In the midst of all of the stress attached to the end of a college semester, selling textbooks is often just one more added hassle. It’s often a disheartening time, as you get so little to fork over the books that you paid hundreds of dollars for. But the experience doesn’t have to be quite so draining. You have options. Let’s look at a few of them together.
Campus Bookstore
There’s no mistaking that long line of exhausted people at the end of the semester. That’s the swarm of students who have just finished their exams and are just hoping to scrape together enough money from selling their textbooks to eat a couple of non-ramen meals. The university bookstore is where many people start when selling books. It’s a gamble, but sometimes you can make a pretty penny.
Just make sure you go early-on during Finals Week, because most bookstores will only take a certain amount of each book. You don’t want to stand in line for an hour, only to find out that you’re stuck with your molecular biology book.
Alternative Buyers
Around the same time, tents and booths with pop up, run by overly cheerful people in brightly colored, matching t-shirts. These alternative buyers will usually offer cash payouts on the spot, and they will sometimes pay more than the campus bookstore. One advantage to them is that they will normally take books that are in pretty rough shape, even for just a few dollars. Stopping by one of these booths and seeing what they’re offering for your books might not be such a waste of time.
Online
With countless websites to choose from, you can hand select your buyer. This means that you can normally find the best prices this way. Also, people will buy anything online, so even if you are left with an out of date copy of a textbook, you will most likely find someone who has to have it. There are even websites set up for trading books, so you may get to snag copies of your required reading for next semester while getting rid of the texts from this one.
Friends and Classmates
Having friends in your major has some advantages. If you take the same classes but not at the same time, you can sell each other textbooks at the end of the year. You can offer your friend a fair price while still making more than you would if you were to sell it at the university bookstore. Plus, they will get the added benefit of having your notes inside the book.
Donate Them
When all else fails (or because you are a generous person), you can always donate your books. There will always be someone who can use your old books. They may end up in the hands of a less fortunate college student, or in the library of a junior high school. Either way, you’re helping someone else.
