Amazon.com Textbook Buyback Program
I noticed that Amazon.com has started up their own Textbook Buyback Program
Just type in your ISBN numbers into the BigWords.com comparison engine and see what they’ll offer you. Amazon seems to have the same buyback system, where you print out a pre-paid mailing label, send it back, and get paid. The main differences are that they offer free UPS shipping (some places only offer USPS Media Mail), and they only pay you back in Amazon.com gift certificates and not cash.
Oh, and you can also sell back video games and movies. I see that they will actually offer me $1.50 for my copy of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo! Suckers…
Find more in Frugal Living | 5/14/10, 12:56am | Trackback
May 14th, 2010 at 4:12 am
Or you can just simply sell your book directly to another person on amazon and I’m guessing get more money (and real cash). It’s not really that hard to sell on Amazon and there is no listing fee or limited period like on ebay.
May 14th, 2010 at 7:15 am
Thanks, Jonathan! Just got rid of five textbooks and am waiting for Amazon to send me a credit for $83.02. Not bad for about fifteen minutes of work researching trade-in value, packing it up, and taking it to the post office.
May 14th, 2010 at 7:45 am
I did the Amazon buy-back for my textbooks this week because it was super easy, no time involved, and they seemed to offer a higher price than what I could get on Half.com/eBay. It was double or triple what Textbooks.com would offer me for my books. I usually buy my books through Amazon anyway for school, so the credit will go to good use.
The only drawback is that one book I sent in was too damaged and they won’t give me anything for it. Part of the terms says they won’t mail back a damaged book, but part says they will return incorrect items, so I’m not sure if I get the book back or not. It’s still in decent shape so I can probably still sell it online directly.
May 15th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, so when you say “ISBN number,” well, I’ll leave it at that.
Also, I’m a little leery about their terms where they keep your book if it’s too badly damaged or the wrong item. Where do you draw the line between good and acceptable? And I could see it being very easy to send in the wrong item, what with all the different used book re-sellers slapping on their very own UPC stickers.
June 26th, 2010 at 8:12 am
I’m curious, Laura, if you ever got your book back. I have highlighted in a couple books and don’t know how much is too much. I don’t mind sending for them to check but don’t want to just lose the book totally if they reject it.
August 2nd, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Hey, you might consider RentScouter.com – I have been using them to figure out if buying or renting my next textbook is cheaper, and they help me find the best price when selling a book, CD, DVD, or even video game – Amazon included.
December 31st, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Can books being sold back to Amazon be highlighted or do are they rejected if they are highlighted?
January 15th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Does this work for Canadian residents? Or do you have to be residing in the United States to sell your textbooks to Amazon.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Shirley, I just had an online chat with Amazon’s customer service and NO, they will not accept books that have been highlighted.
June 13th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
I was wondering how long it takes to get the gift card sell back $$ from amazon once you mail out your books.
July 7th, 2011 at 12:22 am
A little over a year ago I sent Amazon my books that were in very good condition and should have brought me a $133.00 gift card. It took 3 months before they even admitted that they had received them. To this day, I still have not received anything for them. And have never been told why not. Because of the run around I was getting, I did a little research, and discovered that there are ALOT of people who have been ripped off by this company! BEWARE!
December 13th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
In January 2011 I sent in 5 textbooks for trade in. One was deemed damaged and returned to me, one was processed and the value applied towards my account, while the other 3 became expired. Customer service has no explanation as to why 3 of my textbooks vanished without being returned or myself being credited. After a short chat with customer service they credited my account for the “lost” items, and i am currently trading in more text books through amazon’s service.