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Jan 28, 2025

How to Make Money Selling Secondhand Books

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Have you ever looked at your bookshelves and wondered how much money you could make if you sold the books you’ve already read? Well, you might be surprised to know that you could make more than you think when you sell secondhand books. If this applies to you, you’re in the right place, in this article, we are going to discuss how to sell secondhand books and make some extra money.

Whether you want a full declutter, or just want to free up some space for more titles, selling your unwanted books is the perfect solution.

Why Sell Your books?

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At this stage you will be wondering whether selling your books is worth it or not. The short answer is yes, but let’s take a look at why.

If you’re like so many of us who struggle to let go of our old books, then selling them gives you the perfect excuse to make that difficult decision and finally let them go. If we haven’t convinced you already, take a look at these key benefits of selling your unwanted books:

  • Make money: The obvious benefit of selling your books is the money, money that you can spend on more books or put into savings.
  • Free up space: Everyone loves a little extra space and clearing out your bookshelves can give you the space you have been looking for.
  • Give your books a new home: Instead of being pulped or sent to landfill, selling secondhand books will give them a new home.

How to Sell Your Books

So, what is the best way to sell your books? Lucky for you, selling your books is much easier than you might think, and you have a few options to choose from.

  • WeBuyBooks: Selling your books through WeBuyBooks is the easiest way to turn your secondhand reads into cash, taking only a few minutes from start to finish without even needing to leave the house.
  • eBay: eBay will give you the freedom to choose how much you sell your books for, but the listing process can be a little lengthy and there is no guarantee of a sale.
  • Private Sale: If you have a local book group or know someone who could benefit from all your books then selling privately could be a good option.

How Much Are Your Books Worth?

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So, how much are secondhand books worth? The value of your books will depend on several factors, these could include the title, the author, how old the book is, and its condition:

Name of Book and Author

The value of your books is heavily influenced by their popularity, the more popular they are, the more valuable they can become. The popularity of any given title or author can also help a book retain its value over time, with the chance of improving its value. Be warned though, popularity can also have an adverse effect on a books value, as very popular books will be printed in much higher quantities, reducing the demand.

Rarity

Rarity will have a big impact on the value of your books, the more common your books are, the less value they are likely to retain. The rarer a book is the greater the demand may become as well, especially among book collectors.

Condition

It’s important to keep your books in good condition especially if you are thinking about selling them one day. The best way to keep your books safe and in good condition is to store them in a dry place away from direct sunlight, and avoid doing anything else to them that could affect their value like writing in them or folding pages.

Relevance

The value of each secondhand book can fluctuate greatly depending on how relevant it is at the time. For example, if you have an old book written by an author who recently released a new book, it may become more popular leading to an increase in value. Alternatively, if there is a significant world event and you have books with related subject matter, those books will become more relevant possibly resulting in people being willing to pay more for them.

Age

Age can have both a positive and negative impact on the value of secondhand books. Very old books can often hold value as antiques or collectors items, often increasing in value as they become harder to come by. However, not all books increase in value with age, for example, if you were to try and sell a secondhand copy of the best-selling '50 Shades of Gray', you would probably get less than what you paid for it brand new.

How to Get Your Secondhand Books Valued

To keep things easy for yourself, you can download the WeBuyBooks app to get a free instant valuation of your books. Once you have downloaded the free app from the Play Store or Apple Store, you can scan the barcodes on your books to get an instant price. Scanning your books isn’t a commitment to selling them, so you can scan as many as you like to see how much you could earn.

Alternatively, you can conduct your own research by reading up on sales history on sites like eBay. You can also reach out to auction houses and book collectors to gain a better understanding of the current secondhand book market. Book collector databases can be useful for finding the value of certain books as well.

How to Make Selling Books into a Side Hustle

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Selling your books is a great way to clear your shelves and make a little extra money, but can you turn selling books into a proper side hustle? Yes of course you can, but there are a few things you will need to consider first:

Source More Books

Unless you already have access to your own personal library, you are going to need to find a way of getting your hands on a regular supply of secondhand books.

Charity shops are a great place to start looking for cheap secondhand books. If you have permission from the shop, you can even take the WeBuyBooks app with you to scan on the go and get some instant prices, that way there is zero risk of losing money.

Car boot sales and other pop-up events are a good way of collecting books to sell. A few minutes practicing your bartering skills in the mirror should be sufficient to find yourself a good deal on some secondhand books.

Facebook Marketplace also has the potential to be a good source of secondhand books, you should just be careful when it comes to condition and quality.

It’s always worth keeping an eye on your local libraries, community centres, and bookshops, in case they close down and look for a quick way to offload their reading material. Where this option could potentially provide you with a veritable goldmine of books, it’s unlikely to give you a sustainable supply so you will need to keep looking.

Find a Reliable Selling Platform

Once you have established a sustainable source for books you will need to figure out how to sell them. There are a few different ways to sell your books, both online and offline, so we have listed a few of the pros and cons for each, to help you choose.

Selling on WeBuyBooks
  • Pros: WeBuyBooks is easy to use and lets you sell your books quickly. No fees and free postage.
  • Cons: WeBuyBooks might not accept every book you have.
Selling on eBay
  • Pros: Total control over the value of your books.
  • Cons: The listing process can be time-consuming, you will need to conduct your own research on pricing. Fees may apply.
Selling Locally
  • Pros: control over the value of your books. Easier negotiation if in person.
  • Cons: It could be difficult to find a buyer. You might have transport books yourself.

Posting Your Books

Once you have sold your books you need to post them. Depending on how you sell your secondhand books, you may need to pay some postage fees with places like eBay or Facebook Marketplace.

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Once any additional fees are paid, the next challenge you need to solve is how to pack your books before you ship them off, and for that, you are going to need cardboard boxes.

So, where can you find enough boxes? Firstly, you always have the option of buying new cardboard boxes, but that can get expensive over time. Your best option is to recycle all the boxes you use day-to-day, things like shoe boxes and Amazon parcels are perfect, but most boxes work. Just make sure you remove all other postage labels before you reuse them, otherwise you could end up paying to send your books to yourself.

If you are struggling to find enough, here’s a quick list of places you could look for extra postage boxes:

  • Supermarkets: Supermarkets often have spare cardboard boxes to help people transport their shopping.
  • Place of Work: Many businesses often recycle loads of cardboard boxes so why not see if you can take them off their hands instead?
  • Local DIY/Homeware shop: It’s worth popping into your local DIY shop to see if they have any surplus cardboard boxes you could use.
  • FB Marketplace: It's worth having a quick look at Facebook Marketplace to see if anyone is getting rid of any of their cardboard boxes for free/cheap.

So that concludes our deep dive into how you can make money selling secondhand books. Whether you are just looking to clear out your old books and make a few quid or you want to turn selling secondhand books into a side hustle, now you know how. For more information on how you can use the WeBuyBooks app to start making money in minutes.

Like this post? These posts may be of interest to you:

Best Selling Sites in the UK: Selling Online Series Part 1

How to Invest: Are Books a Good Investment?

Top 25 Most Valuable Novels That Could Make You Rich

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