Siggy_small
Reputation: 10
Follow 0
Follow 1

Who pays the most for used books?

I have about 20 good titles I'd like to sell. Which of the used bookstores pays the most?

Sigmund Freud asked in Other Books & Writing about 1 year ago | Report

Answer this question or share it with a smart friend:

Avatar_default
Type your answer here…
Latest Greatest

3 Answers

  • Jacket_small

    The answer is--it depends. It depends on what you have, of course, and if you want just cash or store credit.

    I sell lots of books myself. I find the University Book Store gives a pretty good price for used books, and I especially like that I can get store credit (and get slightly more when I opt for that) and spend my money on something new there, if I want (books, gifts, art supplies, etc).

    Then, there are times when I just want to get rid of what I have and Half Price Books seems to take just about everything. I can't say they give the best rate, but sometimes just unloading makes it worth my while.

    I have also heard that Third Place Books gives good trade back money.

    I am interested to hear about other's experiences with this...

    mishalibrarian answered in Other Books & Writing about 1 year ago | Report
    Comment on this answer
    Share this answer with a friend:
  • Dscn0421_small
    Reputation: 1195
    Follow 2

    I've found Twice Sold Tales gives me the most money back on my books, but they are picky and require you to make an appointment to sell. Also, I hear the U-district location is closing (or closed) and the last time I wanted to sell at the Capitol Hill location (~8 months ago) they weren't buying for cash, so this might not be particularly helpful.

    I've heard very good things about Magus in the U-district for selling rare or old books, and the store is great.

    Half Price will often take everything you've got, but the pay out is much lower. I'm also not a fan of the dumpster of (sometimes soaked with a hose?) books in the parking lot.

    Sphinx answered in Other Books & Writing 11 months ago | Report
    Comment on this answer
    Share this answer with a friend:
  • Cateyes_small
    Reputation: 2173
    Follow 2

    I'll second what's below. Typically, when I'm clearing out lots of books, I make two stops:

    1. Third Place Books. They give good value, and they will pay more for high-value titles.

    2. Whatever's left over goes to Half-Price Books.

    I've done this several times, and have felt like I've gotten decent value. Keep in mind that there are a lot of variables that go into pricing books. In my experience, popular books that are less than a couple years out from initial publication get good return, as do titles for a significantly narrower audience but which are still relevant. Books that do NOT get good returns are books that are of little use once they're a few years out of date, like software manuals, which are the albatross of used book stores everywhere.

    MyrnaMinkoff answered in Other Books & Writing about 1 year ago | Report
    Comment on this answer
    Share this answer with a friend: