It's almost that time of year again. Most people choose to do a deep, thorough cleaning of their homes twice a year; once in spring, and often again in fall. The basement and the attic are the two areas of your house that most commonly suffer from clutter no matter how many times you clean it; for many homes, those areas are the dumping ground for junk of all kinds in addition to serving as the general storage areas for things you just might not have room for.
Boxes of Books Abound
Chances are, if you or anyone in your family is a reader at all, there are more than a few boxes of books stashed away there: books on collecting baseball cards and a few old issues of that comic series you used to love from childhood, novels from your teenage years, maybe even your child's textbooks from their college courses last year. Most likely these items are just taking up space and don't serve any sentimental value to you and will eventually just be thrown out or recycled. Instead of donating the texts to a paper recycling plant or tossing them to the curb with the trash, it's possible to list the books for sale online and see if anyone would like to purchase them from you.
How to Sell
Using an online retailer to sell those old books and make money off them is in your best interest. By far the most lucrative of any options you have for getting rid of the books. If you are not a re-reader, selling them is a good way to get some of your money back, because if the book is in good condition it can be sold for over half of what it cost you to buy in the first place.
Start off your process of selling books by searching for the ISBN, which it stands for International Standard Book Number. This is a code comprised of 10 digits, is unique to each book, and can be found on the UPC sticker on the back of the book. Typing in the ISBN or UPC number is the easiest way to find your book, as searching by title alone can sometimes return incorrect results. Next, the website will usually bring up basic information on the book: the title, author, publisher, number of pages, and language the text is printed in. From there, many sites that allow you to sell books online offer spaces to put a few comments about the condition of your book for sale, usually a rating and a description. In these sections, it's extremely important to be thorough and honest to avoid buyer dissatisfaction. If there are any defects or damage to the books, describe them. In turn, if there is anything special about the particular book, such as limited run, autographed by the author, or a special edition printed cover to name a few examples, list that also to increase the chances of someone wanting to purchase it. From there, most websites will assess a recommended price based on the quality rating listed, but it is not required; sellers can choose any price they want, but are encouraged to remember that lower priced items sell well.
Inexpensive Options
With most websites that allow the listing of books for sale, there are no fees for the listing of the item itself. However, most times when a sale is made, the site takes a portion of the sale price, almost like a commission. The fees are usually very minimal, ensuring that you can still make quite a bit of money.