Although it sells a huge variety of products, Amazon is well-known as the go-to e-commerce store to purchase a variety of new and used books and textbooks at highly affordable prices.
If you have some books/textbooks lying around your house that you no longer use, you may be wondering if Amazon will buy books and textbooks from you? Here is what I’ve found out about this!
Key Takeaways
Does Amazon Buy Books & Textbooks In 2022?
Unfortunately, Amazon no longer buys books or textbooks directly as of 2022. It used to have a textbook buyback program, but this was shut down in April 2020. Customers can try selling books/textbooks on Amazon Marketplace by signing up as a seller or using a third-party platform outside of Amazon.
If you want to learn more about how to sell old books and textbooks through Amazon, whether Amazon has a textbook trade-in, and much more, keep on reading!
Does Amazon Have Textbook Trade-In?
Amazon used to have a dedicated textbook buyback program where you could enter the book’s ISBN, confirm the condition, and ship it back to receive a competitive price based on demand and quality.
This standalone service was popular with students everywhere who could rely on it to make at least some of their money back after paying for pricey textbooks every semester.
Unfortunately, Amazon quietly ended this program in 2020, most likely due to the shift from students buying their textbooks to renting them, as well as the risk of counterfeit books.
While there is no longer a specific platform for trading in textbooks, there are still a few (slightly less straightforward) ways to do so on Amazon.
How Can You Sell Textbooks On Amazon?
The first possibility for selling textbooks on Amazon is through the trade-in program for electronics and other goods.
However, there is a caveat for using this option: Amazon regularly updates items available for trade-in, and most books aren’t on the list.
Regardless of that, it’s certainly worth checking on the Amazon trade-in page and giving it a try.
Alternatively, the best way to sell textbooks on Amazon in 2022 is through an Amazon seller account.
It’s simple to sign up to join Amazon’s third-party marketplace, where you can sell books as new or used products.
Note that it works the same way as if you were a small business with a wide inventory of products, except in your case you may be starting out with just a few books.
Keep in mind that you can choose to sell as an individual or professional, and ship directly to customers or send the textbooks via an Amazon fulfillment center.
You just need to have personal identity information, banking details, and the book’s ISBN and SKU number to complete the sign-up process and make your book listings live.
Additionally, if you don’t go down the Amazon route, you can also list your books/textbooks on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or any other online selling platform.
Should You Sell Textbooks Online?
Textbooks are an expensive investment, with the average U.S. student paying $1,200 in yearly textbook costs.
Because of this, it makes sense to sell textbooks and other reading materials that would otherwise sit around collecting dust once you are done with them.
Additionally, if you have older editions or niche/rare titles, you may actually be in better luck as students could be looking for them but unable to find these selections in their university store.
While there are other third-party sites for selling textbooks as well, none get as much traffic as Amazon.
The e-commerce leader has a comprehensive listing of textbooks and novels, with thousands regularly updated to choose from.
This makes it easy to see similar listings and decide on a price that matches the demand and quality of your books.
Along with that, you have your choice of fulfillment by merchant or Amazon, so you can either handle all the storage and shipping yourself or pay a fee to Amazon to take care of it for you.
Note that selling textbooks via Amazon fulfillment also makes your books eligible for free two-day shipping through Amazon Prime, which could attract more customers.
The total price is determined via the item’s weight, and the fee covers pick up, packing, shipping, customer service, and potential product returns.
These fees to Amazon are often worth it, especially for sellers who don’t want the hassle and may have more books to sell in the future.
To learn more about shopping on Amazon, you can see our related posts on if Amazon Prime includes books, if Amazon Prime includes Audible, and how to return an Amazon gift without the giver knowing.
Conclusion
Amazon’s textbook buyback program was shuttered in 2020 without official explanation, although it’s presumed to be due to rental trends and problems with counterfeit books.
Now, instead of using a quick trade-in program to get paid for books that are in good condition, you can sell these materials under an Amazon seller account.
You need to sign up and list the new or used books as products on Amazon Marketplace, which you can then sell directly or use Amazon Fulfillment to process sales.
While many students can make up some money with this platform, if you prefer to sell books off of Amazon, there are a range of third-party textbook selling sites you can try.
Just remember that Amazon gets extremely high traffic, upwards of 200 million unique visitors a month, meaning there are more eyes on your textbook listings.