100 Awesome Sites for Buying, Trading, and Selling All Your Books

By Jill Gordon
Computers and the Internet have transformed the publishing industry and slowed down demand for books. However, the web has also been good news for book lovers, with many terrific sites dedicated to lowering books costs and freeing avid readers from the local library. If you’re an avid reader or serious book collector, here are 100 awesome sites for buying, selling and trading your books.

Sites for Buying Books

Buying books online is a smart way to go. Shoppers can research titles, authors and always find the exact book they want. Check out these great sites before buying your next book online.

1. Amazon: One of the largest online retailers in the world, Amazon got its start selling books and is one of the largest booksellers in the world today.


2. eBay: The online auction house offers great deals on used, new and even rare books.


3. Google Product Search: The Internet’s most powerful search engine is offering a powerful search product tool that makes finding any title easy.


4. Half.com: The little brother of eBay, this site offers books at deeply discounted fixed prices rather than forcing users to bid.


5. Barnes & Noble: The venerable bookseller has kept pace with the modern marketplace becoming a leading online retailer.


6. Books-A-Million: A place to find discounted bestsellers and used titles.


7. Better World Books: Buy used books and help fund literacy projects around the world. To date this site as saved over 25 million books from landfill and raised over $6 million.


8. College Banana: This site lets college students find cheap, discount books for class.


9. The Book Hound: The Book Hound is a great site for finding used books for any kind of reader.


10. Books Price: Compare, shop and save money on textbooks. This great site lets users instantly compare prices from multiple sites.


11. Quality Books: This site helps connect users with independent sellers from around the world


12. Virgin Books: Billionaire mogul Richard Branson’s Virgin line of companies has finally expanded to include books. Search for the latest titles on Virgin Book’s beautiful site.


13. Craigslist: The free online classifieds site is a quick and easy way to find books in your own backyard.


14. eCRATER: This site sells millions of used and new publications from nonfiction to magazines.


15. Valore Books: A cheap, reliable marketplace for student’s to find textbooks.


16. McGraw-Hill Professional: This site from the McGraw-Hill publishing company sells top of the line professional guides and manuals on thousands of topic and industries.


17. Buy.com: Save up to 50 percent on the cost of bestsellers, non-fiction or any title that may interest you.


18. Campus Books: College students can search this great site for over 8 million titles to buy their textbooks online.


19. Cheap Books: An awesome site offering textbooks for any class or major.


20. Powell’s Books: New or used, there’s nothing Powell’s won’t sell. Find the latest bestseller or pick up an out of print classic.

Best Sites for Selling Books

Selling your library online can be quick and easy. Plenty of sites are ready and willing to take those old books. Some are just better than other, however. Here are the best sites to sell your books online.

21. Books Into Cash: A great site offering a tool that checks a book’s value based on ISBN.


22. Blue Rectangle: Sell your books on this site offering free shipping.


23. eCampus: While some sites base their buybacks entirely on ISBN, eCampus considers the book’s condition when deciding a fair price.


24. Cash4Books: Sell your used books in four easy steps.


25. BookByte: A resource for college students to sell their books online. Quick, easy and pay with PayPal.


26. Jitterbook: This highly rated textbook buyer is known for fair valuations and quick payments.


27. Book Scouter: Sell your books to this retailer or compare the value other sites will pay.


28. CKY Books: Get an instant quote for any book from used fiction to old college textbooks. No shipping costs from this reliable dealer make CKY a worthwhile site.


29. Sell Back Books: After selling your books, this site offers a direct deposit option for fast payment.


30. Textbook Buyer: Around since 2001, this online book store purchases college textbooks and even pays for shipping. Search multiple ISBNs for quick quotes.


31. Sell Back Your Book: Search the ISBN, get a quote and print the pre-paid shipping label. A quick, simple and easy way to sell your books online.


32. MyBookBuyer: Sell your old hardcovers, paperbacks and textbooks with this easy to use site.


33. Textbookx: This site offers 20 percent more for your books than other buyback sites. A great way to get more bucks for your books.


34. Swapbooks: Take your pick: sell to the site or sell on your own. Swapbooks offers free listing to help users sell books on their own. For the impatient, the site offers to buy your old books.


35. WeBuyYourBooks: A simple process for selling books online, this retailer offers price matching. If you can get a better quote for your books they’ll match it.


36. Atoncer: A site offering unlimited, free listings for books. Sell at auction or at a fix price.


37. Sell.com: An online classifieds site for random items. The books section is extensive and free to list an unlimited number of books.


38. BigWords: Comparison shop and get the best price for your used college textbooks with this extremely colorful retailer.


39. Buy Sell Old Books: An extremely large online bookstore based in India, this site offers thousands of fiction and non-fiction topics.


40. Campus Grotto: A wonderful resource for college students to sell their books locally.

Best Sites for Trading Books

Any garage sale or flea market is packed with old books somebody doesn’t want. Instead of recycling, donating or selling those paperbacks, trade them in to update your home library. Here are the best sites for swapping books.

41. Paperback Swap: This community trades books among its members.


42. Book Crossing: Several hundred thousand book lovers spread across 130 countries sharing their passion for books by sharing their libraries.


43. Novel Action: Don’t wait around to swap with other members, this clever resource lets you get books by sending in an equal number of books.


44. Bookins: With over 500,000 books to trade and swap, postage is free for sending items but shipping costs are added to receive items.


45. OurSwaps: An online auction, swap and barter site that makes the whole process fun, easy and reliable.


46. Book Mooch: Give books away and earn points that can be redeemed for new books.


47. Monter Trade: A great tool for thrifty college students to trade old textbooks for the ones they need next semester.


48. Title Trader: A site for swapping used books. Site requires users start trading before they can receive anything.


49. Swap Tree: List the items you’re willing to trade, then this site’s algorithm goes to work calculating the trading value of your items. Then swap with other members across the country with pre-paid postage.


50. Text Swap: A free textbook exchange service catering largely to American college students.


51. What’s On My Bookshelf: Book exchanging, trading and swapping, this site links readers based on a point system. The more points you earn by giving books away, the more books you can receive.


52. Read It Swap It: A free service allowing users to exchange books with others.


53. Socialbib: A great ook swapping network between students.


54. Swap Cycle: This textbooks swapping site links English students looking to save some quid.


55. Book Swap: A used textbook classifieds resource, this site links students directly for textbook exchanges.


56. Book-Swap: This trading network gets its members to meet in person to trade and discuss their favorite books.


57. College Book Swap: Trade books with students from around the country. Offers virtually any subject from accounting to zoology.


58. Home School Book Swap: This resource for home schooling, lets parents trade books and other materials.


59. Care To Trade: An online market for trading books or any other unneeded items laying around the house.


60. Swap-Online: An online swap meet where members can exchange old books for new ones.

Best Sites for Buying, Selling and Trading Rare Books

Books become rare for a variety of reasons. Some are first editions while others are out of print cult classics. For the hardcore reader willing to track down hard to find titles, these are the best sites for rare books.

61. Book Finder: A book shopping search engine that helps users locate rare used books.


62. Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America: The largest trade organization representing antiquarian book dealers. Search for the hard to find classic among 300 dealers.


63. Abe Books: This wonderful site is a collector’s dream. Search and buy rare books from independent sellers or established dealers.


64. Biblio.com: An online marketplace for


65. Beagle Books: Buy and sell used and out of print books from users in over 40 countries.


66. Alibris Rare & Collectible: An online network of independent book sellers, Alibris offers one of the largest databases of rare and out of print book on the web.


67. AddALL: Search hundreds of online booksellers for books, textbooks or reference material.


68. Biblion: A British-based site selling used and rare books.


69. Cats Cradle Books: A large online retailer of any kind of rare book from medical reference to poetry anthologies.


70. Bibliomania Books: This antiquarian book based in upstate New York specializes in rare and valuable volumes.

Sites for Publishing and Selling Your Own Work

Many avid readers are frustrated novelists dreaming of the day they finally get published. For the brave and daring few willing to take a chance and publish their own work, head to these great self-publishing sites.

71. 48hr Books: Instant gratification for authors, this publisher offers a range of services such as binding and cover design.


72. Lulu.com: An amazing resource for aspiring authors. Self-publish and even sell your work on this site’s popular marketplace.


73. Book Surge: This publishing service offers a community of writers, readers and top quality editors.


74. Create Space: A wonderful site offering writers tools for self-publication as well as distribution through retailers such as Amazon.


75. Wing Span Press: Take control of your professional destiny with this self-publishing service. Distributes books online and lists works with the Library of Congress.


76. Word Clay: Self-publishing services combined with marketing and distribution makes Word Clay the hopeful author’s best friend.


77. Writing.com: Having an actual published book is nice but in the 21st century, everything is going digital. Publish your next masterpiece online with this comprehensive writing site.


78. iUniverse: A site that allows writers to become published authors, iUniverse gives amateurs access to expertise in marketing, publishing and technology.


79. Self Publishing.com: Offering all services necessary for the independent self-publisher, this resource can help with layout, cover design and marketing.


80. Xlibris: A book publishing guide for authors and print on demand service.

Best Online Libraries and Book Rental Services

The Netflix model of offering an unlimited selection of movies without late fees has proven extremely versatile. Web sites are starting to offer the same service with books, music and even clothes. Here are the best online libraries and book rental services available.

81. Books Free: The best known book rental service on the Web, Books Free has made media rounds from Oprah to CNN. Members pay a flat rate fee and check out books from a list. You only get more books once you return the ones you’ve been given. It works almost exactly like Netflix.


82. Book Swim: The first book rental service available online, Book Swim recommends users keep 15 books in their queue at any given moment.


83. Book Renter: Rather than a Netflix model, BookRenter is more like your local video store. With five flexible rental periods, readers are allowed to go their own pace. No rush.


84. Campus Book Rentals: A rental portal exclusively for textbooks, college students can save hundreds and simply return the books when the semester is over.


85. Chegg: The Web’s leading online textbook rental service, Chegg saves shoppers and students up to 85 percent.


86. Simply Audio Books: No library late fees or tiresome reading, this site offers over 20,000 audio books with convenient, fast delivery.


87. Audio Book Worm: Unlimited rentals, no due dates and thousands of selections, AudioBookworm is a great resource for readers who can’t be bothered to actually read.


88. Paper Spine: One of the web’s best online book rental service, Paper Spine has over 200,000 titles from best sellers to biographies.


89. Books-Clubs:


90. On The Go Books: Free shipping, no late fees and thousands of available audiobooks make this site a must for literary commuters.

Best Social Sites for Book Lovers

Social networks are great places for readers to connect and discuss their favorite books. Some social sites offer incredible organization tools such as virtual bookshelves and lifelong reading lists. Check out these awesome social networking sites for book lovers.

91. Shelfari: Rate books, build virtual book shelves and share reviews. Shelfari is one of the leading networking site for book lovers online and is an all around great for day to day visits.


92. Book Jetty: Create a virtual library and reading list, then connect your information with friends. This great site tells you which friends have the books you want to read next.


93. Good Reads: Finally join a book club, share reviews or find your next favorite book, this network offers an active community of readers and quality discussion forums.


94. Anobii: This network helps readers from around the world discuss their favorite books and current reading material


95. BooksConnect: The social networking portion of a large European book site, BooksConnect allows readers to plan local events, discuss books and even chat with authors.


96. BooksWellRead: An online book journal for reviews, book clubs or general discussions, this great tool helps readers keep track of their thoughts and share them with friends.


97. Library Thing: A great networking tool that lets users catalog their personal libraries and share them with others.


98. Reader 2: Reader 2 (read: Reader Squared) creates a social list of books to help users share reading experiences with one another.


99. Book Sprouts: An online networking tool that allows users to create their own web based book clubs with friends and family.


100. Revish: This networking tool allows amateur reviewers an outlet to share their thoughts with the public… or at least the site’s sizeable community of users.

Traveling Cheap When You’re a Student – Here’s How You Do It

Perhaps the only time in your life that you’re not ashamed to be broke more often than not is when you’re a student. It’s expected of a college student to be poor, to live from day to day, and to scrounge for money to spend on themselves or their friends. As long as you’re not neck deep in debt, it does not matter that you have very little money to spend. But then, when you want to travel and explore the world or your country during breaks and vacations, you need money to do so. And so you save up for a vacation, hoping to travel on a budget and praying that you’re able to do so. Well, you can, and all it takes is a little bit of planning ahead and researching your trip options thoroughly. Here’s how you can travel on a student budget:

* Book your tickets well in advance: The sooner you book air tickets and hotel rooms, the less you have to pay for them. Alternatively, you could consider driving to a location that is not too far away in order to save some money. A group of friends in a car sharing all the expenses is definitely a cheaper way to enjoy your vacation rather than flying to an exotic destination and putting a hole in your pocket by doing so.
* Choose hotels with care: As much as possible, try and find free accommodation, like student hostels or the homes of friends. Some people have vacation homes in popular tourist locations, so ask if you can take advantage of their generosity. If nothing is available, choose budget hotels that include a complimentary breakfast. Check how many of you can cram into a room and minimize the number of rooms you rent. After all, you’re not going to be using your room for anything other than sleeping.
* Carry as much food as you can: Eating out is the costliest part of any vacation, so if you’re planning to stay for just a few days, it makes sense to carry your own food, especially if you’re travelling by car. Use a small microwave or stove to heat soups and other canned food or to toast bread and make some eggs. Brew your own coffee rather than spend exorbitant amounts to buy cups from Starbucks. And carry your own snacks to tide you over a trek or some other sporting expedition.
* Go easy on the booze: Well, this may not work well if you’re a college student and really looking forward to letting your hair down during the break. But if you really want to save some money, don’t drink too much and enjoy your vacation much more because you’re sober.

Discovering your Niche in the World

The Academic world is a tricky place to delve into on your first venture in the career world and it is almost a set track once you are on it, with little hope of leaving.  Most professors I have had in the past have never experienced any other job, but have simply chiseled out their own sector of the academic world.  Once many of them have become comfortable enough in their field, they discover that there is no point in venturing out of this type of circle.  However, for many students entering the Grad school world, this future picture does not seem terribly exciting, albeit “safe”.  It is therefore important to determine what you want to use your new Masters or PhD for if not for the academic world.

Depending on your specific field of interest, there are a multitude of routes you can take in establishing yourself as an expert in your own realm.  However, it is important that you do the proper research before diving into a six year commitment after which you are still unsure what to do with your advanced degree and student loan debt.  Therefore, once you decide that you want to pursue something like an art history PhD in order to work in an art museum, or a psychology PhD to become a psychologist, you will begin to excite yourself with that prospect.  However, if you want to simply obtain a PhD in English with no real hopes or plans for the future then you might end up teaching in the university where you get your degree.  While this may work for many students who can see themselves within the academic circle for years to come, many students are ready to leave school by the end of college, even more so by the end of a six year degree.

Many liberal arts degrees can be applicable for a myriad of jobs around the business world, and an advanced degree makes you that much more attractive as a candidate for a job.  However, it is important that you not neglect your resume during your years in college, and be sure to take an internship which can help you determine what you want to delve into as well as give you ample experience in the career world.  Applying to jobs with an advanced degree but without proper work experience leaves you with no other option than teaching, which is what you were originally trying to avoid.  However, if you simply want to try your hand at teaching for a year and maybe work on some grant work in order to further any research you started on your thesis, this is an opportunity that will not occur in any other industry.  But be careful of limiting yourself to one career for the rest of your life: the academic world is unlike any other world within another type of business and it is difficult to expand your horizons after a few years of teaching.  The professors I have known have simply started teaching immediately after receiving their PhD and have not ventured out because they found they really loved it.  This can prove to be the case for you too: perhaps you will love teaching and love the academic environment.  However, if you see yourself caught in the same mundane semesters time and again, it is time to venture away from academia and see what the rest of the world holds for you and your degree.

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