Make a Little Money at Home Selling Your Used Books

A couple of days ago I ran across a cool site that will help you turn your used books into cash. At Bookscouter.com you simply enter ISBNs from the books you’re interested in selling and Bookscouter searches 37 sites that buy used books to find the best offer. The sites are all rated (just click on the site’s name once you get a list of offers) and you can read comments posted by other people who have sold books there.

Buyer Pays Shipping

The sites I checked all provide a pre-paid shipping label but the two that offered the best price for my books today both require shipment within a week. As the PO is a 50-mile round-trip and we only go about once a week, I waited until today to actually complete any sales.

Made $25 Today

After entering a bunch of ISBNs, I had a list of nine books for which Powell’s was willing to pay $15 and five destined for the Book Emporium for $10. There were actually a few more that Powell’s would have taken but my box was too small so I figured I'd save them for another time. The danger there is that they may not be in demand when I check next. Two days ago I had a book that several sites wanted but no takers today. I also sold several today that no one wanted just two days ago!

Warning!

Some sites (Powell’s in particular) have very strict requirements about the condition of books that they buy. If your books do not meet their criteria, they don’t pay. Some sites will send rejected books back at your expense while others simply discard them. So read the FAQs and make sure you understand the rules of the site with which you are dealing.