Put Old Books To Good Use

Are your bookshelves overflowing with old books and magazines? If you're an avid reader like me then the answer is probably yes. What can you do then to make room for new books? I'll share with you some of the ways I've found to make money with those old books. And even a few ways to save money buying books.

My first choice for putting old books to good use is trading (or selling) them to a used bookstore. This is tricky because many used bookstores are very specific with what they will or will not take. Some will not take a book at all if it has any water marks on it (even small ones). Others will only take certain genres or will only allow trades in the same genre. Most won't take magazines either. You will also not find many that will give you cash for your used books. However, occasionally you will find a great used bookstore that will give you cash or trade and is not too picky about what kinds of books they take. Be sure you call first to find out if you must bring your books in on a specific day or time.

A second way to make money with used books is to sell them on ebay. If you have a book that's in high demand, you can sell it outright. If it's not a high demand book, you can bundle books together instead and sell as a package. For magazines, it may make more sense to sell the ads individually. There is a great market for such items, but it takes some skill. I would suggest you read this book to learn the skills needed to sell your magazines.

Another great choice is to list your old books on a book exchange site like Bookmooch. This is my favorite book exchange site because it is completely free and very simple to use. This is an exchange site so you can't make money, but it's a great way to find unusual books. Everything that my local used bookstore won't take, I list here. You would be surprised what kinds of books other people will want from you. You are given a tenth of a point for each book you list. You can request a book from someone else for one point. In return, if someone requests one of your books, you receive a point. You do have to pay to ship the books to the person requesting the book, but this is usually around $3. Another thing I love about this site is that most members don't mind, and in fact encourage, reuse of packing and shipping materials, saving you more money.

Charities are usually glad to take books off your hands. This includes not only Goodwill, but also places like VA hospitals, churches, and after-school child care centers. It's a good idea to call around to the charities in your area and find out what they will take and where you can drop it off. In some cases, this type of donation can be considered a charitable contribution for tax purposes (always check with the charity and your tax advisor).

You can always put your old books in a garage sale, but this is my least favorite method of putting old books to good use. First, you usually have to list them fairly cheap unless it's a hardback. Second, garage sales are, in general, a lot of work with very little reward. You get more return on your investment of time using any of the previous methods.

You now have all the information you need to put your old books to good use. Now go clean off your bookshelves and put a few of these tips to use for you.

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