5 Tips For Selling Back Your Textbooks

Starting a new semester of school can be exciting; until reality sets in when you get the bill for your textbooks. Luckily, students have numerous options. One thing to keep in mind is that your textbooks can be sold back at the end of the semester in order for you to recoup some of your costs. What do you need to know about selling textbooks to make the most of the experience?

  1. Take care of your textbooks. To maximize potential payout, ensure you are maintaining the condition of your textbooks throughout the duration of the semester. Avoid folding pages or marking in the books with pens or highlighters. When you want to note or remember information from your books a best practice would be to utilize sticky notes or tab markers and coordinate them with digital notes. 
  2. Sell at the right time. The sooner you try to sell your book, the better. Why? When you sell back your book as soon as the semester is ending, you take advantage of the prime buying season. Additionally, you minimize the chance that a class has switched to a different book or more updated version. 
  3. Compare buyback prices at multiple resources. The web is filled platforms in which to sell back your books. Since it only takes a few minutes to shop online, why not compare buyback rates at various sites? Explore the current going rates on specific textbooks, looking at various book-selling sites, and then you can rest easy that you’re getting a good price. You wouldn’t purchase the books without comparing prices, why would you sell them? 
  4. Ask around. Your roommates, friends or fellow students may be willing to cut out the middleman and buy back your book directly — especially if it saves them money from the bookstore rates.
  5. Consider renting. At the beginning of a new semester, some people will be pressed for time or money and need a book fast. Let them rent your book for the course duration with the condition that you receive it back at the end. This creates the potential for a profit due to recurring revenue on one textbook. On the downside, you have to ensure that you receive the book back at the end of the semester. 

Selling your textbooks online is a smart way to stretch your budget and save money on schooling. When your next semester is ending, use the above tips to get the best buyback rates!

Now that your books are taken care of and summer is on the way, why not protect your most important belongings? GradGuard is one of the leading renters insurance companies on the market and prides itself on catering directing to students with their student endorsement. GradGuard provides worldwide personal property coverage for college students! So whether you’re traveling to another country this summer or just going to another state with your family, consider being covered by GradGuard today!

Author bio: Woody Hunt, VP of Marketplace
Woody Hunt has been involved in building software solutions for the book industry since 2003. His major projects include the BookVolume online sourcing platform and Skyo e-commerce site, which have driven a combined transaction volume exceeding $100 million. Hunt sold his business, Wobo Inc, to Follett in March 2016. He is now VP of Marketplace at Follett, a parent company of ValoreBooks. He is currently responsible for aspects of the Follett Marketplace division.