some custom edition textbooks or instructor’s versions of popular textbooks. In a case like this, you will not be able to make money! To avoid price checking the wrong book, always type in the correct ISBN code that is printed on the copyright page of your book. Avoid using the ISBN code printed on stickers because it is not rare that they do not correspond to the actual version of the book! So it can result in you shipping the wrong book and wasting your time and money!

How to Keep Your Books in Good Condition

Now that you know all the information regarding the condition of the books accepted by online textbook retailers, you should question yourself how you can ensure that you keep your books in a good condition from the very start. Here are some useful tips for you:

  • Aim for clean pages in your textbooks! Minimise highlighting and underlining in your textbooks! Just develop a habit to write answers to practice tests on a separate sheet of paper.
  • Develop another habit to remove your textbook from the table each time you are eating or drinking! This should help you avoid grease or coffee stains on your textbooks’ pages!
  • Another rule is not to fold corners of your pages and not to clean the grease off your angles with them! Instead, buy some sticky notes to mark important sections. Use your book to the fullest but at the same time leave it in the condition to sell for cash when you are done with studies.

Iliana K