Photo by Leslie Wong
We have all heard the stories about the amazing rare book or piece of art that somebody found at a garage sale for .25 cents and resold for $1,000′s of dollars. But those stories are exactly that, rare. What most people don’t know is that the Patricia Cornwell novel you saw in the .10 cent bin also has value and can be resold to online used book companies.
Most people use book buyers to sell back unwanted college textbooks, but there are a growing number of people who are hunting for used books at garage sales, estates sales, and library sales and then reselling the books to these online retailers.
Here’s how it works:
First, de-clutter your own house with unwanted books to get the feel of how this works. Now, not every book holds value and therefore some books you may end up having to send to the Goodwill. You should also know that there are several sites which purchase books so I recommend that you check a few so can find out who has the best offer. My favorite site has always been Cash4Books.net.
Once you get started on one of the websites you’ll notice that they ask you to enter in a the 10-digit ISBN number. It’s located right above the book’s UPC number and it acts as a unique serial number for books. Each site will then spit out a cash offer for your book. You’ll need to pick the book with the highest offer and then ship the book to them. They will pay for the shipping – you simply print out a prepaid shipping label from their site and within a couple of weeks you will receive a check back in the mail or a deposit in your Paypal account. Pretty easy, huh?
Now for the hunting…
Your job is to head to the local garage sales, flea markets, library sales, etc. and look for books that are cheap enough that they can be resold for a profit. It used to be that you needed to be a bit of a used book expert to know which books to buy. Certainly you don’t want to start buying books that you can’t easily resale. However, it has now gotten so easy that you can use your smartphone to look up the value of a book before purchasing it. A few of the sites like Cash4Books.net even have a mobile app that allows you to enter the ISBN number and get a cash offer on the spot. You can use it as you shop.
Just think of the earnings potential. If you are at a garage sale that is selling books for .25 a piece and you find a dozen that are worth $3-$5 you will make upwards of $50 just for visiting that one garage sale. It’s awesome and it’s no wonder why a few people are starting to make a living out of used book hunting.
Good luck Penny Hoarders!
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thanks for info i have hundreds of good books cant wait to start checking
I have a copy of WB Yeats – it's titled "The collected poems of WB Yeats Definitive Edition, with the author's final revisions – LCC: 56-8200 1956 12th printing 1966 p 480 – It is a hard cover, blue cloth – none of what I find is similar to this so I'm not sure if what I have is rare?? the sites mentioned don't really help for this book, I have a growing collection of what I would call antique books. I can't wait to use them for some of my other newer books though.
hi. if you still have this book, give me a call.
it’s 480-269-2366
thanks
Wow, thanks for the suggestion, I can't wait to get started!
And Elizabeth…A good starting point is the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA). To obtain its free directory of 461 booksellers, call (212) 944-8291 or visit online at http://www.abaa.org.
Phooey…I have a lot of books….none of which the sites are currently buying. Perhaps I will get lucky with some spring yardsale finds!
All of my books are old pre-ISBN hardbacks. Apparently those sites are just looking for cheap paperbacks, and not actual collectibles.
Woohoo! Just sold a bunch of books for $78! Thanks. I'm going to the library sale this weekend and I will keep an eye out.
Thanks so much for this article. Great post.
I'm new to online bookselling and I've been researching tips and ideas on this business. Your idea on book hunting is just great.
I also came across this blogsite which shares personal experiences in bookselling. Great blog I must say.
Check it out: http://www.sellyourbooksonline.com
i’ve always been a fan of scavenger hunts. Im ready to find those books like no-one has ever found them before.
Go get ‘em Jason.
I’m anxious to hear how you do.
we have tons and tons of books we have yard sale to get reed of them we are in st.augustine boxes after boxes and a displays if u ask me how many we have i would have to say we got about2,000 to 3,000 books for the 1900,s,thur to the 1980′s lots of collecter;s and we will make a good deal on them if u think of some thing we most probly got it even a lot from the war like poeple there fightin and writin books at the same time. u want to get in touch with us we are at 904-829-8348
I saw this link in an ad on craigslist.com. I think I want to try doing this. I love books so it might be fun.
i saw this on craigslist
gonna give it a whirl nothing to loose!!
good luck everyone!
i think this would be a fun experience for me i found this on craigslist
wait how do you do this im confused
I am interested. I love books and this is something I do anyways.
There’s a free iphone app called YouSell that will give you an instant cash offer quote for any used book, used CD or used DVD. You can even scan in the barcode so you don’t have to enter it. So, you just take your iphone with you to garage sales…scan barcodes of stuff and it instantly tells you what you can get paid for it. Then you only buy the stuff you can profit on. The offer amount is saved and guaranteed in YouSell for 7 days so there’s no way to lose. I love it!
is it only for iphone or can you do that at home also
I found your ad on Craigs List. I have so many books at home. This is a great idea for extra cash or even a small business. Thanks for the great article.
I am a severe book fanatic. As are many people in my family. This sounds like a wonderful idea and way to interact while looking for familiar and new novels.
its good i am allways looking
i only have one book and no paypal account how would that work?
I have been doing this for 4 years now. It really helped out when times were pretty tight. One of my best deals was a book I purchased for $2 and resold online for $98 less than a half hour after posting. Just follow the rules mentioned above, but I only use cash4books.net as a last resort.
I used Powell’s right before we moved and sold about a dozen books. I got more than I would have selling them at a garage sale. Now off to find the mobile app for my garage sale trip this weekend.
I have been selling books on-line for quite awhile. The vast majority of books at yard sales and auctions are junk, But there are some good ones An app is useful but knowing what you are doing is more useful