What's the best way to get rid of a lot of books?

Question

I have boxes of books that I have saved for the day when I could move into a house with lots of room for them, but here I am still living in a small apartment and hardly able to move for all these boxes. The boxes are heavy! I don't want to just give them away, because now we are in the tech age and probably they will become valuable (one day everything will be on disks, I suspect). But since I don't know when I'll get that house, should I give away a potential fortune anyway?

Answer 1

Collectors look for first editions in immaculate condition. Go through your collection, you can sell them to a second hand book store for very little money, call your local library for possible donation, the Good Will may be another option. Invest in a solid retirement fund. I doubt you have a potential fortune. You could have your books appraised, but you might be disappointed. Relieving yourself of clutter will free the energy flow in your space and be freeing you of an unnecessary burden. Start this year fresh and may you be blessed with friends and family that are more precious than old books.

Answer 2

you can donate them to a library but i used to work at a library and most don't make it into the collection.

i would sell them individually on ebay if you think they are worth anything. paperbacks are never worth anything monetarily. after working in a library i can tell you some books are worth money -- first editions signed by noted authors in good condition, anything over 150 yrs old, and not much else. we used to throw out books that were 100 years old because the paper was bad. when they started using paper to print books instead of rag the books were printed in larger number and don't keep well so in the garbage they go. its sad but true. if anything technology is devaluing a book in print form. once the book has been reduced to cd format or smaller there is no use for the bulk of a crumbly book.

Answer 3

Depending on the books. Are they old? Are they first editions? Are they hardback? Are they low in print? Go to your library and read up on this, or find a collector, or antique store. If you do give them away, I'm sure your Library will be more then happy to get them, and you'll also be able to go back and read them again. Might even be a tax break in there somewhere.

Answer 4

It is unlikely that any of your books will be worth much in our lifetime. That is, nless there's something special about them such as an author autograph or it being a first edition.

Maybe you can get a small storage unit for them...I did that with a lot of my stuff when I had to get out of my studio.

Or, maybe you can sell them on ebay (especially if you have a set or series) or elsewhere. Collage/mixed media artists also look for used books.

Answer 5

Yes! Give them to a local library where other people can learn from it. The are million copies of every published book somewhere so i don't' think they can be worth that much in the future unless books get outlawed or something.

Answer 6

Try selling them on e-bay or take them to your local used book store, most will give you a portion of the cover price. But Sort them into categories if you are going to do either, you will get more for them.

Answer 7

Just part with it, K? Get a dolly, load them up and give them to a local library for their annual book sale. It's not worth the wait :).

Answer 8

Put up an ad on ebay.com or craiglist.com for your whole collection and require the buyer to come pick them up themselves. Or, try going to a used-book bookstore. Most big cities have them. Where I live, there's a half-price books that pays people money for their old, used books.

Answer 9

Select the latest edition and collect this type others donate to the school libraries for reference

Answer 10

Donate them to your local library. They have book sales all the time and you can write it off on your taxes.