Photo by Tom Hermans

Originally Posted On: 7 Tips on Selling Textbooks for College Students (cheapesttextbooks.com)

College students spent up to $1290 on books and school supplies in 2018-2019 academic year.

Textbooks top the list of the most dreadful purchases for college students. Most of those books can only be used for one academic year, or even for a semester. After that, you have to buy newer books, and the trend continues.

But what happens to the older books? Most students gift them; others leave them on the shelves while the wiser ones sell them.

Selling textbooks is an excellent solution to declutter your shelves and earn a decent income too. If you would like to sell your old college textbooks to students, consider these tips to make the most from your sales.

The first tip is to understand the condition of your book. College students are selective, and they will only select the book which is already in excellent condition.

So go through each page to find out if the pages are torn. Also, count the pages to know if there are missing pages. If the book is old and has many torn and missing pages, keep it and stop selling.

However, you can bind it to restore its compact size and shape. You may also sell it to a student you know at a discounted price.

Most libraries accept old books. So go back to your old school and confirm if they can receive the book. If you have multiple books, they will probably ask you to bring them all for evaluation.

All colleges observe specific protocols; thus, the selling process might take an extended period. However, you may be lucky to sell many books at once compared to selling each book individually.

You can sell the old books to college students you left behind in school. Head back to the school and confirm if the students would be interested in your books.

However, it would be helpful to confirm if the syllabus will change. If there will be no change, go ahead, and market your books.

You might find this trick quite challenging because you may not meet the needs of every student. However, you can still make great deals and get the opportunity to make connections with the students.

Technology advancements have made the process of selling books online easier. Multiple bookselling sites accept both new and old books. Most of these sites will just require you to create an account.

After account creation, you can add a picture of the college books you are selling. Ensure that the picture is visible and has a proper description.

The leading online platforms you may consider include Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, and so on. The platforms are overly populated. Thus, you should make your ad unique and adopt the right marketing strategies to outshine the competitors.

Contact your former professors and ask them if they would like to buy the books from you. Some lecturers like having an extra different copy apart from the regular books offered in school.

Approach them and give them a description of the book. Even if they don’t buy, the chances are high that they will refer you to other professors.

Sell the book on your social media platforms. These platforms could include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on.

You can randomly market the books to your followers or follow specific people you think would be suitable candidates.

Alternatively, you may consider School Facebook groups. Those groups are made up of mostly college students, and you may be lucky to get a serious buyer.

Do not forget to seek experts’ advice in regards to bookselling. Experts could be people who have successfully sold old college books before. You can also mention the idea to your trusted friends and keep positive remarks and recommendations.

Most importantly, you may get college bookselling tips from online sources and published materials. Learn from the people who made it, follow their advice.

The already established booksellers will show you the selling tactics for the highest prices, and maybe, enlighten you about the best peak resale dates.

It’s imperative to keep your old textbooks well as you wait to sell them. The older books tend to be fragile, and they can easily get torn and reduce their market value. Here are helpful tips on how you can store your old college textbooks before finding a reliable customer.

Do not expose the books to direct sunlight. The sunlight interferes with the quality of the book pages, and this makes them torn easily. Also, avoid the moist areas as excessive moisture may damage the books or attract molds.

Find a durable shelf to store your college textbooks. The shelves come in many materials, with the main ones being wood, glass, and metal. Functional shelves will keep off children, pets, and the other things that might interfere with the excellent condition of your textbooks.

Don’t just dump the books on a shelf! You should arrange them well vertically or horizontally. The proper arrangement will maintain the aesthetic look of your shelf and support the shape of books. It will be easier to choose and pick the book you want without removing all the books on your shelf.

As earlier mentioned, you can get a decent income by selling textbooks. If you have many college textbooks, try the above selling tips.

If you succeed, do not hesitate to become a professional bookseller. Use the available channels around you, and you will make it.

Cheapest Textbooks help students to get college books at fair prices. We also help students rent books and sell the old ones. We have been in the industry for nearly two decades; thus, we understand what students want when looking for old textbooks.

Check out our site if you want to sell college textbooks and fetch a good price.