How to Get the Most Money Back for Your College Textbooks

By Zy Mazza

If you’re reading this, I’m so sorry. You’ve already bought textbooks. On the off-chance that you haven’t bought them yet, the best advice I can give you to save money is don’t buy them. Wait it out–see if it’s even necessary. Half the time a “required” book sits on the shelf all semester. Sometimes these books are free if you have an Amazon Prime Student membership and a Kindle. Other times these books are available for free in PDF form with a little creative Googling.

If you can’t find a free alternative, don’t buy them from the University bookstore! Buy them used online, from craigslist, from a free and for sale page on Facebook, from anywhere but the bookstore.

But let’s say you already did buy them. Now, you’ve got to sell them back–you want to get back some of your money, right?

DO NOT SELL THEM BACK TO YOUR UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE!

Selling your books back to the university bookstore is almost guaranteed to get you the least money back for your books. Chances are you go to a non-profit university, and I guarantee that your bookstore simply can’t offer you the prices you can get from selling them to other sources.

Instead, give these things a try:

1. Sell on Amazon

Amazon allows people to sell books just like eBay, and you tend to get slightly better prices on Amazon (which is why sometimes textbooks on Amazon are still a bit expensive). There is a bit of work involved in becoming an Amazon seller, but if you’re the type of person who frequently buys textbooks, it might be worth it.

On Amazon you’ll get close to what they’re worth new, especially if you’ve taken good care of them for only one semester.  You can set the price and then they’ll be listed for that price and ready to buy. The only downside is that Amazon will take a chunk of the sale as a commission. 

2. Sell on eBay

eBay is a lot like Amazon. You can choose to list your book for a set price (Buy It Now) or an auction. Obviously, with an auction, you run the risk of getting a lower price.

There are almost no barriers to entry to sell, but you need to take pictures, and poor quality pictures eat into your sale. If you do list on eBay, I recommend waiting until the start of a semester and pay a little extra for the “Or Best Offer” feature.

I guarantee someone who couldn’t buy it at their bookstore will see it, offer you a little bit less, and you’ll both walk away happy. 

Like Amazon, you’ll have to pay a fee to eBay for selling this way.

3. Sell on a “Free and For Sale” page

I’m willing to bet you good money your university or the associated area has a “free and for sale” page on Facebook. It’s like Craigslist, but on Facebook.

Go ahead and hop on there, and post your book. The same logic as the eBay listing applies: timing is everything. Wait until the class that uses your book is starting, and then post it. Someone who really needs it, like right now, will probably be willing to buy it for close to full price, or at least for what the bookstore sells used books for–which is basically full price. This is a free way to sell the book without fees. 

4. Sell on Craigslist

If you’re on Craigslist, you’re at the bottom of the barrel. This is a last resort before crawling back to your school’s bookstore. If you’re not in a bustling metropolitan area, I wouldn’t even try. If you’re in a big city though, you can probably get pretty good prices for your used book.

Like the Facebook option, this is a free way to advertise your text book, so it can’t hurt to try. In this case, you can probably post the book basically as soon as you’re done using it, since the listing will stay up an anyone looking for the book will likely type it into search.

5. Sell to the bookstore (if you have to)

I’m so sorry. You’re out of other options. But don’t distress. This is still better than holding on to it forever and watching your edition become irrelevant.

Don’t wait more than a semester after buying your book to try this avenue. A lot of schools have buy-back programs, but they won’t buy your books if professors are no longer using your edition.

And remember, when buying your books, start with Craigslist and work your way up the list. Only after exhausting all of those options should you buy from the Bookstore.

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