A few weekends ago, I decided it was finally time to tackle the bookshelves. What I thought would be a quick tidy-up soon turned into a proper trip down memory lane.
There were my old Uni textbooks, a much-loved (OK, dog-eared) copy of The Hobbit that had clearly seen better days, Thai recipe books I’d convinced myself I’d use one day, and sadly a few novels that I’d abandoned after the first couple of chapters. Like most people, I’d held onto them for years simply because it felt wrong to throw books away.
The trouble was, I was moving in with a friend, they were taking up space,and I knew plenty of them could still be useful to someone else.
That’s when I started looking into ways to sell my books. After a quick google, I came across the WeBuyBooks App, where you can scan the barcode on each book to get an instant valuation, then send everything off (with free postage!) if you decide to accept the offer. It turned out to be a much easier process than I expected, especially compared with listing every book individually online.
One Shelf at a Time Works Best
If I learned one thing from my first attempt, it’s this: don’t empty every bookshelf at once.
I made that mistake, and within half an hour there were books covering the floor, the dining table and even half the sofa. It felt far more overwhelming than it needed to, so halfway through I took a different tack.
With the benefit of hindsight, I’d suggest tackling one shelf at a time and sort everything into three piles:
- Books I’ll genuinely read again (put them back on the shelf)
- Books that are in good enough condition to sell/donate (scan these with the App)
- Books that are too damaged (regrettably, put in the recycling)
When I swapped to this method I felt it was more manageable, and helped me make decisions much more quickly.
Before I scanned anything, I had a quick look through each book. Water damage, missing pages or lots of notes in Uni books usually mean it won’t be accepted, so there’s no point adding it to the selling pile.
Then I got to the fun part of scanning with the App and seeing what they were worth. One surprise was how much more valuable some of my non-fiction books were than I’d expected. Textbooks, cookbooks and hobby books appear to hold their value much better than fiction.
Scanning Books Is Much Faster Than Typing ISBNs
I don’t have the patience to type ISBN numbers one after another, so using a barcode scanner on my phone made the whole process much quicker.
With WeBuyBooks, I simply scanned each barcode and immediately found out whether they wanted the book and how much they were offering. If a book wasn’t accepted, it went straight into my donation or recycling pile, so there was no second guessing.
Not every book is worth selling, of course. As much as I loved them, I know from the queue at the bookshop at midnight that millions of my wizard-based fiction were printed! They only receive a small offer because there are already so many copies available. That’s just the reality of the second-hand book market.
For rarer or collectible books, I still think it’s worth checking specialist marketplaces first. You might make more money that way. Personally, though, I didn’t want the hassle of photographing every book, writing descriptions, answering messages and a dozen trips to the post office. For me, convenience won.
Packing Everything Properly
Before packing the box, I gave every book one last check. I wiped a few dusty covers with a dry cloth before packing everything into a sturdy cardboard box. I found an old train ticket (to Brighton), a postcard card (from Edinburgh) and even an actual bookmark tucked inside one novel that I’d completely forgotten about.
Hardbacks went at the bottom, lighter paperbacks on top, and I filled the empty space with screwed up paper to stop the books moving around.
Books That Didn’t Sell Still Had Somewhere to Go
One thing I liked about sorting everything first was that nothing ended up in the bin unless it genuinely couldn’t be reused.
Several books went to a charity bookshelf in my local supermarket, while a few children’s books were passed on to friends with younger families. I’ve also seen schools, community book swaps and care homes welcome good-quality donations, although it’s always worth checking before turning up with several boxes.
Just because a resale company doesn’t need a particular title doesn’t mean nobody else will.
Only the Damaged Ones Were Recycled
The only books I recycled were the ones that were damaged; or should I say much-loved?
A couple of them had damp marks on them. Others had several loose pages with a few missing pages or damaged covers that made them unsuitable for reading.
Looking back, I wish I’d tackled my bookshelves sooner.
I ended up with more space, earned a bit of extra cash and, perhaps most importantly, knew that most of my old books would get the chance to be read again instead of sitting forgotten on my shelves. That’s a much better ending than sending them to landfill.
And my dog-eared copy of The Hobbit? Well, it still gives me joy, so it’s on my new shelf!
