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Selling used books

K

Kapsberger

New Member
Hello all,

Once upon a time, I lived in NYC, and when I accumulated a certain amount of books I no longer had shelf space for, I'd run down to The Strand and sell the lot of them. Buyers were there Monday through Saturday, no appointment necessary, and although the prices paid weren't great and some of the buyers were...gruff, it was a quick and easy way to get money for new books. (What else?)

Now I'm in the Boston, MA, area and I've found no version of The Strand here. The Harvard Bookstore (not THE Harvard Bookstore, but the non-affiliated store that happens to be called Harvard) buys paperbacks at a good rate, but I buy a lot of hardcovers. Brattle St. Bookshop buys hardcovers, but they booted me out because the books I was trying to sell were "too new." (Used, good condition, published in the last two or there years.) Victor Hugo only buys during limited hours on weekdays, so I can't make it. Can anybody in the area (or familiar with the area) point me in the direction of a good place to sell? I can't believe that there's no good place to do this in a city as book-happy as Boston. Or do folks just use the 'net these days?

Thanks!
 
I can only suggest ebay as i don't live in the states - i have seen lots of people trying to sell books there (as I use it to look for first editions), sometimes they sell them in 'job lots'. Generally they don't get much money for them unless they are firsts though. :(

Personnally, I couldn't bear to part with any of my books (even tatty old paperbacks that I haven't read for years). I have books under my bed, in piles behind the bed, everywhere!! But good luck with the selling, sorry can't be of more help.
 
wkdblueeyes, what are some of the books that you wish to sell? Have you tried selling to dealers ( If you know the value of the books you wish to dispose of)? How many do you have? Fiction, non-fiction, hard cover, age?? Send some of us an inventory and perhaps we can guide you further. There are alternatives to the internet 'biggies'.---Robinson Crusoe---
 
Robinson, I'm not planning on selling any of my books. The site I posted the link to is called "Book Crossing". It's a site for people that wish to pass on books that they have finished with by means of leaving them labeled as a "free book" in places such as coffee shops, cafes and public transport.

Personally, I think this is a great idea as it might encourage someone to discover the joys of reading. Plus, im my case, it will clear up some space for the new books I bought on Saturday.
 
half.com. Of course, you'll spend some time at the post office.

I LOVE the bookcrossing idea, although I have no shortage of places to sell/trade books. I'll have to cull my collection.
 
I donate to a senior center where the books are in turn free to members. I also donated 500 hard covers to The Pequot Library a self supporting library that has a 200,000 book sale to cover about 50% of it's annual budget. Is 'freebooks' a national endeavor?---Walter---
 
I've found that well known internet bookseller named after a river is a great place to pick up used books. Some of the books I have bought there are as good as new, and they tend to be cheaper than Abebooks (another second-hand book site), even including postage.

I've not sold any that way myself. I prefer to donate my old books to charity shops. Although the last store I took some into would not accept them. They were about to take several bags of books to the rubbish tip: a sad waste of books and landfill space, not to mention disappointing given the donors thought they were being put to good use.

A new motorway just opened in the UK (the M6 toll, our first toll motorway) has a surface composed in part of pulped Mills and Boon books (cheap romantic fiction for the uninitiated). Fortunately the road has a hard shoulder to cry on!
 
Amen to That :D

Of course, the great thing about the new toll road is that its emptied all the traffic off the old M6, which is now perfectly clear when you drive up it!! :)

Phil
 
For me, Harlequin romances (Stateside variant name, same publisher) are like candy bars. They're worthless, so sweet, don't last very long, and every so often - - gotta have one anyway. I blame my grandmother's Barbara Cartland collection for ruining me at a young age.

Modern literature being in the phase it's in, sometimes it's just nice to read something with a happy ending.

I'm also very happy that Harlequin is branching out with their other lines - Red Dress Ink (Bridget Jones knockoffs), Luna (Fantasy with a romantic element), MIRA (Women's Lit, some Thriller/Romance hybrids), and Blaze (OK, Harlequin but bordering on erotica.) This other stuff I could write and get published! If only I would sit down and write the darn novel!
 
People in the UK may be interested in www.greenmetropolis.com

You can buy and sell second hand books on there and each book is £3.75

For every book sold 5pence is donated to the "Plant a Tree" project at the Woodland Trust.

It's a really good and useful site, I've used it quite a few times to both buy and sell.

By the way, if I'm not supposed to recommend other sites like this - someone just let me know. I only joined this forum today and haven't read through everything yet!
 
WKDblueeyes, I hadn't heard of 'Book Crossing' here in New England. It sounds like a wonderful program..Can you tell me the nearest program operating near southern Connecticut?
 
Originally posted by sally_sausages
People in the UK may be interested in www.greenmetropolis.com
Click to expand...


I like the sound of this. The site has a good, simple appearance too. However, unlike other online second hand book sellers you don't get any information on the condition the book is in. It also works out a bit more expensive than Amazon. Would it be better to buy second hand books elsewhere and then send the difference - which would be more than 5p - to the Woodland Trust?
 
Robinson, BookCrossing operates everywhere. It's a concept. Go to the site and check it out - I am a member (same id as here - nelka35) there - that is how I found this site - it was in a link there. You can PM me for more info, or go there and read about it all. Have fun! www.bookcrossing.com
All of you people who aren't bookcrossers - it is all over the world! Join and enjoy!:)
 
Nelka, I did join "Book Crossing". I understand the donating of books but don't yet see the buying & selling. I will do a review. It will be fun to mail a book to another part of the country and have it placed out for picking up and thereafter receive a response.
---Walter---
 
Yeah, it's cool. Some of my books are in other countries now :).
But there is no buying and selling there - it's free. It doesn't fit into this topic (selling used books), really, it just came up.

 
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