From filling out 12 nonfiction book ISBNs on this site, cash 4 books, they only accepted one of the books I entered, for a cash price of $1.51.

It's an easy site to use (just fill in ISBNs), and they tell you right away what they are buying and not buying.

Other book selling options are at used book stores, on craigslist, amazon, ebay, and paperbackbookswap.com (where you don't get money, but you do get credits).

I'm going to try some fiction titles at cash4books next and see what I get.

Do you sell your books? Give them away? Keep them forever?

I'm going to pick a random used book right now, and track it, to see where I can get the most cash for it.

The book is: Creating Visual Experences with Flex 3.0. Published in 2009. ISBN: 9780321545374. It's in great shape. The retail price is $55 new.

Starting at Cash4books: they don't want it.

Next, I will check at Amazon: Used ones are selling for around a dollar (plus $4 shipping) and Amazon gets a cut of that.

eBay: These are selling for Like New condition for around $40-$60 with Buy It Now. Looking at Completed Listings, none of them seem to have sold, not even those listed at $6 or $10.

Craiglist: People usually sell individual books like this fr between $1-5.

Used bookstores: I'd be lucky to get a dollar or two in CREDIT.

Garage Sales: Under $1, maybe a high of a couple of bucks, since it is in great shape. In a ritzy neighborhood, I might be able to sell it for $5...or it might sit there untouched, in which case 50 cents is better than nothing.

It seems like eBay is the way to go with this book, although it doesn't seem to be selling at the moment. If I had an ongoing item selling business on ebay, it would be worth my time to list this and wait for a buyer.

As it is, I don't want to make an ebay listing right now since I will be traveling. If I wait, I'll probably never get to it, since I have hundreds of books I want to unload besides just the one. Also, a book of this type will become obsolete the longer I wait.

I am not having a garage sale anytime soon, and I don't want to mess with the marketplace on Amazon for the same reasons as with ebay. The best options for me are:

1. craigslist (this one might take some time, who knows)
or
2. bring it to a used bookstore (instant gratification, even if just for credit).

What would you do?

OK, another place to sell books: Half.com. (owned by ebay for selling media items).

Like New condition books are around $12 - $60, while Very Good books sell for around a dollar. That is a huge price difference between what seems small variations of book quality.

I just noticed that Swagbucks has a book buy back program. I will look into it and report!

Jilly,
I have a closet full of books. This was before I started reading all my books on my ipad (ebooks). Since I love to read and I love books I am in the category of keeping books forever.

If you're looking for place to sell books quick and easy see my article Sell Old Books for Quick Cash.

I've compiled a list of 21 sites that will make an offer and buy books outright.

Also not mentioned, Amazon have a cash back program. You can advertise your book on Amazon and wait for a sale, or you can sell it directly to Amazon for instant cash or a credit in your account. this is particularly useful if you have a pile of books, then you send one shipment and the books are gone.

I used to keep books but now I'm moving toward digital and using the library.

Nearly all of my wonderful books were donated to teachers and libraries. I shared and gave away to individuals, too.

The ones I do keep are special to me in one way or another.

However, I went through a book selling kick. If you're into buying and reselling books, be sure to look on Amazon for books wanted. I happened across some really great historical books at garage sales and made huge profits. I bought them for .25 cents and sold them for $35. But this was luck mostly. It was fun for a while. It would be a fun little hobby, but I have too many already.