Sell and Donate Used Books

Most book lovers come to a time when they just have too many books. There are many options for getting rid of books you no longer want. You can sell them, trade them for new books, donate them, and share them with others with community book donation options. There are several bookstores in Seattle and nearby that buy books for cash or offer trade in for store credit.

Share Old Books with Others

Lots of places have bookcases in central locations where you can drop off a book or pick up a book for free. It’s a great way to share books you have read with your neighbors. You can find these in community centers, apartment and condo buildings, and airports.

Little Free Libraries are all over Seattle. It’s fascinating to check out all the Little Free Libraries. Each one has its own personality with how it’s built and the books that tend to be found there. If you have extra books take them to your nearest location.

Sell Books Online

Look up the books you want to sell on the Bookscouter website. The Bookscouter website searches multiple websites that purchases used books and lets you know if any of the online book buyers are interested in your books and for what price.

Used Book Stores that Buy Books for Cash & Store Credit

It’s important to consider the types of books you have and finding somewhere that is looking for the same types of books. Some of it is just trial and error. Just because one location isn’t interested in your books it doesn’t mean another location wouldn’t be interested in your books. It can also vary greatly the price you can get for your book. In general, if there’s a demand from an online retailer (such as Amazon) for your book you will probably get a higher price. You will, though, need to wait until someone purchases your book and then spend time and money packing and shipping the book.

Look at buying guidelines on websites. Often they will say the books they tend to buy or won’t buy. You can try calling storefront booksellers. Though they won’t guarantee they’ll buy your books until they see them they might tell you if it’s an item that they would be interested in seeing in person. Often it’s easier to find out what they don’t want which makes it easier to select which books to take to the bookstore in person. You can ask if it would be ok to email a picture of the books you’re interested in selling. Some smaller bookstores will let you know from an email if they’re interested in purchasing your books.

There are certain books that many places are interested in purchasing such as classics and newly published books such as bestsellers. Most places aren’t interested in purchasing books that have been previous bestsellers and are older since there is an oversupply of these books. They most likely already have several copies of older bestsellers and people have moved on to reading the latest bestseller. Most places aren’t interested in computer books except for Amazon.

Smaller bookstores generally pay you half of what they will sell the book for with in store credit and give you half of that for cash. So if a book retails for $10 they will probably sell it for $5.00. They will give you $2.50 in store credit or $1.25 in cash. It’s important to remember that bookstores need to make a profit.

Larger bookstores, such as Half Price Books, will usually give you an offer for a selection of your books. You drop off the books you’re interested in selling and in the book buying section of the store. They will give you a time estimate of how long it will take them to review your books and call you over the intercom system when they’re ready to give you an estimate. They tend to pay much lower than smaller, independent bookstores but provide a way to get a little bit of cash if you have books you want to get rid of.

It’s important to remember that you can always walk away if you consider the price they’re offering as too low of a price. You want to feel ok about the transaction. If you want to spend the time, you might also be able to find somewhere else that will pay you more. It depends on your goals and the time and effort you want to spend. They will often also be willing to take books they’re not interesting in buying. They can sell them in the specials area of the store for $0.25 or $0.50.

Some stores will only give you store credit. If you plan to buy books, this is a great way to clean out your current book collection and find new books.

There are many online options for selling books. Some online bookselling websites you need to create an account, upload book inventory and decide on pricing. You then wait until someone purchases your book. At that time you need to pack and ship the book and correspond with the book buyer.

Other online book buying websites provide a price for books they’re interested in and provide free postage for you to mail in your books. They usually require you send a minimum count of books or purchase price. For example, you need to sell them at least $10.00 of books or one book that they’re buying for at least $10.00. You will get paid once they receive and inspect the books. You want to make sure your books are in good shape and meet the book quality requirements of the retailer. Some are stricter than others. For example, some will allow a name to be written on the first page of book while others require there isn’t any highlighting or writing anywhere in the book.

Colleges and schools will buy back some textbooks each quarter. Usually you can get more money selling books online but it might be more convenient to sell at the college you’re attending.

Bookstores that buy books for cash

Bookstores that buy used books for store credit