From Clutter to Cash: How to Sell Books Online Successfully

Don’t have any room left on the bookshelves for your new books?

Then you might want to consider getting rid of your old ones. And yes, it’s not an easy task for a book reader but you know there are always such books on our shelves which have been read only once or twice. And after that they just become decorative collecting dust, so why not give them to whoever needs them and would appreciate it in a much better way? One profitable way to do this is to sell books online.

Selling old books is so popular that the market of second-hand books was valued at more than 20 billion dollars in 2022, and is set to increase more by the end of 2032. This clearly shows that the craze of reading from physical books has not declined by any means, making it one great way to earn passive income. But now you might be thinking about how you can sell used books online. Don’t worry you’ll get all your answers in the article, from step-by-step guidance on how to sell books online to listing the best platforms to sell books; everything has been covered in the article.

Sell Used Books Online in 5 Simple Steps

Quite frequently, our books lie inactive, gathering dust and being eaten by weevils and different moths. You can earn substantial sums of money by selling your old books on online portals. Here is a step-by-step guide to selling your books online.

Step-1 Check Before Selling Books Online

The first thing you need to do before you sell books online is to check them properly. Inspect if there are any damages in your books, and repair the slight damages. Once you do the checking part well make sure you describe major damages like the cracked spine, damaged cover, missing pages, water stains etc clearly while listing it on the sales portal.

This is important because if you don’t mention damages there will be chances that the buyer may return the book after purchase. Which can lead to bad reviews for you.

Step-2 Find Its Worth Before Selling Books Online

Finding the right price to sell books online is something you should always take care of. Go through various advertisements on the websites. See how they have priced their used books. Some online portals like Bookscouter also calculate the price of your used book by looking at some parameters.

Those can be the year of publication, original price, number of years you have used it, etc. Find such portals to find out the true value of your book to sell online.

Step-3 Choose Suitable Portal for Selling Books Online

The most important thing to sell books online is to find the right platform. You can add the same book in multiple portals. Adding books to several portals increases the chances of visibility. Once it is sold, you can simply mark it as sold on the other sites.

There are a couple of things you should note while choosing book-selling platforms, like finding the top-rated online portal among buyers, going for portals that charge zero or very little commission and making sure the portal you choose allows you to get payments directly in your bank account or Paytm, PayPal, etc.

Step- 4 Describe Well-to-Sell Books Online

Perfectly describing your book can get you, customers, easily. Describe the writer’s name and the abstract. and maybe a few pages of the book in the sale description of the portal.

Your potential customer must know well about the book. Mention all the relevant details about your book. Write a small summary of the book of around 50 words so that the potential customer can get an idea of the subject matter. But remember, do not give any spoilers while writing about your book.

Step- 5 Making Packaging and Courier Arrangements

Once the order has been placed for the book, you need to take care of its packaging and shipping. In some cases, the portal you choose to sell books online provides you with this service with some extra charges. However, the majority of platforms ask the sellers to take care of packaging and courier, in such cases you need to find a delivery partner with whom you can courier your books regularly. 

If you want you can sell your books at a discounted price. It works in a great way as it can help you sell your books faster and earn online.

Also Read: How to Sell Products Online and Start an Online Store?

Best Platforms to Sell Used Books Online

After analyzing the various sites across the internet, we have listed the top platforms where you can sell books online. Here you go!

Amazon

If you are searching for platforms to sell books online, you can consider Amazon as one of the best platforms. You can earn online by selling your old books on India’s biggest e-commerce company. Amazon offers the facility to purchase and sell used books online. Using Amazon’s trade-in program, you can easily sell your old textbooks at a genuine price. You can find many prospective buyers who are looking to buy used books. You must sign up for the Amazon trade-in program to list your books for sale. The sign-up process is very simple. You have to provide your:

• Personal information
• Banking information
• ISBN of your books

Suggested Read: Proven Methods To Make Money On Amazon

E-Bay

Another exciting option for selling books online is e-bay. E-Bay is one of the global e-commerce companies which trades multiple products. You can also sell used books on ebay. More than 180 million users are there on ebay. You get a wide range of customers to purchase your textbooks. E-Bay allows you to make your first 50 sales without any charge. After the free session, you can continue listing more books by paying a small fee. The steps to sell books online on e-bay are:

• Register on E-Bay
• Create a selling post
• List your old books
• Start selling

E-Campus

E-Campus is a well-recognized online retailer of new and old books. Generally, school and college students are the main purchasers of this platform. A lot of students prefer e-campus for their books and textbooks. You can sell your old books easily on this site. This site offers great deals for selling your used textbooks. You can get an exciting price for your books on e-campus. The selling process on e-campus goes as:

• Log in
• Submit the ISBN of your books
• Select your books for listing
• Go through the buy-back process
• Receive your payment on each sale.

BookChor

BookChor is one of the best platforms for selling your old books. By entering your book’s ISBN number, you can check the offers available on BookChor. If you want to make quick cash then this website is a good option as it provides you with the option to sell books for as low as 80 Rs, which is a great price from the readers’ point of view; resulting in immediate sales for you. You get a reasonable price for your books on this platform. You can proceed to sell books online on BookChor as:

• Sign up
• Provide the ISBN of your Books
• Check the price quote and shipping label
• Make your sale

Textbooks.com

Textooks.com is a popular platform to sell books online. Textbooks.com offers the largest online buyback programs along with a free shipping policy. You can find numerous purchasers who want to buy second-hand books online. Textbooks.com sells your old books directly to college students. Considerable price rates are offered for your books. The selling process is quite easy. You can sell used books on Textbooks.com in the following ways:

• Register yourself
• Lock in your quote
• Enter the ISBN of your books
• Print the shipping level
• Collect your payment

99Bookscart.com

99Bookscart.com is another good website to sell books online, you can sell your used books on this website at a 45-50% lower rate than the original price but still, earn good profits. There are a few terms & conditions that need to be followed like not posting damaged or pirated books for sale. You can sell used books on this website in the following ways:

• Visit website and register
• Fill out application form
• Fill book description
• Start selling

PustakKosh.com

PustakKosh is a website which not only has the option to sell used books but you can rent out your books too. It means if you don’t want to sell your books then you can rent them for a time and charge a lease amount. This website is mostly used by school and college students who want to rent or buy used books online. Students can find books from big publishers like Arihant, Oswaal, and NCERT on this site at a very reasonable rate. So, if you have academic books from your previous years that you wouldn’t be using again then sell or rent them to other students through this website. You can sell used books on PustakKosh in the following ways

• Register yourself
• Write description and book’s ISBN
• Enter book title and author name
• Select your lease term
• Select location

Books Yaari

Books Yaari is a platform started by two booklover friends who wanted to provide new and used books to other students and people like them at an affordable rate. On this website, you can find books from different genres, from adventure to academics you can sell any used books that you have. They also provide you with various options to receive your payments online after selling books. You can sell books on Books Yaari in the following ways

• Create account on website
• Describe your book
• Write quotation price
• Start selling

Related Reads:
Best Reselling Apps in India
How to Start an Online Reseller Business

Types of Books to Sell Online

Now that you know where you can sell books online, now let’s look at what types of books can be sold. Usually, every genre of books can be sold but there are certain books which are quite in demand among readers.

Literature

Who doesn’t love to dive into the world of magic and moments of surprise right? This makes the books of literature and fiction the most sold-out books in the world. So if you have a copy of Harry Potter or Little Women tucked in your bookshelf somewhere that you don’t find yourself reading anymore, then why not pass it to others who would love to explore that world, just like you did once?

Textbooks

With around 70% of students buying used books instead of new ones, the market for used academic textbooks is quite big. You can sell books online from previous classes or semesters online, this will not only help other students but will also earn you some extra cash.

Self-Help and Motivational Books

From reading The Alchemist to Atomic Habits we all have sought inspiration and motivation from the books at one point. Many people love to read self-help books to find the purpose in their life or start something new, you can help such people by selling used books at a lower price. So, you can list any self-help book that helped and can help others too.

Religious Books

Every religion has its own sacred books, which help people learn about their religion’s history, origin and more. Such books are always in demand and the older the version the better its chances of getting sold.

Merits of Selling Old Books Online

Buying and selling old books have emerged as a trending trade option. You can clear your old collection of books by selling them online. Simultaneously you can gain a nice profit along the process. There are various benefits of selling old books online. Let’s discuss them.

Make Major Profits

You may have those books in your cupboard which were last printed in the 90s and are not available anymore. These are the books which are considered highly valuable and antique as they are no more available on the market.

Many people always keep searching for such books. But they do not get them easily in the market since these books are out of print. You can make a good amount of money by selling such books online. Although these are old books, considering their importance and demand, you can get a decent amount of cash from them.

Perfect Passive Income

A single source of income may not always let you reach your goals early. Nowadays people carry out several side businesses to assist their income. Selling books is one of such popular and reliable side businesses. If you are a book lover and you buy lots of books you can sell them after reading. One may not have time to go through the same book twice. Rather than piling up old books on your shelf, you can sell books online to add extra earnings to your income.

Also Read: Passive Income Ideas in India

Become Nature Buddy

We all know paper is made from trees which results in cutting hectares of forest lands. You can make a small contribution to saving those trees by supporting the cause of buying and selling used books. When you sell used books you save a tree that would have been cut down to make paper for a new book.

Make Some Room in Bookshelves

Leaving books in the corner of your room to collect dust and complaining about not having room to live comfortably, is not cool. When you sell books online you make room for other things that you need. So, stop hoarding books unnecessarily even after reading them, and sell them.

Sell Books to Start Earning

Books no matter which version or edition, are always going to be a source of knowledge and wisdom. And as we know sharing is caring, why not share the knowledge you gained from your books with others by selling used books online? This way not only you will give someone a gift of knowledge but earning some extra cash too.

So, what are you waiting for, sell books online start your side hustle and make money? And now as you know how and where you can sell used books online, after reading the article you can start this easily.

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