Spring is here, and I always get the urge to clean up the clutter this time of year. Last weekend I went through my bookshelves and culled ruthlessly, paring it back until I had enough shelf space that - gasp - every book actually fit on the shelf in the way in which it was intended.
Now what, I wondered, looking at the huge stack of culled books.
We have talked about the possibilities before. I mentioned giving them away, selling them to used bookstores, donating them to thrift stores, and giving them away through a service like BookCrossing. In the comments, Richard H. suggested donating books to your local library, and that's what I chose to do this time.
Inevitably, the very next day I stumbled across an interesting feature at Amazon: "Sell us this book for an Amazon gift card." If you have a book that is a hot seller at Amazon, they will buy it back from you directly. You get a gift card, not cash. (But isn't an Amazon gift card basically cash these days?) Better still, Amazon pays for the shipping. All you have to do is print out the label, mail in your book, and wait.
On the down side, not all books are eligible. And the prices are not very good. I found two books on my shelves that Amazon wants. Both are expensive knitting books with high production values. Amazon is willing to give me $2 for each title, which comes out to about 10 percent of the cover price.
Is $2 worth your time to find the books on their site, and go through the hassle of mailing them in? Probably not. But if you have a particularly high-demand book, Amazon may offer you enough money to make it worth your while.
Use caution, though. I happen to know that Alice Starmore's out of print knitting book Stillmore is a hot item. And indeed, Amazon is willing to buy it from you for $5.50. However, the book sells on Amazon Marketplace for $89-$267, depending on the condition!
Image courtesy Flickr/Super Funny Librarian
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