I’m always finding great financial tips and tricks from Bob and Linda over at seedtime.com. One of the ways they suggested to get some extra income is to sell your books for cashback.
I recently tried this life hack and wanted to share my experience and what I learned!
Overview
I’ve collected a lot of books from grade-school, college, and my general love of reading!
Last year, I sorted through a lot of things that I had stored at my mom’s place. She wanted to cut down on clutter, understandably.
With the limited amount of space in the apartment my husband and I live in, we knew I should at least get rid of the books I was never going to read again.
Materials (What You Will Need to Sell Your Books for Cashback)
For this life hack, you will need…
- A phone with a camera
- The BookScouter app
- Some empty & sturdy cardboard boxes
- Packing tape
- Access to a printer
- Books that you want to sell!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to use the BookScouter App to sell your used books!
- Download the BookScouter App from your phone’s app store.
- Find your books through their barcode or ISBN #.
- Pick a buyer.
- Complete the transaction through the buyer’s website.
- Package and ship your books!
Step 1: Download the BookScouter App
Go to your phone’s App Store and download the app called BookScouter – sell & buy books. It’s by BOOKSCOUTER LLC.
If you want to use the website instead, you can! I used the app because it was faster.
Step 2: Find your books
When you open the app, make sure you click on the orange SELL button at the top.
You will have to search for each of your books individually.
You can type in the book’s ISBN#, or you can use your phone’s camera to scan the book’s barcode.
Step 3: Pick a buyer
Once the app finds your book, you’ll see a list of companies that want to buy it from you.
The list should be sorted from the highest amount of cashback to the lowest.
Create piles for the books (it’ll help with the packing process)! Group books together that are going to the same buyer.
***TIP: Some of the companies have a minimum book requirement. You have to sell them a certain amount of books to get cashback. Pay attention to the buyers on your lists and see if there’s a buyer that wants a lot of your books (even if they aren’t at the top of the list).
Step 4: Complete the transaction through the buyer’s website
If you click on a buyer, you will be taken to their website. You may have to fill in the book’s information again at the checkout page.
If you want to sell them multiple books, you’ll have the opportunity to put all of them in the cart.
At this stage, the buyer will tell you if they have a minimum book requirement.
***TIPS:
- Make sure that the cart says you’re SELLING, not buying books.
- 1 Box = 1 Transaction, so make sure that you do separate transactions if all the books cannot fit in one box.
Step 5: Package and ship your books!
Once you finish the transaction, you’ll get a packing slip to print. Print the page, then follow the instructions on it.
More Tips!
There are a few things you should know about this process.
- The prices that you see on the app can change at any moment.
- The prices on the app may or may not be the price you’ll see on the buyer’s website (it usually was for me).
- If no one wants to buy your book now, they may want to buy it later (so wait a few weeks/months and check the app again).
- Textbooks and boxed sets got us the most cash back.
- Make sure you pay attention to the buyer’s rules. One that stood out to me was that the books have to be in a certain condition to receive cashback (no missing pages/water stains/broken spines/etc.).
Conclusion
My husband and I didn’t make a whole lot of money selling our books for cashback, but it was still a great experience! I’d do it again!
