This post may contain affiliate links, these are shown with a *. If you click on the link I may get a small referral commission, this does not affect the price you pay.
Books will never go away, regardless of the technologies available to us to read thousands of books on our mobile device and as such unless you are someone that keeps them indefinitely in your vast library you are going to want to either pass them on once you’ve finished with them or sell them to enable you to buy more books.
You could sell them on various classified ads websites but listing them doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you’ll sell them.
The alternative is to use an app that enables you to get a price for a book allowing you to decide whether to sell to them or another app.
Are people still buying books?
There has been a steady decline in book sales between 2009 – 2020, when in 2009 there were 330 million books sold, with a sharp drop in 2012, which continued until 2020 when sales started to increase again.
The reason for this can be attributed to the increase in digital books and people’s increased interest in audiobooks.
While there is a decline, the information shows that there are still the purists out there that still like the feel of a page-turning or the smell of a new book.
Apps for selling books
When using any of the apps listed below, you’ll find that they generally work on the same principle, in that you use your phone’s camera to scan the barcode or type in the ISBN and you will then be given a price for that book.
The apps will require you to have obtained a minimum selling value before you can benefit send them your books to receive your money.
1. WeBuyBooks
Require a minimum selling value of £15 and will pay you by bank transfer, PayPal or cheque, they also offer free postage. They have over 11k reviews on Trustpilot with a rating of 4.6
2. Ziffit
Ziffit has a minimum order value of £5 or a minimum of 10 items.
If your parcel weighs under 5kg, which I assume they would unless you have some rather large tomes you’re looking to get rid of you’ll be able to use their Collect+ drop off option.
They currently have over 21k reviews on Trustpilot with a rating of 4.5.
3. Zapper
Zapper’s minimum selling value is £10, again with free postage and packaging using Collect+.
As of writing, they have a Trustpilot rating of 4.3, with the lowest number of people reviewing their service, at just under 3k.
What to consider before selling books via an app
Condition
The price that you are given makes a number of assumptions about the condition of the books that you are selling and if any of those assumptions aren’t met when the company receives a book there is a likelihood that you will not get paid.
These companies will have condition guidelines on the kind of books that they will accept and won’t, but these are pretty self-explanatory in that all of them expect books to be in good condition meaning it contains all its pages, isn’t damaged in any way and that includes worn or badly bent pages or any accompanying peripherals must also be included with the book
How you evaluate which app is best depends on a number of factors, including the company’s minimum selling value, the cost of postage and how much you will actually get for the books that you’re selling.
Your money is not guaranteed
Even if you believe that your books are in a good condition, these companies will make their own evaluation of the book and it might be that they decide that the book isn’t in fact worth what was quoted on the app or website.
The price you are given is time limited
Don’t get a price for your books and sit on it.
These companies will honour the price they’ve quoted for around 28 to 30 days.
Accepting an offer
Once you have accepted a price for your books you will have a finite time to send the books to the company, usually 7 days.
Are there any books that are worth more than others?
First editions, limited print runs and books can all fetch more than a book that you can get off the shelf and it’s likely that if you have any of these ready to sell you’re unlikely to use an app rather than going to a professional to get it valued.
As a guide, it might be worth doing your research before you consider selling your book.
A place that you can do this is Biblo Book Value where you enter a few details and it shows you the price that book is selling for elsewhere.
I did a quick search for Harry Potter and found that a first edition of the Philosopher’s Stone was selling for £259,175.00.
What to do with unwanted books
After doing a comparison of these books, you might decide that what you get isn’t worth the effort, but instead of having them just go to waste there are a number of other options available.
Give them to charity
Donate them to a local school
Sell them on eBay
On a local marketplace
Conclusion
So which of these apps is best for selling books?
Unfortunately, it isn’t that straightforward. You’ll see that they are much of a muchness in relation to how you obtain the price of the time and how you send them to the companies.
You’ll have to decide which one is best for your particular situation at that time.
If you don’t have a lot of books to sell, then you won’t benefit from using an app like We Buy Books with their minimum order value of £25, even if they might offer the best price for your book at the time.
Leave a Reply