Featured Old Books - where to sell

Dear All

Firstly i love this website. i have joined 3 days ago and I have learnt so much. I also realize that things we don't value (may actually have quiet a bit of value).

I cleared out a old cupboard at home and got 3 cartons filled with old books waiting to be tossed. Those cartons lied around for 2 months. I then joined this website in trying to get some information on other pieces I have come across in this house cleaning expedition.

Long story short - most of those books are pre 1940. 3 of them are listed on abebooks for USD 100 to 200. i agree that this is the demanded price and not sale price + condition matters etc.

I wanted to know if there is a place where i can list and sell these books? I know ebay is an option but as a first time seller, I am sure that most people would be wary of me, atleast would think twice before putting in a bid ( i know I would & have).

Just wanted to know your thoughts and ideas about how i should go about this. The money will definitely help in me chasing my other passion for collecting.

 

Lots of people also sell books on Amazon. I'm not a bookseller, so don't know all of the best techniques.

For lots of articles and advice on selling books I would also refer you to www.bookthink.com. there are good free articles there, but also some more in-depth reports you can purchase. I'm sure there are other advice websites, but I like that one just for the interesting articles.

 

I understand your dilemma, Tinytim, mine is similar. When you find the best book selling place, please let me know too!

 

You can also sell vintage books on Etsy.
Books must be over 20 years old to be sold.

 

Thanks Pearls.

 

Another option -- this one quick and easy -- is to find a reputable used book dealer nearby and let him/her cherry pick those with resale value. You'll make less than if you sold desirable volumes yourself but you also won't have to spend any of your own time and labor. (Caution though: most books don't have much resale value and pre-1940s isn't very old in the book world.) To give you a better understanding of what you might have of value, I suggest you post photographs of your books (in lots will do) on the forum. Members would be happy to get you started as to which, if any, are worth spending any time with further. (It may be that your local charity shop should receive a generous donation.) And, for what it's worth, I sell books on eBay. Like having the ability to provide photographs and the ability to auction and BO. Being a newbie shouldn't be too hard to explain away as all eBay sellers were once.

Debora

 

craigslist is a possibility. Depending on where you live, it may or may not be the most well-used of the free online classifieds sites.
It's extremely easy to register and post ads.
There are a number of free-classified-ads apps for mobile devices but beyond that I know nothing about them.

 

I tell people, if you have never sold on Ebay. Don't.
Look at Etsy.

Any local Flea markets coming up?
Are you going to have enough from the house cleanup to make it worthwhile to go out?
Maybe you will have enough to take a space in a mall.

As you are going through things - start pricing and boxing, label outside of box so you know what is in it.
As for books, lightly pencil price inside, Don't put stickers on books. Don't price in pen.

I have a B&M (brick and mortar) store. I use abe books to price my books. I look at the median price of the books listed. Then look at condition of median priced books compared to mine, and price accordingly. I've done very well pricing that way. Often times getting much more than I thought I would.

 

Please, please don't write price -- even in pencil -- inside books. That devalues them immediately in this collector's eyes, for one.

Debora

 

Thank you Debora CC49, Tom and Antidem.
I stay in India. We don’t have local flee markets or even used booksellers.
I don’t mind selling all of them, in lump sum to a bookseller.
I will take your advice and list them here for feedback and see where that takes me.

 

Welcome!

 

I bet you learned English in a British school because you spelled it "learnt" whereas in New England we spell it "learned." .

 

Debora. what would be the best method of pricing books in a mall style shop?

The goodwill I used to go to would price them in the front with a red grease pencil.

 

Opinions may vary but... a small sticker on spine or front cover would make me -- as a book buyer -- comfortable.

Debora

 

I have sold on Ebay and Etsy both. I even double list sometimes and Ebay seems to be more reliable than Etsy. The key to listing is to give as much condition information and pictures that you can. There are numerous sites that are good at helping you determine the "book-speak" condition of your books. Doesn't take much of a condition issue to totally kill the value.

 

Another thing (I don’t sell books but sometimes buy them) is your shipping charges. Keep them as low as possible even to the point of losing a little if you will profit on the sale. I often select books to buy based on the stated shipping cost, and always select that way when the same title is available from two or more sellers. I try and save a little money at every turn and it has worked well for me. For books with very little value, send them to a charity of your choice that distributes them to someplace, school etc., in Africa or a poor area in your own country, so you are helping humanity.

 

Books ship USPS Media Mail (1 lb., 2 lb.) at rates which are easily verifiable so agree best that sellers make profit elsewhere.

Debora

 

Thanks Deb, somehow I thought he/she was shipping from India, but I never scored very high in “reading comprehension.”

 

Don't know particulars but, unless one is shipping via USPS M-Bag, international postal rates prohibitive.

Debora

 

Yup shipping from India. Your reading comprehension skills are perfect.
International shipping would be in range of 14 to 25 Usd. Which I think would kill the sale itself ?

Excellent deduction. Am from India. We were taught learned is wrong English.