What To Do With The Books~Post From The Past

I’m a book loving homeschool mom.

This is not good for my house. I find books at the thrift store and they pile up like crazy. My “to read” pile is always so huge, I feel like I’ll never get to it.

When I’m done with books, or cleaning out books here’s what I do.

1. Check eBay.

A lot of times the books I have aren’t selling for much on eBay.

Most of the time I feel that eBay is a better place to get a deal on books than to make a profit on selling books. I’m talking about normal paperbacks and older books–not collectibles or highly sought after books.

I often list homeschool books on eBay though because there seems to be a decent market for them there.

2. Check Half.com

If there are 100 books listed for .75 on Half, I don’t bother listing mine!

3. Check Amazon

Sometimes, I’m pretty pleased with the amount used books are selling for on Amazon and I list it there. Listing on Amazon is very quick and easy. Amazon deposits your commission in your checking account pretty quickly too. Ditto with the 100’s of books at .01.

4. Paperback Swap

Paperback Swap isn’t a way to make money but it’s a great way to move books that aren’t worth selling and replace them with books you want!

Here’s a basic “how it works”.

*You sign up for free–this is my link. If you sign up and list 10 books, I will get 1 credit that’s all.

*List 10 books–books can be paperback, hardcover, children’s books, easy readers, etc. They cannot have water damage, be written in, or be advanced reader copies.

Listing is REALLY easy. You just enter ISBN numbers.

*When a member wants a book you have, you pay to ship it to them by Media Mail. When they receive it, they tell Paperback Swap and you get 1 credit to spend.

*When you want a book, you use your credits and request books and that member pays to ship it to you.

Paperback Swap has helped me find tons of books for school and other books that I’m interested in reading. Give it a try, if you love books you’ll love it too. Recently, I reviewed a book for my personal blog. I discovered that it was a series so I went to Paperback Swap and found the other 3 books. Thankfully, I had enough credits, so I ordered them all and they’re already here waiting for me to get busy reading!
5. Check Etsy too

On Etsy, you may be able to sell vintage books. I’ve seen people sell, “Instant Collection” type of listings with vintage books. Check out that link for clarification of this idea.

Another great thing to do with cool vintage books is to take an exacto knife to it and sell the pages to people looking for paper for their projects.

I’ve sold pages from French books, hymn books, ledger paper, children’s dictionary pages, etc. I’ve listed some other vintage pages lately. If you don’t think the vintage book will sell and the pages are interesting, consider selling pages for collage or paper ephemera.

One of my customers sent me these photos of her wedding and my French book pages!

Good luck with the books!

Thriftstore Item To Look For~Academic Regalia

I discovered the market for Masters and Doctorate gowns quite by accident. I had a couple for sale on the costume rack in my children’s consignment store.

They didn’t sell, so I listed them on eBay…wow! They each sold in the vicinity of $50.

A friend of mine is a university professor and she said that professors often look for used academic regalia because they have to wear it every graduation. I never thought of that but I’m glad I found out.

Now, every time I see a Masters or Doctorate gown, I grab them. I don’t find them all the time, but I do on occasion. I usually find them in the costumes but sometimes they are in the uniform section.

I typically pay $3 or less, although I would probably be willing to pay more for a doctorate gown.

They may or may not come with a mortar board, but they will sell without one.

Here’s a completed search of Master’s gowns

And a completed search of Doctorate gowns

How to tell which is which:

Doctorate gowns are easy. They have velvet bars on the sleeves. This photo on Wikipedia shows a group of doctoral graduates. The black gowns on the right side are the only ones I’ve seen. I think if you found any color doctorate gown it would be a good buy.

(Doctorate gown–my husband’s being a good sport and modeling for me)

Masters gowns are also easy to spot. They have long sleeves that extend far below the hand. It’s squared off and extends forward.

(Master’s Sleeves)

This page on academic regalia provides some good information. This site sells gowns--check out their photos to learn what to look for.

Considerations:

1. Check both the uniform and costume section.

2. Don’t invest in high school graduation gowns.

3. Look for velvet on the sleeves or long sleeves. It’s usually obvious when you look at the rack which gowns are Masters gowns by the long sleeves.

4. Typically, you will find black academic regalia, so skip over all the bright colored gowns and check the black gowns.

5. Timing is important. The selling price is typically higher in the early spring awhile before graduations begin.

6. They often have a label inside telling the company and size. If they don’t just measure the chest (from armpit to armpit and then double) and measure from the shoulder to the hem. Use this information in the keywords and description.

Key Words:

Master, Masters, Master’s, academic regalia, gown, Doctorate, graduation,

You’ll hear “Pomp & Circumstance” every time you sell one!

Item to Sell on eBay: Peruvian Connection

Here’s a fabulous brand to sell on eBay:  Peruvian Connection.

Every time I have an item from this brand, it sells right away.  This skirt sold for $40 within 24 hours of listing it!

Childhood Favorites

I have fun finding old childhood favorites while I’m out thrifting.

Some things I see may not be worth buying to resell but they’re fun to remember.

Sometimes I see things that I loved or that my siblings loved and show my son–he thinks I’m crazy to be ooing and ahhing over toys that look old and worn out in his eyes.

The one thing I never got and always wanted was the Strawberry Shortcake doll that blew strawberry scented kisses. Recently, I did see her in all her vintage glory at the thrift store and her kisses still smelled like strawberries.

I decided not to buy her. I don’t really collect dolls anymore and have nowhere to put her but it was fun to see her again!

What about you? Do you see old childhood favorites while you’re thrifting? How about the one toy you always wanted and never got?

Leave us a comment so we can all be nostalgic today.

Online Selling Tip of the Week

Spring cleaning your house is an excellent way to find new eBay inventory without spending any money.

I’m constantly on the lookout for new sources of inventory and fresh items to sell in my store.

Right now, I’m getting ready to have a yard sale, so I’m cleaning my house from top to bottom, finding items for the yard sale, and finding plenty for eBay too.

This week, I cleaned out my jewelry box, and found several sterling silver (.925) items in my jewelry box that I’ve never worn, or worn one time.  They went in my eBay pile, and one of them sold the very next day

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