A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend cleaning out my basement. I came across a box of old (very old!) college textbooks and decided to finally look into selling these online. After more than a decade of non-use, I figured it was safe to say that I was never going to read these books again. So, I went online and did some Googling to find the best place to sell back the books. I came across this blog post by Campus Grotto, with a comparison of sell-back prices from the 12 highest paying sites.
TextbooksRUs really stood out, but being the control-freak that I am, I did my own little comparison among the top three sites listed. And once again, TextbooksRUS turned out to have the top buy-back price on all 17 of my books. I was sold. Well, my books sold, in point of fact. To the tune of almost $40. For a dusty box of decade-old books! Woohoo!
Do you want to earn some cash to line your pockets this holiday season (or, if you are the disciplined-type, to apply to your textbook bill next semester)? You, too, can do what I did! Just gather up your old textbooks to get started.
First, I went to TextbooksRUs and set up an online account. It took me less than 2 minutes. I plugged in my name, address and phone number and selected my preferred method of payment. I wanted a check in the mail, but you can also select payment via Paypal.
Then I uploaded the ISBN number of each of the books. This is the numerical code found on the back of the book. The computer quickly found my book title and asked me to confirm. Once I did, a pop-up screen displayed the value of each of the books — from less than a dollar to just over $5. It wasn’t a ton per book, but altogether, it added up nicely. A few of my books weren’t being accepted for sell-back at this time. I checked the other sell-back sites, and they also didn’t want them. So I uploaded the rejects to my paperback swap account (another great resource any avid reader needs to know about!)
When I finished uploading all the ISBN numbers and approved my lot of books, TextbooksRUs prompted me to print a free mailing label, which I affixed to the box of books I had wrapped up. I dropped it off the next day at UPS (or was it FedEX?). Within 48 hours, I had confirmation that TextbooksRUs had received my books and was processing them. Less than an hour later, another email came through — all the books would be accepted. (If your books are in poor condition, including highlighting and note-taking — which a few of mine were — you can not sell them back.)
Just three days later, I got my check in the mail! Hooray for great customer service, super fast payment and an incredibly user-friendly online interface. I was thrilled with TextbooksRUs and would definitely recommend them to any of you.
Want to learn more about textbook savings? Check out my post with 6 tips for saving money on college books.
Have you used a sell-back service to get rid of your old text books and earn some cash in the process? Which one do you like?
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*TextbooksRUs in no way solicited this post from me. I was just so impressed with the service that I decided to write this review. As a matter of fact, they don’t even know I write this blog!
