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Shipping The Textbooks You Sell Online

A little over a decade ago, many students would buy the textbooks they need for college or university, and then at the end of the quarter (semester, if the campus is on a semester system), they would sell their textbooks to their college bookstore. Many college campus bookstores used to have “Textbook Buyback” at the end of each quarter or semester. Nowadays, most bookstores still do a Book Buyback; this is a good and convenient. However, with the advent of the web, there is a new way to sell college textbooks that is also convenient and good, and that is to sell textbooks online. Selling textbooks online has been going on for approximately one decade, take or leave a few years. Maybe even longer, maybe using a 9600 baud modem the size of a book.

Back then, many college textbooks didn’t cost as much as they do today, and certainly most of the Textbook Buyback Prices have gone up over the years as well. Usually, textbooks change editions every few years, but this one book I saw hadn’t changed editions since around 1970, and the buyback price was actually more than the original price sticker still inside the front cover of the book. Isn’t that cool, or what? Anyway, with buyback prices increasing over the years, that means that if you have chosen to sell your textbooks over the internet, a box of books could end up being pretty valuable when it‘s filled up with expensive, costly books. And when you ship a box of textbooks that are valuable, you’ll want to be shipping the textbooks you sell online securely.

Shipping the textbooks securely: to ship books securely, you’ll want to consider the following:

• Packing Material. Use good quality packing material, like bubble wrap or padding that has been approved by whatever shipping company you are going to use (e.g. the US Postal Service, etc.), because you’ll want the books to be cushioned and protected during transit so they have less chance receiving wear that textbooks would receive from traveling in a non-cushioned package or container.
• Secure Packaging. If you have small amount of books (like one or two books) that will fit in an envelope sized package, then an approved padded envelope might be a good option, as long as your college books fit properly inside and the package seals well. Sometimes this type of mailing package is called a “mailer.”
• Tape. Tape, tape, and more tape can be a good thing when sealing a package, box, a mailer, or whatever. Obviously you wouldn’t want to use an excessive amount of tape, but you don’t want to use too little of an amount of tape on your textbook container. If you are shipping your new or used college textbooks in a mailer, it would be a good idea to go around the mailer in at least two dimensions — over the front and back (in a top to bottom, vertical direction), and then horizontally over the front and back. That way if the mailer ever pops open, the textbooks won’t be able to fall out if you’ve used an adequate amount of tape. If you are shipping your unwanted used textbooks to an online textbook buyback in a big cardboard box, then you’d want to make sure to use plenty of tape on the top of the box, the bottom of the box, along the seams, and then around the perimeter. Shipping companies usually take great care in handling packages. They don’t want anything to break or fall apart during transit any more than you do. However, on the rare occasion, packages might have a bit of a rough time during transit. If you imagine all the places where a box could split (picture a box in your mind), and then tape all those places you imagined, then the box has less of a chance of splitting in those places than if you don’t use enough tape. One time I imagined books breaking through the sides of a box. And then not too long later, I actually saw a box with its sides broken. So now whenever I tape a box, I go around the outside perimeter in a few circles.
• Common Sense. Only you will have the final say in how well, how appropriately, and how carefully you are going to package the textbooks. Although you might find suggestions here, there, or elsewhere, or on a “how to sell your textbooks” FAQ, you’re the one that’s there, in person, packing the college textbooks to sell online, so you’re the one that has to make sure a good and proper job is done on the packaging. If something doesn’t “look right,” like for example, if you see that your tape is not sticking, or you think the box is too loose, then you have to make corrections. And finally, and most importantly, to make sure you are doing everything right according to the company you are selling your textbooks to and the shipping company you are using, you would want to consult with their rules and suggestions, and when you drop off your box at the shipping place, it doesn‘t hurt to actually ask the clerk, “Excuse me, but does my parcel look like it‘s packaged appropriately?”
• Possible Suggestions. You may wish to consider the suggestions provided by the online textbook buyback company you are using. If the company says “don’t use newspaper for packaging material because the ink rubs off on the books,” but you go ahead and use newspaper, don’t be surprised if your books arrive at the buyback company with ink rubbed on the pages. Imagine a book traveling in a box with newspaper packing, bouncing and shifting, bouncing and shifting for hours and perhaps days in transit. Of course newspaper ink could get on the pages. Some online bookbuyers where student sell textbooks will offer a different, usually higher price if the book arrives in 100% new, pristine condition. If you send a brand new perfect book to that book company, and anticipate a “new” price, and that newspaper ink gets on the pages, well, it’s not going to be pristine any more, and it’s not their fault you didn’t follow their instructions not to use newspaper. One thing I just thought of now (which should go under the “common sense” heading above, is let’s say all you have for packing material is newspaper. I suppose you could be creative and wrap each book in plain (non inked) paper, first, and then when it’s surrounded by newspaper, the ink wouldn’t get on the book, right? I’m not sure, but it’s something to think about.

After you’ve carefully boxed up your textbooks and shipped your books to the online textbook venue, they should receive your books and process them accordingly. However, there is the very rare chance that your shipment could get lost or damaged in transit. The shipping companies and the US Postal Service are usually extremely reliable, and take lots of care with peoples‘ mail. Just look at the millions of parcels they handle, and what a good job they do. But there is that really small chance that something could go wrong. If there was never any chance that anything could ever go wrong, there wouldn’t be such thing as shipping insurance, would there? Sometimes shipping insurance is already provided either by the used book company you’ve chosen to sell textbooks to, and all you have to do is use their shipping label and follow their insurance instructions if they have instructions to follow. Otherwise, if the online textbook buyback company does not offer insurance, and adequate insurance isn’t already built into the shipping method you‘re supposed to use, then you may wish to look into purchasing additional insurance on your college book shipment if you don’t want to take the risk that it will get lost or damaged during transit.

To sell textbooks online to a textbook buyback company can be a really cool alternative to selling your book, textbook, or study materials in person. I don’t think one way is better, worse, or the same as any other way; rather, just knowing that different options exist makes me happy!

About the Author

This article’s author has some thoughts to consider about shipping books when students sell textbooks online to a textbook buyback company like www.booksintocash.com.

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