Sell College Textbooks Now
Buy them Back Later For Less

I didn’t sell college textbooks from my field of study. I studied Finance in college and kept many of my textbooks thinking I’d need them for future reference. I really didn’t crack them but a couple of times after graduation, but they certainly do look impressive on my bookshelf. If I had it to do over again I would’ve followed a different strategy. Once you understand the life cycle of a textbook, you can leverage it to your advantage for any books you’d like to keep for your bookshelf.

Textbook Time Decay

These days the publishers and authors collaborate to revise a textbook every two to three years. Once the new edition of a textbook hits the shelf, a used copy of that edition is in high demand with limited supply. After the new edition has been out for a term or two, the supply of used textbooks available to the market increases. The market value for the used textbook naturally decreases as supply grows. Once the publisher announces the next edition, the market price for the current edition decreases rapidly.

With the revised edition set for delivery, students who where offered no money when they attempted to sell college textbooks at buyback are now forced to sell online. The online listing for old editions is the equivalent of a textbook graveyard. With great supply and little demand, the prices offered are pennies on the dollar compared to the new edition.

Knowing how quickly the value of a textbook depreciates, if you find that you could sell college textbooks for a decent price, you should recoup that value. For the textbooks you wish to keep, sell them now, but store a record of the ISBN number, author, title and edition. Then, in the middle of each subsequent term check the online market prices for your textbook. Once a new edition hits the shelf you should be able to buy the book back at a rock bottom price!

Leave the sell college textbooks page and return To Sell, or Not?





Free All-About-Textbooks-Advisor service

Are you becoming overwhelmed by all the information being offered here? There's no need to stress yourself trying to retain it all. Allow me to send you the exact instructions at the precise times you need them.
(based on a traditional school year calendar)

For example: You'll get a reminder when you should begin researching next semesters books, links to the tools to do your research, when and how to receive the most money at buy back etc. . . Sign up here: