About 10 years ago, take or leave a few years, many students would buy the textbooks they need for university or college, and then at the end of the class term, they would sell their textbooks to their campus bookstore. Lots of bookstores used to have "textbook buyback" at the end of each term, and nowadays, most bookstores still do a book buyback which is really good and convenient. However, with the advent of the web, there is a new way to sell college textbooks that is also convenient -- and that's to sell textbooks online. Selling college textbooks online has been going on for a long time, even more than a decade. Maybe even longer, possibly even back when 9600 baud modems the size of a book were used.
Years ago, many college textbooks didn't cost as much as they do today, and definitely most of the textbook buyback prices have gone up over the years, too. Usually, university level textbooks change editions every few years or so, but this one book I saw hadn't changed editions since the 70's, and the book buyback price on that book was actually more than the original price stuck on the inside the front cover of the book. I thought that was interesting. Anyway, with buyback prices going up over the years, that means that if you have chosen to sell your textbooks via the web, a carton of textbooks could end up being pretty valuable when it's filled up with expensive books. And when you ship a box of textbooks that have lots of value, you'll want to be shipping the textbooks you're selling online in a secure fashion.
Shipping Books Securely: to ship textbooks securely, you may want to think about the following:
- Packaging Material.
Use nice quality packing material, like padding or bubble material that has been approved by whatever shipping company you are going to use (e.g. the post office.), because you'll want the books to be protected during travel so they have less chance receiving the wear that textbooks would receive from being in transit without any packing, in a package or container.
- Packaging Securely.
If you have small amount of books (like one or two books) that will fit in an envelope sized package, then an good approved padded envelope might be a good option, as long as your college textbooks fit properly inside, and you can seal the package well. Sometimes this kind of mailing container is called a shipping mailer.
- Shipping Tape
A lot of tape can be a good thing when sealing a shipping mailer or a package or box. Obviously you don't want to use an excessive or wasteful amount of tape, but you don't want to undertape your textbook container. If you are shipping your new or used college textbooks in a small envelope mailer, it would be a good idea to go around the envelope in at least two directions -- over the front and back vertically, and then horizontally back to front. That way if the mailer ever pops open, the textbooks won't be able to fall out if you've used an adequate amount of tape. If you are shipping your used college textbooks to an online textbook buyback in a big box, like a cardboard box, then you'd want to make sure to use plenty of tape on the top of the box, the bottom of the box, along the seams, and then around the perimeter. Shipping companies usually take great care in handling packages. They don't want anything to break or fall apart during transit any more than you do. However, on the rare occasion, packages might have a bit of a rough time during transit. If you imagine all the places where a box could split (picture a box in your mind), and then tape all those places you imagined, then the box has less of a chance of splitting in those places than if you don't use enough tape. One time I imagined books breaking through the sides of a box. And then not too long later, I actually saw a box with its sides broken. So now whenever I tape a box, I go around the outside perimeter in a few circles.
- Use Common Sense.
Only you will have the final say in how well, how carefully and appropriately you are going to package the textbooks, so it's your responsibility to do so properly. Although you might find suggestions here, there, or elsewhere, you're the one that is there in person actually packing the college textbooks to sell online, so you're the one that has to make sure a good and proper job is done on the packaging. If something doesn't seem right, like for example, if you see that your tape is coming off and not sticking well, or you think the box is the wrong size, then you have to make corrections. And finally, and most importantly, to make sure you are doing everything right according to the online book buyback place you are selling your textbooks to as well as the shipping company you are using, you would want to consult with their policies and suggestions, and when you drop off your box at the shipping location, it doesn't hurt to actually ask the one of the clerks if your parcel look like it's packaged appropriately.
- Some Possible Ideas.
You may wish to consider the ideas and suggestions provided by the online textbook buyback company you are using to sell your textbooks to. If the company says "don't use newspaper for packaging material because the ink rubs off on the books," but you go ahead and use newspaper, don't be surprised if your books arrive at the buyback company with ink rubbed on the pages. Imagine a book traveling in a box with newspaper packing, bouncing and shifting, bouncing and shifting for hours and perhaps days in transit. Of course newspaper ink could get on the pages. Some online bookbuyers where student sell textbooks will offer a different, usually higher price if the book arrives in 100% new, pristine condition. If you send a brand new perfect book to that book company, and anticipate a "new" price, and that newspaper ink gets on the pages, well, it's not going to be pristine any more, and it's not their fault you didn't follow their instructions not to use newspaper. One thing I just thought of now (which should go under the "common sense" heading above, is let's say all you have for packing material is newspaper. I suppose you could be creative and wrap each book in plain (non inked) paper, first, and then when it's surrounded by newspaper, the ink wouldn't get on the book, right? I'm not sure, but it's something to think about.
After you've done a good careful job boxing up your books and shipping your books to the online textbook place, they should receive your books and process them accordingly. However, there is the extremely slight chance that your shipment could get damaged or even lost in transit. The shipping companies and the US Postal Service are usually extremely reliable, and take lots of care with customers' mail. Just look at the millions of parcels they handle, and what a fantastic and careful job they do. But there is that really small chance that something could go wrong. If there weren't any chance that anything could go wrong, there wouldn't be such thing as insurance for shipping, would there?
Sometimes shipping insurance is already provided either by the buyback company you've chosen to sell textbooks to, and all you have to do is use their shipping label and follow their insurance instructions if they have instructions to follow. Otherwise, if the online textbook buyback company does not offer insurance, and adequate insurance isn't already built into the shipping method you're supposed to use, then you may wish to look into purchasing additional insurance on your college book shipment if you don't want to take the risk that it will get lost or damaged during transit.
To
sell textbooks to a textbook buyback company online can be a really neat way for selling your books, textbook, or study materials, just like it is a neat way to sell them in person to your bookstore or other students. I'm not sure which way, if any, is better, worse, or the same as any other way, but knowing about the various options that exist seems like a good thing.
