How to Sell Textbooks on Amazon

Last Updated: May 7, 2020

This wikiHow teaches you how to sell and trade-in a textbook on Amazon. You can either trade-in the textbook to Amazon for their offered amount of gift credits or list the book at your own price. However, if you decide to list the book instead of trading-in, you might get more money.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Trading-In Your Textbook

1
Research the trade-in price you can expect. Click ☰ > Books & Audible > Sell Us Your Books. Then enter the ISBN, title, or author of your textbook to find a listing.
- If you can't find a listing, your textbook is probably not accepted for trade-in by Amazon. You'll need to create your own listing and sell your book as an independent seller.
- Remember, you can only trade-in a textbook to Amazon if it's in good condition. That means there are no marks or writing in the book (no highlighting), it's blemish-free (no significant damage to binding, cover, and pages), and it comes with all its companion items (if the book mentions a companion CD, that CD needs to be with it for Amazon to accept the trade-in).^{[1]
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2
Prepare the textbook for trade-in. Make sure all the companion materials are with your book; gently clean the covers of the book to remove any debris like dirt or scuff marks.

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3
Click Trade in this item. You'll see this when you search for your item at https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Trade-In/b?ie=UTF8&node=9187220011.
4
Click to select Yes or No to answer all the questions. This will rule out if your book is in the condition required to trade-in with Amazon. If you answer "Yes" to questions 2-4 or "No" to question 1, you aren't able to trade-in your book and must list it as an independent seller.
5
Click the box next to "I have verified that the ISBN is correct." After you answer the above questions about the condition of your book, you'll see the ISBN of the listed book appear. Check that it matches the textbook you want to trade-in and click the box to fill it.
- You can usually find the ISBN on the back cover of your book above the black and white bar code that is scanned at the store.
- You will also see the current trade-in value listed in green here.
6
Click Continue and log in. You'll see the "Continue" button at the bottom of the screen once you've checked the ISBN box.
- Log in if prompted.
7
Click Select this address under the appropriate return shipping address. If you have multiple addresses on file, you'll see them all listed here. Select the address that Amazon can use for your shipping label and if your trade-in is not acceptable.
8
Confirm your trade-in. Check your return address, shipping method (usually drop-off at a UPS location), the textbook you are trading-in, and how much you are getting.
- If you want to add another item to your trade-in, you can search the ISBN, title, or author of the book in the search bar under your current trade-in labeled "Search for more items to trade-in." You can only trade-in items up to $1,800 in one order.^{[2]
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Click Confirm Trade-in. You'll be redirected to a confirmation page that your shipping labels are on the way and your trade-in credit will apply once Amazon receives and accepts the textbook(s).
- You can view the status of your trade-in, like whether it's still shipping or accepted at the warehouse, from your trade-in account.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Listing Your Textbook

1
Research how much your book sells for. Click ☰ > Books & Audible > Textbooks, then enter the ISBN, title, or author of your book to see the current listings.
- You'll want to check out the current prices, descriptions, and titles for your own listing.
2
Prepare the textbook for listing. Make sure all the companion materials are with your book (if you have them); gently clean the covers of the book to remove any debris like dirt or scuff marks.
3
Photograph the book. Your listing allows for 6 pictures, so you'll want to make sure you display relevant pictures that will help sell the book.
- Take pictures of any damaged areas so buyers know what they are getting for the money they are paying.
- Use bright, natural lighting instead of low or indoor lighting in front of a simple background for the best pictures. Your textbook can easily get lost in a cluttered background.
- You can photograph or scan key pages as well as any companion material if it helps sell the book.
4
Search for your book. Similar to researching your book before selling it, go to ☰ > Books & Audible > Textbooks, then enter the ISBN, title, or author of your book. Click another textbook in the listing that's similar to yours.
5
Click Sell on Amazon. You'll see this on the left side of the page, under the cover image of the book and its ISBN-13 and ISBN-10.
6
Sign in or create an Amazon Seller account. If you have to create an Amazon Seller account, you may need to verify your identity and some personal information before continuing. For more information, you can read the guide on How to Start Selling on Amazon.
7
Describe your textbook. Since you clicked a similar item to sell with, most of the details for the listing will be generated. You'll be able to describe the condition of your textbook as New - Used/Acceptable.
- New is just like it sounds -- new, unused, probably still in any shrink wrap or the original packaging.
- Used - Like New can apply to any lightly-used book that was hardly touched. For example, if you took off the packaging and thumbed through the pages occasionally, but did not leave any creases or marks, you might have a textbook in New - Like New condition.
- Used - Very Good indicates the textbook might have a few minor cosmetic defects like marks, scuffs, cuts, bends, and wear on the cover, spine, pages, and/or dust cover. The textbook could also be missing its companion bundled media.
- Used - Good indicates that the book is intact (with or without a dust cover), with signs of wear, especially on the spine. There could also be some highlights and marks on the pages as well as a sticker on the cover similar to "From the library of…" The textbook could also be missing its companion bundled media.
- Used - Acceptable indicates the pages may have some highlighting, notes, marks, and/or water damage, but the text should still be readable. The outside of the textbook will show wear, cuts, bends, scuffs, and marks, and the dust cover may be missing.^{[3]
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List your book. After you've followed the on-screen instructions to describe your textbook, you'll see a confirmation page of your listing.
- Once your listing is posted, potential buyers may message you to ask a question. You can access these communications in your Amazon Seller Central dashboard (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/).