How to Get More Money When You Sell Your Textbook
A Guest Post By Daniel P Cooper
A college education is one of the most important and expensive endeavors a young person can take. There are many costs and expenses that go into a college degree, not the least of those being textbooks. According to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), college textbooks have increased at a rate of 6 percent per year over the past two decades. This is nearly twice the rate of inflation. With increases like this for college textbooks, along with the many other college expenses, students need to find ways to cut back on costs in order to pursue a degree.
Rising textbook costs are one of the most frequent complaints heard by college students. Carlo Checri, a recent graduate from the University of North Texas, stated that "books are always those things you don't think about when you're registering for classes, then when you go to the bookstore, you suddenly realize that you have to spend a lot more money." Mr. Checri's sentiment is felt by a many college students. In fact, numerous community colleges see textbook costs totaling the same amount as semester long classes.
In addition to the high costs of buying books, when asked about reselling them, Checri said, "I've had some luck selling books back, but a lot of the time it wasn't worth the effort since I knew I would be getting back less than half of what I paid anyway." Mr. Checri went on to say that he has tried selling his books back to his library, to friends taking the same classes, and online.
There are several unique ways to try to get more money for selling college textbooks. However, to start, one wants to make sure they are buying their textbooks the cheapest possible way. Finding good deals on textbooks really helps when a student goes to resell them. In a perfect world, students would be able to buy their books, and sell them again for the same price. Several ideas covered here can help move students closer to that "perfect world".
WAYS TO BUY TEXTBOOKS CHEAPER
Procrastination is the most costly part of buying textbooks. As many students will notice, college bookstores typically sell books new and used. The used books are typically much cheaper than buying a book new; however, the used books are always the first to go because of this. If a student waits until the last minute to buy his/her books, chances are, all the used books will have already been sold and the student will end up paying the higher cost of buying new.
Another option for purchasing books is to buy online at sites like Amazon or Half. However, when purchasing books online, students can face similar problem as purchasing from the local book store. Other problems can also arise, such as shipping costs and time frames, and the possibility of lost packages. All this can increase the cost of purchasing books, and also add additional frustration and hassle.
A final option for purchasing books would be on sites like Trade My Text, a free site that allows students to buy, sell, and trade textbooks with each other for free. A site like this allows students to buy their books from classmates who may have just taken the class they need the book for. This can cut down on the cost of purchasing the book and also eliminates the dreads of shipping.
WAYS TO SELL BOOKS FOR MORE
So how do you sell a book for more than the half back "guarantee" of the local book store? There are several ways, many of them similar to the above ways to buy a textbook. In a perfect world, a student would buy a used, $100 book for say $75, use it for the semester, and then resell it for right around $75. In the real world, that same student buys the book for $100 and typically resells it for $50 or less. The way to sell a book for more is to try to accomplish the "perfect world" scenario. Getting a good deal on a book allows a student to turn around and quickly resell it at a price of nearly what they paid. Again, the key to selling for more is purchasing at the right price.
The college bookstore is always a last resort option for selling a book. Chances are that a student won't make much of their money back by selling to the bookstore. The best place to start when selling a book is online. Going to places like Amazon, Half, or Trade My Text can save students time and get them more for their books. Amazon and Half allow students to reach a large viewing group to market their book and although there is a fee, it is not terribly high. Also, with Amazon, there is no fee charged unless a student sells their item. Trade My Text is a unique site that acts as an online market place for students to buy, sell, and trade textbooks among each other at their particular college for free. This is also an effective way to sell a book at the end of the semester.
Using online websites to market books is the most effective way to sell a student's book for the most amount of money. Using several sites can be even more effective than using just one. For example, listing a book on Amazon, Half, and Trade My Text opens a student's book up to many more viewers, and since Trade My Text is free and Amazon only charges if the books is sold, there is no loss in doing this.
In summary, textbooks can be a very expensive part of any college education, but with a few unique and untraditional tactics, saving money on books becomes easy. Keep in mind, the first step to saving money on books, is buying them at the right price. When a book is bought at the right price, selling it for more on the back side becomes easy.
Save money on College Textbooks by buying/selling/trading with local students for free at www.TradeMyText.com!
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