How to make the most money at half price books

I realized the clerk in HPB, never and ever checks the ISBN of these books rather he is focused on the condition and looks of the books. The obvious answer is that they expect the rate of sale in their store to be better than the going rate online. The market is the same? You think that the human beings walking around in any individual HPB store are the same demograph that shop online on Amazon in any given day? Let me give you some examples. Bill Gates books sell great in Seattle, yet books about Microsoft are cheap online.

Where to Sell Used Textbooks Near Me (in Person)

Enjoy this post about how to make money selling books from a blog friend of mine. For seven years, I worked at a couple of bookstores and now for at least the past decade I have purchased books at clearance sales, library sales and garage sales and then flipped them on Amazon for profit. I know that several franchises, with stores in multiple cities, purchase used books. Half Price Books is one of them. While I do buy used books at garage sales, library sales and such, the better deals may occasionally be found at retail establishments. For a couple of years, I purchased books at one franchise with a local store which would discount new books to as low as 47 cents each. Then for several years another bookstore, that has since gone out of business understandably , would discount their new books that had been in stock for a couple of years. About once every three months I would purchase several sacks full of books with each sack of books having a retail value of several hundred dollars. Again, I would sell the more valuable books on Amazon, keep a few and then trade in the majority of the rest at Hastings Entertainment. Purchase books that are in good condition, without marks in the text and without a remainder mark a marked line on the bottom edge of the pages. Hardback books that originally came with a cover need to have the cover. Paperback books are fine provided they are trade paper the larger books and not mass market the books that are roughly the length and width of a checkbook. Also, it is important that any book you attempt to trade in at Hastings have a barcode on the back. While older books may sell on Amazon, they typically are not eligible for sales at Hastings. Look around. When taking your books to Hastings or other stores, the associate will usually ask for a valid I. Should a book not be in their system or should they already have an adequate supply, then they may reject it.

Selling Books for Extra Money

Discussion in ‘ Marketplace Discussions ‘ started by Planbee , Aug 2, Log in or Sign up. Steve Hoffman Music Forums. Location: Chicago. I’ve never sold any CDs to them, and was wondering if anyone here has and what your experience has been. Are they the typical used place that offers next to nothing or flat-out doesn’t want most of the CDs you bring in , or can you do OK there? I’m not looking to make a killing—I’d be happy to get enough store credit from 4 or 5 discs to buy one used CD. And I’m not looking to unload the typical titles that are found in every used store around. That’s a Rickie CD I never see used, though the stores I go to always seem to have other titles of hers in stock. Yet, it always gets put in the «no, thanks» pile Anyway, is Half Price Books worth the effort? Planbee , Aug 2, Location: ohio. I find that they might give you a tad more if you are a first time seller. Try not to be insulted by their offer. Location: Medford, NJ. Whatever you expect to get, they will offer you less. Aggie87 , Aug 2, Planbee , Aug 3, Well, you guys were pretty much right about everything. I took it—I’ve taken these discs to other places without much success and was getting sick of looking at ’em Kinda their loss, too. I was going to buy two CDs, depending on how much they gave me. Oh, well I’ve seen people get pretty irate at their lowball offers. My thinking is — you do not have to sell to them. A regular cd shop would only buy what they know they can resell. I’m glad you were able to unload them.

Reader Interactions

This weekend my wife and I were doing a little cleaning and decided to clear out some books, movies. We like going to Half Price Books because you can find some great deals there on used books, movies, and other forms of media check out their bargain bin! They also buy things to stock their store. I think we must have brought about 30 books and other items into the store. They evaluate your items while you shop around, then they call you up to the counter when your offer is ready.

That was lower than I expected, but I was not surprised. Turnover for most of these items is low and it takes them a while to recoup their expenditures. They also told me the textbooks would go straight to the recycling bin because they had no resale value they were all over 10 years oldand the libraries would not even want. I ended up accepting their offer, but my wife and I purchased some books and DVDs from the store, so it ended up being a coupon and not cash!

I know the value of our items was a lot more than what we were paid, but it came down to a matter of convenience. While I love shopping at Half Price Books because of their bargains and proximity to my house, I do not think I will ever sell to them.

The last two places will give a receipt which is good for a tax deduction. I think I also would have felt better had I donated them, not just for the tax deduction, but because I enjoy giving. Next time, I may give them away. But you should also check online to see which other options are available a better offer selling your textbooks to some of the online stores that specialize in buying textbooks.

One simple way that you can make some money is to participate in the Amazon buyback program. If you would rather not have your money on Amazon gift cards, then you can sell your books on eBay.

If you have some old textbooks sitting around from college, I highly suggest that you sell. The problem with textbooks is that they are constantly updating and printing new editions, which means that old editions are not going to be worth nearly as.

Chegg Books will take just about any textbook that you want to sell. They take just about any textbook and you will get your money within 10 — 15 days. One of the other pitfalls is that they have very high standards for their textbooks. Another popular site for textbook sales is Textbooks. With such an original title, you can guess what they specialize in.

They will buy just about any book, and they also offer free return shipping. Not only that, but they also have a day lock-in buyback quote. If you decide that you want to accept their offer for your textbooks, then you have 30 days to mail in the textbooks to get your money. Just like with every other site, there is going to be some disadvantages.

One of the biggest ones with Textbooks. You may also find better returns for some items through a buyback service like Decluttr. They buy electronics, music, movies, textbooks, and even Legos. Most households have thousands of dollars of junk and old stuff just sitting. This weekend, take some time to clear out your bookshelf, your old electronics, and any of that stuff that you have crammed into your closets, this will not only help you find things to sell to make some extra money, but you will save money by spending quality time together at home.

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You can open a free account. Talk about never selling to HPB again!!! A few years ago I took in about 8 boxes of books. They showed me 3 books that they could use, after going through all the boxes. So I said no, we packed up all the boxes, I loaded them back into my car and dropped them off at the local library for their book sale.

Of course I asked for a tax receipt. I have no idea if the 3 books they liked got back into the boxes, I had to leave to go get my car. I have seen used book store employees like Bay Books at these library sales. Jackie, that is one perspective. If you can sell your books and games for more money elsewhere, then certainly, go for it. There is a convenience in bringing a box of goods you no longer need or want and selling them to the store.

As for the price differential, that assumes they can and will sell those items for the listed prices. They may — but they may not. And of course, there is the normal cost of business — rent, utilities, payroll, and other overhead. At the end of the day, people can sell to Half Price Books, to other vendors, at a yard sale, or donate books to libraries, hospitals, or other organizations.

Note: recommend looking into Decluttrwhich is an how to make the most money at half price books platform where you can sell books, games, movies, and other other items. Guessing their business model is built on the old, college textbook model — Sell them retail, rebuy them cheap, and re-sell them at a huge profit.

HPB triples or quadruples their money, hire cheap, real estate is usually a strip mall. So — buy from. Have you tried selling a product on ebay? Additionally, compare to pawn shops, or GameStop. Let alone any other small business. GameStop would buy back games for pennies, but at least their buy list is public and you can look it up before you go in to the store. Sonic Unleashed has become a cult classic recently. They will also prorate and offer reduced price based on condition.

They will make no concessions based on condition or quality of the title. They use each of their almost 6, retail locations as hubs and will transfer games from store to store if you want a particular title, and they also sell on their website, so they have 0 motivation to sell a particular copy to me if I want it complete, and they have 0 motivation to log condition or completeness.

Half-Price Books is similar. You bring in books, they give you a price, you take it or leave it. Super Mario Bros. You can find this out right on their website. Kid brings in his collection. Especially shady if they know what it costs and intentionally plan on taking advantage of people trading in. Many small items like a bulk sale of 8 boxes of books is not going to be worth even listing on a website to sell.

I have to agree. Just not worth it. We foolishly thought that at least the books we dropped off would have a better chance of being resold. Really a huge rip-off. Will not use them. Your email address will not be published. Disclaimer: The content on this site is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not professional financial advice. References to third party products, rates, and offers may change without notice.

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Search This Site. The 10 Commandments of Money. Enter you name and email address to join our mailing list. Note About Comments on this Site: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. Comments Talk about never selling to HPB again!!! Rip-off, pure and simple. So — good business plan for HPB — not so good for the consumer.

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Dec 02, PM. I posted this on another group’s forums but I was wondering just how much money one can get for books at Half-Price Books. I know the better the condition, the more popular a book is and all that can get you more money but like what for ho I have a little, not Half-Price Books, used book store by my house. They don’t give you cash, only store credit. Which, if I traded books, would be okay because I’d probably just use the money to buy books. Dec 03, AM.