It’s an old story – you spend a small fortune on textbooks, and at the end of the year, you maybe make enough selling them back to pay for a post-finals cup of coffee. Here are some ways to get the most out of your trade-in.
Have a clear idea of what your textbooks will be worth down the line. Find out how much they’re trading in for. Also, check to see if a new edition is coming out soon. If it is, it’ll render your book just about worthless. In those cases, you might be better off renting the book instead of buying it and trading it in.
Unless the book is in bad condition, it won’t make a huge difference whether it’s had one owner or three. Buy used whenever you can to lower the gap between what you paid and what you’ll make back.- Keep the book in good condition.
Take care of the book. Use post-it notes instead of marking the book up, when you can. Consider digitizing them by scanning or photographing the pages and running an optical character recognition software on them, so that you have a searchable version and you can reduce wear and tear on the book. Some bookstores care more than others about a book’s condition. Ask up front, when you buy the books, what their pricing policy is, and whether condition factors in. - Know what a fair trade-in value is.
If you can make back half of what you paid for the book used, you’re in really good shape. If you’re getting a low value for the book, it’s more than fair to ask the bookstore why. It may be that a new edition is out, or that the school is simply not using the book again that semester. If that’s the case, it’s best to sell on the Internet. In the case of a new edition, sell it ASAP, because the market is about to be flooded with the old edition. - Shop around.
A lot of people think of the campus bookstore as the be-all, end-all for textbooks, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If your town has more than one college, it might be worth your time to check that bookstore, too. If there’s an independent textbook store nearby, check with them. Sometimes you’ll find that different places offer more money for different books, so don’t be afraid to keep a list and sell each book back to the place that will give you the most. - Consider selling directly to other students.
A lot of schools have a student-to-student textbook exchange that saves everyone money by cutting out the middleman. If your school has one, take advantage of it. If it doesn’t, try reaching out in smaller ways. Other students in your program are going to have to take the same classes as you, so consider selling to them. They’ll appreciate the financial break, and you’ll get better money with less hassle. - Consider selling online.
Trading in is certainly the easiest, most traditional option, but consider going through online retailers like Amazon or eBay to sell your books directly to another student. You’ll get a little more than you would from a bookstore, and the person buying from you gets a great deal, too.
