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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To wonder if it's worth trying to sell my old novels etc?

18 replies

notremotelyintofootie · 30/04/2011 18:56

I have a lovely new kindle and I have agreed to cull my collection of books as I have about 20 boxes to sort plus the 2 huge bookcases full....

I have a reasonable amount of 'novels', hardback, and was wondering if they are worth selling or should I just take to charity shop.... We are skint but it doesn't seem that many people buy books at car boot sales, eBay is expensive and amazons postage policy means I'd be out of pocket!

Wwyd?

OP posts:

cookcleanerchaufferetc · 30/04/2011 18:59

I sold a load through net mums once

bubblecoral · 30/04/2011 19:00

There is a second hand bookshop near us that pays for boxes of old books. He doesn't pay very much though! Is there anything like that near you? Maybe try looking in a directory or something. I have to say though that I don't usually bother going all the way over there, there is a charity shop much closer.

SenSationsMad · 30/04/2011 19:07

Can't you sell them as a bundle? Same author, same genre?

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 30/04/2011 19:09

Green Metropolis?

ComeAlongPond · 30/04/2011 19:12

My local second hand bookshop does a deal - you give them a certain number of books and they give you a voucher for their shop based on how many books you gave them. But if you're having a bit of a cull that might not be any good.

How much were you hoping to get for them? You could always try to sell some on here - I know I'd be interested, so I'm sure lots of others would too.

HerRoyalHighnessSarahStratton · 30/04/2011 19:31

Yup I would have a look through if you listed what you have [csmile]

DeWe · 30/04/2011 20:20

Look on abebooks.co.uk (I think) and see if any of them are worth anything. Unless they're rare or 1st editions they probably aren't worth much though.

AgentZigzag · 30/04/2011 21:06

I've sold off loads of my books on ebay and some made quite a bit.

With so many to get rid of, I'd probably pick off the one's I thought would sell for more and research how much they'd sold for in the past on there, give she crappy ones to charity, and after taking out the one's you're emotionally attached to (I'm guessing you're book mad if you've got so many) that shouldn't leave too many.

For some reason I accumulated quite a few witchcraft and demonology books when I was younger, and those went for a packet.

Mostly to japan actually, the most they paid for one was about £30 odd.

squeakytoy · 30/04/2011 21:09

I would say no, unless they are something unusual. Run of the mill stuff is a nightmare to sell at the moment. I listed hundreds on ebay recently and very few sold even though they are in once read, uncreased and near mint condition. Ebay limit the postage costs too, so you can end up out of pocket if they are heavy books.

RitaBix · 30/04/2011 21:12

I love books the smell, the feel

keep them

Cloudbase · 30/04/2011 21:39

Can't add much except to say that I once threw out 18 boxes of books to an Oxfam bookshop as I agreed with my ex to have a 'cull'. I have always regretted it since and I still hugely miss all my books that I donated. Mind you, I'm quite sad about my books and my old vinyl albums - they are like the children I had before I had actual children iykwim! [cblush]

TotemPole · 30/04/2011 21:45

Do you have space to set up a garage sale outside your home for a couple of hours at the weekend?

For selling on Amazon you'd have to search each individual one, look at the book's ranking, then the copies available and work out if yours is likely to sell anytime soon.

For ebay you'd have to search individually and look at the completed sales, compare the green(sold) to red(unsold).

As mentioned, other options are selling on ebay in groups of same author, genre. It makes the cost of each book lower for the buyer as you can send quite a few books in e.g. a 1kg package.

You could put them on ebay/loot as bigger job lots, with a buyer collects. I think you'd still have to be willing to accept Paypal on ebay for this.

If you have any non-fiction, definitely check those out on Amazon. Anything that's on a reading list for uni is more likely to attract buyers of 2nd hand.

squeakytoy · 30/04/2011 21:48

If you put them on ebay as a job lot, you can easily use a courier to collect and they will pick up a 10kg box for less than a tenner.

Whatever you do, dont accept paypal if the person is collecting from you, as you have no proof that they have received the goods, and they can claim all the money back.

Firawla · 30/04/2011 22:12

sell them onto a trader maybe? if you are willing to sell them cheaply then may get some people interested eg pro sellers from amazon they dont have to pay the full fees so can still sell things very cheap on there and as they do it in volume its worth their while, whereas for normal seller it would not be?
or you might be able to donate to a community library as another option than charity shops, i am thinking of doing that with a load of mine if they want them as charity shop throws alot away

proudfoot · 30/04/2011 23:56

You should be able to sell them at a boot sale but if you are expecting more than about 50p to max a quid a book you are being unrealistic. Sometimes people mark them up at 3 or 4 pound and wonder why noone is interested!

ccpccp · 01/05/2011 09:30

IMO - put the best ones on Amazon. If you price them right they sell very quickly (do this by seeing what other sellers are asking for and pricing 5p lower!).

Very popular books can be worthless though because lots of sellers have them. Large sellers can offer them for sale at 1p as they make more profit from the fixed postage than you can.

Also - heavy books often cost more to post than you get back in profit and fixed postage, so be wary of this.

The rest - box them up and car boot one sat/sunday morning. They will go eventually (particularly the popular ones not worth listing on Amazon) and those that dont I always give to charity.

CarefulWithThatAxeEugene · 01/05/2011 13:46

You have no choice but to accept Paypal if selling on ebay. I 'm pretty sure you can't insist on cash on collection - if the buyer pays online there's nothing you can do about it.

It's hard to get money for second-hand books unless there's something special there. Agree with car-boot sale suggestions, or do you have a local fete or similar coming up where you could have a stall to sell them? Otherwise I would just give them to charity shops.

Our local pub has a table full of used books - people bring books, or take anything they want and leave a donation for a local charity. Is there anything similar near you, or could you suggest starting one somewhere in the community?

Atwaroverscrabble · 01/05/2011 14:55

Thanks everyone (I'm the OP just name changed!)

I think I will check if any are 'special' and put those on amazon or just offer boxes of books for say £10 and if that fails just give them to charity.....

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