You Can Now Earn Cash by Selling Your Textbooks to These 7 Buyback Sites

By Meghen Jones

As a college student, we all know the struggle of buying those pricey textbooks for class only to not need them once the semester is over. Admit it to yourself: at some point, you will end up setting them aside once finals conclude, and their sole purpose will shift to collecting dust on your already crammed bookshelf.

But did you know that you could sell your books back and make a decent amount of cash? And no, we don’t mean the vendors at the library, who completely control the rate of the buyback. Online shopping and vending is where it’s at in the 21st century, so why not join the rest of them? A fair buyback price on your textbooks just might give your bank account the sigh of relief it needs. Not only does selling your books avoid every available crevice being stuffed with the remnants of your education, but it’s sort of like being reimbursed for a big purchase.

You’re probably wondering where to begin with the online bookselling process, but no worries! As usual, uCribs has your back. Start earning quick cash by selling your textbooks to any of these 7 online college textbook buyback sites. Hey, it might even allow you the extra funds to splurge on that summer vacation.

BookScouter

BookScouter is a great option for selling your used college textbooks because unlike traditional methods of selling your books, you are the one in control of how much you earn. When you sell your books on BookScouter, your books will be evaluated based on the different rates from various reselling sites, and you are able to pick the best offer. Once your book is received and processed, you be paid through your PayPal account or, if you’re more old-school, by paper check. You can easily make a few dollars, or a few hundred, depending on how many books or what type of books you are selling.

eCampus

Have you written notes or highlighted sections of your books? We are all guilty of it at one point or another, especially in those hard-to-process-at-2am-while-you-cram texts. Thankfully, this doesn’t faze eCampus, the most lax of college textbook buyback sites, which luckily enough for you, accepts used books with writing or highlighting.

When you sell your used textbooks through eCampus, they offer some pretty amazing buyback options: you can earn store credit, or receive money in the form of direct deposit or cash. Believe it or not, you just might opt for that store credit because you’ll be getting paid a bit more; plus, you can always use this money to purchase your books for the following semester. It can’t get much better than saving your future self a little extra dough!

Barnes & Noble

You probably spend numerous hours studying inside of Barnes & Noble while sipping on a cup of coffee to get you through a typical study session, but did you know that Barnes & Noble offers a Textbook Buyback Program? All you have to do is enter the ISBN number— located on the back barcode of the book or inside of the first few pages alongside other prevalent information— and in no time at all, you will receive a price quote. If you decide to take the plunge and sell your book, you will be compensated through PayPal or paper check. And again, no worries if you underlined or highlighted certain sections in your textbook…Barnes & Noble accepts lovingly used books as well!

Decluttr

The name of the site says it all perfectly. With Decluttr, not only can you make money by selling back your used textbooks, but you can also sell personal items that are no longer needed—old smartphones, CDs, DVDs, and video games. The best part is that you will receive your payment with 24-hours of your products arriving at the warehouse! Now, that’s what it means when you think of “fast cash.” Additionally, you’ll clean out that daunting closet of yours right before you move out your apartment for the summer. C’mon, we all know it’s a very necessary evil, but in the meantime, earn some spare change while doing so.

Chegg

Have you ever used Chegg to rent your textbooks before? I know I have! Well, Chegg offers more than a mere textbook rental service. You can sell your old textbooks to Chegg as well and earn a little bit of cash in return. Chegg’s process is probably the most seamless of all. It’s as simple as dropping off your textbooks to a local UPS store after printing out an online shipping label generated by the website. Once that is complete, you will receive compensation within 10-15 days of mailing your books to the vendor.

Amazon

So, we have all used Amazon to make some kind of purchase or two…a week. Just kidding! Maybe. But it’s pretty simple to determine why we rely on Amazon so heavily. Amazon has pretty much everything that you’re looking for—home goods, tech devices, and even food in bulk— to be delivered to your front door.  However, Amazon can be quite handy for college students looking to make some extra cash on their used textbooks.

Amazon has a trade-in program for used books, which allows you to sell your books as a third-party listing. Although Amazon earns 15 percent of the profit and the shipping fees come out of your own pocket, it’s possible to make more cash this way because you can set your own price. If you happen to be a loyal Amazon shopper—which let’s face it, most of us are these days— you can opt to receive an Amazon gift card as a form of payment.

Rentbooks

Rentbooks is one of the most convenient textbook buyback websites because you can sell pretty much any book that you have used for class—textbooks, workbooks, and fiction novels are all fair game with Rentbooks. Also, if your professor has written a book that you were required to purchase for class, you can sell that back too! Prices are guaranteed for 30 days through Rentbooks, and you will receive payment through PayPal or by paper check.

No matter where you choose to sell your books, there are endless options for making easy cash as the semester draws to a close. If you are seeking extra funds for summer vacation or even in preparation of the Fall semester, the money you receive on these textbook buyback sites might edge you closer to your savings goal. So, why not make some extra money today by getting rid of all those old textbooks, allowing your apartment more space to breathe while showing your bank account a little TLC?

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