Money Saving Monday #23 - Selling Books

We did a bit of cleaning yesterday, and I filled a plastic tote with books that we've either outgrown, or were no longer interested in. I tend to do this every few months, and it seems I can always fill a bin (or 2 or 3). What can I tell you? We love to read in this family!

Even though we use the library quite a bit, there are still books that we pick up when out, or that we purchase because our library doesn't carry them (anything published after 2002, for instance -- ok, it's not that bad, but budget cuts have definitely affected library shelves.)

I do like to purchase reference books -- and of course, I purchase tons of books for the kids to help encourage their reading. Today, though, I filled a bin with books we don't need to keep in our home any longer.

This week, I'll take them over to Bookman's and whatever they don't take, I'll take to Half Price Books. I've found that Bookman's will give me a better price, but they are much more picky than Half Price. Half Price, however, will take pretty much anything -- so I won't have to lug them home again.

I like Bookman's and Half Price Books because I can have cash in hand and the books out of my house in one short afternoon. Bookman's will offer me store credit for a larger amount than the cash offer -- which I do take when there are specific books that I need to purchase.

Another way to turn your books into cash is to sell them via ebay, half.com or Amazon. I would probably earn larger returns doing that, but it would mean listing all the books, selling them separately, storing them during the sale, packaging them for mailing, going to the post office . . . and then I'd be at Bookman's or Half Price in a month with whatever didn't sell. At this point in my life, it's more important that the books are out of my home (and I make a little cash.)