Comments on: How to use Powell’s Books for uncluttering

By: Kush

Kush — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:25:28 +0000

I sent books to Powell and just recieved an email that im not getting paid for them because they are in “poor” condition. Two of the books were absolutely new, not opened! Rip-off! They arent returning the books so they obviously will be selling them but not giving me the money i deserve!

By: Pity-er

Pity-er — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:58:23 +0000

Amanda – I do hope you were only briefly confused. For Powell’s, part of the process of registering your items to sell to them involves printing out a mailing label, which you then attach to your packaged-up books. The label has the address as well as the code necessary for the post office to charge THEM (not you) for the mailing.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:08:22 +0000

i am new to this website. they sent me an email. but where exactly do i have to send the books to? and they said they are paying for the shipping within the US?

By: bonzo

bonzo — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:31:37 +0000

update – after dropping an email to powell’s they explained that their staff has been cut back because of the recession, and the usual “2 week” window they promise has been expanded to 2-3 weeks. but their money came through on paypal, so i’m happy.

one more problem though – they don’t tell you what each book is worth. you can figure it out if you keep track of the total as you add additional books individually … but CKY does show what each book is worth.

someone else commented that the prices these places pay is too low to bother. usually they buy books for about 1/3 of what they intend to sell them at – and used books of course sell for much cheaper than new, so be advised. if you don’t have a local bookstore that buys from consumers, these on-line options are good alternatives. any leftovers can obviously go to a local library (although in Chicago, they won’t take ‘em) or goodwill / salvation army.

By: bonzo

bonzo — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:34:22 +0000

CKY books is another online site that actually offered up a pretty high price for one of my random books ($13 – and i was ready to just donate it!). we took a stack and compared them between Powell’s and CKY – went with the better price and/or whichever was willing to take them (very different collections, apparently). got my check in the mail from CKY before powell’s has even acknowledged receipt of my package – and sent at same time.

powell’s now offers store credit OR paypal (minus a small fee, of course). i agree that their selling prices are high enough that i would just take paypal, and buy via amazon or a local store.

has anyone else had trouble / delays with powell’s? i’m about to email them – over 2 weeks and no info on status. CKY has an online status option, which is nice – can’t find it if powell’s has one.

By: Brandon Checketts

Brandon Checketts — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:42:55 +0000

FYI, I just added PowellsBooks as another site that is searched on BookScouter.com.

By: Ulyee Foobie

Ulyee Foobie — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:29:11 +0000

First, Powells and Bookscouter both are amazingly LOWBALL on what they offer for books. I’m talking three month old books that won awards; Amazon marketplace is as convenient, the commission is NOTHING compared to the lowball offer.

I’m sure people are all happy and crunchie defending an indie, but their system either intentionally is taking money from potential customers, is outdated, or just doesn’t have the juice Amazon has. — Foob has Spoken

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:30:52 +0000

Are there any similar services for Music CDs where you can get money or credit?

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:00:05 +0000

Maybe I’m missing something here, but what is the appeal of selling books online? Don’t you then have to box them up and mail them out? I just carry mine down the street to my local used book store, where I can trade 2 for 1 or simply get paid in cash, and anything they don’t want gets donated to the reading room of my grandparents’ retirement home. It’s simple and I get to support a local business.

By: Cranky Scotty

Cranky Scotty — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:50:10 +0000

Some quick thoughts…

Charitable donations don’t always impact the bottom line of your taxes in your favor.

Selling online to a retailer cuts into what goes into your pocket.

Selling online via auctions is more work than some want to do and cuts into what goes into your pocket.

Trading books with others doesn’t reduce clutter.

Sometimes the garbage dumpster looks appealing.

Of course there’s a positive side to all of these nay-saying points, and the need to be considered as well. Short story…folks should do what makes sense for them.

And as far as Amazon goes…I’ll pay 10-20% more for a book at an independent bookseller before buying anything from that faceless bunch.

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:32:37 +0000

For books that still retain some of their value, I prefer selling through Amazon, because in the long run I will get more back out of it than selling outright to a used bookstore. But below a certain price point, it’s just not worth my time.

I have NEVER gotten a good price for anything from Half Price Books. On my last trip, they offered me a total of 50 cents for a stack of about a dozen popular week-old monthly magazines, ones they sell for a buck or two each. Not worth the trouble, and better to take the tax deduction for donating to charity. The trip before that, they offered a dollar for a book I ended up selling for $30+ on Amazon.

By: Lisamarie

Lisamarie — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:17:23 +0000

Another group choice is BookMooch.com. It works on a points systems. Trade in books you no longer want. Receive new (used) books that you do.

I’ve been using it regularly to declutter my library.

By: kbw

kbw — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:23:59 +0000

One of our neighbours holds a bookswap party once or twice a year. Everyone drops off their old books the week before, the hosts and a few volunteers sort them by genre and on the day of everyone picks from their neighbours’ discarded volumes. AFterwords the homeless ones go to charity. Hmmm, evidently more of a clutter exchange. But it does mean you get to talk books, chose books and share books and go to party… no, I can’t think of a downside… carrying new-to-you books home, maybe?

By: Adam Kayce

Adam Kayce — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:49:02 +0000

I love Powells — we used to live in Portland, and after reading “Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui” by Karen Kingston, we went through our books and took 90% of them to Powells. We must’ve made at least $300 in a few months that way.

Powells is one of the big things I miss about not living in Portland…

By: amy

amy — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:31:12 +0000

book crossing anyone? bit odd, but fun

By: JuleS

JuleS — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:13:46 +0000

If you live in the Chciago area (or don’t mind paying shipping to Chicago for a great cause!) you can donate used books to Open Books, Chicago’s first literacy bookstore. Proceeds from bookstore sales will fund literacy programs for adults, children and families. The bookstore will open this fall in Chicago, but Open Books is already doing literacy projects all over the city and nearby suburbs. The website is http://www.open-books.org

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:37:54 +0000

I agree with Susan. I cleared out 59 books, earned over $100 in store credit (which will be NO PROBLEM for me to use toward gifts), plus the shipping is free. I’ve sold quite a few books on Amazon, too, but by the time you pay Amazon their “commission” plus making a trip to the post office every time you make a sale, going through Powell’s was MUCH easier.

By: L

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 23:41:33 +0000

Wow, no! Donate to the library. It gives you a tax deduction VASTLY in excess of the retail value of used books on Powell’s Web site.

By: Beverly

Beverly — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:43:17 +0000

In addition to donating to the library, consider donating to nursing homes and hospice facilities. They will keep every book you donate unless it’s in bad condition and will be thrilled to get them. Also many hospices have thrift stores and these donations can be sold there and the money goes to the hospice.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:57:58 +0000

Another fun option for east coast dwellers:

The Book Thing of Baltimore
http://www.bookthing.org/