Books

Books

Books, books, books. One of those things many people seem to acquire. Finding the best place to dispose of them depends very much on the individual book. Amazon, Ebay, Second-hand bookshops, Charity Shops, jumble sales, Freegle, Freecycle, Give-And-Take days, Book reading groups, stalls at fairs all have their part to play. If trying to sell books on Amazon or Ebay, then you should do your homework first. Look and see if it is the kind of book that is likely to sell there before wasting your time and money. Of course if selling on Ebay you don’t necessarily have to do the selling yourself, there are firms who will do that on your behalf (such as Stuff U Sell, and, Auctioning4U); and they can also advise you on whether a given set of items is likely to sell on Ebay.

Amazon works best for books that are either out of print without being too rare (because if they are too rare people probably won’t be looking on Amazon), or popular without too many copies being available second-hand at knockdown prices. As a general rule if the going rate for a given book on Amazon is less than about £1.25 then it is not worth selling there, as this will only just cover the fees charged. Also, be wary if a book is big and heavy, Amazon give you a fixed rate for postage (probably an average), which won’t cover the cost of posting really big heavy books. The other difficulty with Amazon is that sometimes you can wait months to find a buyer. However, listing on Amazon is free, you only pay if you actually sell the book.

If you have a lot of heavy items to give to a charity shop (for example a set of encyclopaedias) then it may be worth asking the charity if they can send someone to collect it specially, Oxfam and The British Heart Foundation are among the charities who may be able to oblige.

When giving books to a Charity Shop it is worth bearing in mind that they must be in a saleable condition, Charity Shops such as Oxfam have to pay to dispose of books that are not in a saleable condition.

When getting rid of books, there is always the matter of considering whether to attempt repair those which are damaged. Professional repairs at a bookbinders tends to be expensive, often more than the monetary value of the book. Basic running repairs using the proper materials are fine if you know what you are doing, and are prepared to spend the time and/or money on them. Bodged repairs using sellotape type materials should only be done on very low value books where the long term condition is not important.

If selling older and possibly collectable books in a shop, do be careful about the use of sticky price labels. Writing the price in pencil on the flyleaf is to be preferred. Sticky price labels can damage the dust jackets (especially of older books), sometimes they can also damage the books themselves. Of course for more general books of little value they are alright, and some books may have coverings that cause them to suffer less damage than others. However, it is a point to be aware of.

Categories

Rare, Antique, and, Collectable Books – Rare books and collectables, especially first editions are probably best sold to an appropriate independent book seller; or possibly on Ebay If they are really rare and antique then you might try a professional auctioneers. But most of us don’t have books that are that rare. However a good number of people have the odd collectable. Collectable Books may include classic children’s series (such as those by Angela Brazil, Enid Blyton, Elinor Brent-Dyer, Richmal Crompton, and, Lorna Hill) especially if in original hardbacks with dust jackets), other collectables include: Collins New Naturalist, Folio Society editions, The Observers series These are best offered initially to a specialist independent bookseller; and then if they do not want them it may be worth trying Ebay, or a more general independent bookseller. For less significant editions, such as paperbacks and more recent reprints of collectable books Amazon is worth a try. It is probably advisable not to try repairing books or their dust jackets in this category (except for the less significant editions), unless you know what you are doing; as poor repairs may devalue the book.

Archive Subjects – Sometimes a book, or collection of books may be of historical interest to a library or an archive, for example The Karl Marx Library could be interested in books on Communism. If donating a book to an archive or library it really is not advisable to try and repair it, unless you know exactly what you are doing. Poor repairs to books can actually do more harm than good. An archive would far rather have a book in it’s damaged unrepaired condition and look into getting it properly repaired, or at least having the basic running repairs done properly by it’s own staff.

Collectable Subjects – Some books while not collectable as books, but may be of interest to collectors of collectables on specific media subjects for example TV programmes, such as: Blue Peter, Dr Who, The Muppets, and, Star Trek. If trying to sell these Ebay is probably the best bet. Amazon may be worth a try too. If however the prices are none to high, or you are in a hurry, then donating them to a well organised charity shop such as Oxfam, or The Red Cross, or The British Heart Foundation is worth considering.

Popular Niche Subjects – For books on particular hobby subjects such as: Classic Cars, Horses, Performing Arts, Railways it may be worth trying a book seller who specialises in those books. For example some branches of the Railway Correspondence And Travel Society will sell railway books (usually from people clearing a relative’s house on a 50/50 basis). Or one might consider donating them to a charity whose work involves that subject, to help it raise funds. For example many Heritage Railways have second-hand books and magazine stalls, which would probably be interested in donations of railway books. The Horse Rangers usually sell a selection of horse and riding related books on their stalls at fairs.

General Purpose Books – For books that either don’t quite fit into the above categories, or if you don’t have the time to try and work out whether they do, it may still be worth trying to sell them on Amazon, or offering them to a local independent bookseller. If taking them to a bookseller, offer them a selection (such as a bag or boxful) to look at, and agree to collect any in that lot that the bookseller does not want to buy from you. Any that are left-over can be given to a charity shop, offered on Freegle, Freecycle, or taken to a Give And Take Day. Bodged repairs with library sellotape are probably ok for books in this category.