The Green Frugal

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To make money selling books online, there are two major options: do it yourself, or sell to an online buyback company. Below are the ins and outs of selling your used books yourself one-by-one, versus selling used books to Cash4Books all at once.

Selling Books Yourself one-by-one:

• Selling your books individually generally nets you more money.  Although most websites will charge you at least a 15% commission fee, which will significantly cut into your profits.
• You must spend your time creating a listing for each of your books. This includes condition, comments, and price of each of the books you are selling.
• You will need to monitor your listing.  This means you must wait for the books to sell and you will need to constantly reprice your books so that the prices are competitive. And after all this, there is no guarantee your books will sell.
• After your book sells you will need to find, package, and ship each book to each individual customers.  You will need to repeat this step each time a different book sells.  This may mean multiple trips to the post office.
• You will need to provide the customer service to the individual customers that purchased your books.   This can mean multiple emails, like:  “Did you ship my book?”  ”Where is my tracking number?” “I want to return the book.” “My book is different than described.” “I want a refund”.

Selling Books to Cash4Books:

• You will know in advance how much money you will receive for your books. And, there are no fees for selling your books to Cash4Books.
• You will receive the money that was quoted to you.  We publish our condition requirements for you to read in advance so you know what to expect.
• We provide you with a prepaid shipping label directly on our website.  Or, if you need one sent, we will mail one to you free of charge.
• You can sell us all your books at once, saving the time and materials it takes to package your books individually.  Just one trip to the post office or FedEx location of your choice.
• Payment for your books is sent within ONE business day after we receive and process your books.  Whether you opt for Paypal or check–our payment process is fast!
• We keep you informed about your shipment every step of the way with email notifications: approved for shipment, received, and paid.
• Need more cash for your books? Sign up for our mailing list, and you will receive monthly promotional offers to get more for your used books (sign up form is in the right column).
• Selling to Cash4Books saves you time. What is your time worth?

We sometimes get the question of why our quotes are lower than used book retail prices (the prices you could roughly get if you sold the books yourself).  We are not able to quote at retail because the company has expenses to pay for.  These expenses include postage inbound, computer software, marketing, rent for a 23,000 sq ft building, utilities, payroll and benefits, and more.

Cash4Books offers value, first and foremost, as a convenient and time saving service. Secondly, we offer value as a quality service with an exception customer care team. We recognize that people live busy lifestyles, and Cash4Books is meant as a one stop shop for selling used books and textbooks online with a great experience.  However, if you have the time to try selling books yourself, that can be a great option as well.

It is also important to note that we do not buy everything.  In fact, we are sometimes criticized for how picky we are in what we buy. This is generally due to the laws of supply and demand, our current on-hand quantity, and the used book retail value of a book at any given time.

Thank you for stopping by our blog, and we hope you check us out and sell some books!

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Attention college students: as you get settled into your new fall classes and start shopping for the best textbook prices, here are a few things to look for in a writing handbook that will help with your term papers and essay assignments.

Once you get past the introductory writing courses like English 101, your professors are going to expect competent, college-level writing in your assigned essays without giving you a lot of steps and support. Hopefully you learned all of the basics from English 101, and even if you did, an excellent writing handbook can provide a lot of quick support and resources at your fingertips.

All college writing handbooks will give you the basics about starting your essay (brainstorming, mapping, outlining, and drafting), and all handbooks will give you the grammar basics (how to make sure your sentence isn’t a fragment and how to tell if your sentence has a comma splice), but here are a few things to look for in a writing handbook that offer extra support to make your writing shine during college (and maybe beyond college too).

Have you selected a college writing handbook yet? Image credit: Unhindered by Talent, flickr.com

#1 – Sentence Style

In the beginning of your undergraduate days, you will probably be most concerned with creating error-free sentences. However, as you go deeper into your degree field and start taking upper-level courses, correctness is no longer enough; you want to have style. Learning the intricacies of subordination is essential for advanced college-level writing, especially if you want to go on to graduate school. It takes a lot of practice. For example, do you know how to use parallelism in order to convey the multi-part meaning of a complex idea, capture your audience’s attention through stylistic devices, and display a sophisticated level of critical thinking with your grammar? Make sure your handbook has an entire section on sentence style that gives plenty of ideas and instructions for a variety of sentences.

#2 – MLA/APA Updates

Your professors will expect you to use MLA or APA format (or maybe something else) to document your sources. Make sure your writing handbook has the latest updates. For example, MLA format has now been updated so students no longer need to include cumbersome urls in their citations. As far as I can tell, most of the updates for documenting electronic and online sources are very helpful for students, so it’s better to make sure you’re using the new format.

#3 – Glossary of Style and Usage

There are a lot of things in college writing that your spellchecker will not pick up. For example, do you know whether or not to use “toward” or “towards”? “Further” or “farther”? “Hanged” or “hung”? Do you know the differences between “lay,” “lie,” and “laid”? Should you capitalize seasons? A good glossary of usage will provide easy answers to all of these things and a lot more. If you think your professors don’t notice stuff like this, you’re wrong. They notice, and it doesn’t take very many little usage errors to add up and make an overall bad impression.

Use a writing handbook to easily develop a spiffy resume. Image credit: The CV Inn, flickr.com

#4 – Resumes and Cover Letters

During college and after, you’re going to need to make awesome resumes and cover letters for job hunting. All of the lessons of effective college writing come into play with these documents that can make or break your job search: how to write for a specific audience (your prospective employer), how to craft concise and impactful sentences, how to persuade, how to use powerful verbs for dynamic style. Making a perfect resume and cover letter is an art form–it takes style. In addition to these features, there are very specific conventions regarding format and presentation for resumes and cover letters. Too many people stop at correct format without making their sentences powerful. You want your writing handbook to give you all of this information within easy reach. Spend at least as much time editing and revising your resume as you would a college term paper that is ten times as long.

Some of you out there might be thinking, why should I bother paying for a writing handbook when all of this information is available online? It’s true that you can find most of this information online, but you have to find it first. As a working writer myself, I can tell you it is much more time consuming to go searching for a usage question online (and sort through all the results that pop up) than it is to flip open my handbook, which is always sitting on my desk.

Do you have any questions about finding a writing handbook? Or do you have any other questions that you always wanted to ask your professors but were afraid to ask? Leave your questions in the comments section and I can give you all of the inside information.

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As we get closer to the new school year, a lot of college students out there are making big decisions about their fall schedules, including whether or not to take online classes.

As an online instructor for a community college, I’ve noticed some common pitfalls and challenges for the first time online college student. In order to help with the transition to the online learning environment, here are six tips for students taking online classes.

Tip #1: Manage Your Time

Tick, tock, tick, tock ... Photo credit: RBerteig, Flickr.com.

To be a successful online college student, you need to be able to work independently. For example, are you the type of student who can read a chapter in your textbook and complete a homework assignment without any direct instruction in a face-to-face classroom? Are you able to plan your time to work on your online class without someone looking over your shoulder?

If you currently have trouble planning time for your homework for face-to-face classes, chances are you will have trouble planning your “class time” in the online environment. If you need a lot of structure, the online classroom is probably not the right choice for you.

Tip #2: Order Your Textbooks Early

Order your textbooks as soon as possible. It’s very tempting to search high and low for the cheapest textbook online. However, any value you get from a super-low price isn’t worth being behind the first week while you wait for your textbook to arrive in the mail. In many online classes, the textbook is especially important as there is not any class time for the instructor to personally deliver any content to you.

Every term I hear long sob stories from students who are waiting for the textbooks to arrive, sometimes in the second or third week of the class. Believe me, online instructors have no sympathy for this.

If you don’t purchase from the school’s bookstore, only order from a reputable vendor (a vendor with lots of sales and lots of happy customers), and order in plenty of time to be ready on the first day of school.

Tip #3: Don’t Freak Out!

Resist the urge to hit the button. Photo credit: star5112, Flickr.com.

It can be scary and anxiety-producing being a first time online college student. Generally speaking, however, there is never a reason to completely freak out. By freaking out, I mean sending the instructor multiple panicky emails, calling the department secretary in tears, or desperately searching for the instructor’s office on campus (chances are the online instructor won’t be there).

If you find yourself freaking out about something, first take a deep breath. Next, give your instructor 24 hours to answer your email. If something is really urgent, most online programs have help-lines that you can call (sometimes these are open 24 hours). These help-lines are especially useful if you are having any kind of technical problem with the online classroom.

Tip #4: Follow the Online Rules of Etiquette

Online classrooms have certain expectations for etiquette and behavior. Hopefully, these guidelines are posted somewhere in the introductory materials for the class. One of the most important rules for first time online college students is to write on discussion forums with correct spelling and punctuation.

Online classes have social, interactive components, but this is not an informal setting like Facebook. An online classroom is a formal, business-like atmosphere. In addition to using correct spelling and punctuation in discussion forums, remember to do the same with emails to your instructor. Always begin your email with a greeting and use the same care you would use if you were writing a homework assignment.

In addition, be respectful of your peers. If you find yourself getting upset about something in an online discussion, don’t post your response until you are calm and able to read your post objectively. The worst thing you can do is distinguish yourself in the class by attacking a classmate or posting an angry or highly emotional response.

Tip #5: Start Out Without the Right Technology or Computer Skills

You should probably know how to use one of these before you start an online class. Photo credit: izzymunchted, Flickr.com.

Most online programs give students a clear set of technical requirements in order to use the online classroom. You can most often find this on the school’s website.

But more importantly, do you have the right computer skills? Are you comfortable using a computer? Do you regularly visit social networking sites? Shop online? Use online banking? Contribute to a blog? When you decide to go to a movie, do you still call the theater for show times, or do you buy your tickets in advance on fandango? To succeed in an online classroom, it’s imperative that you’re comfortable navigating through the online environment. Taking an online class doesn’t require a deep technical knowledge of computers, but it does require being comfortable with the online basics.

In addition to software requirements and skills, you should only take an online class if you have a reliable internet connection. Every now and then, a student will disappear for a week or two, only to reappear with a story about not being able to afford the high speed internet bill. Unfortunately, most online instructors will not be sympathetic with this plight.

Tip #6: Visit Frequently

To succeed in an online classroom, you need to visit the classroom frequently, at least as much as you would go to a face-to-face classroom, but probably more. Sometimes, students think they only need to check in every week–not true. The best approach is to be as active in the classroom as possible, contributing to discussions, following the instructor’s announcements, and keeping track of the deadlines. My recommendation is to visit every day!

Online classes are actually a lot of fun–just make sure you actually have enough time to devote to them. Don’t take an online class because you don’t have time to go to school. Online classes provide a lot of flexibility, but they are still very time consuming.

Hopefully these six tips help you make the right choices for your fall schedule. Good luck with your studies this fall!

- Professor Chad

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Here’s a reminder for all of you avid readers out there who have gone cyborg (converted to reading books on a digital device): sell us your paper books. We still love them, even if they’re not squeaky clean and digital.

To those Kindle readers out there, I see lots of you reading your eBooks on the train, and you look like nice enough people. Now I’m wondering if we can take those paper books off your hands. They’re just gathering dust and cluttering up your office.

Although the digital revolution is progressing, the game of buying and selling used books is still alive and well (both as a hobby and as a career). So for you Kindle-ites out there, sell us those paper books that you won’t be taking on vacation anymore. Just don’t drop that Kindle in the pool.

Last I checked, it was about $140 bucks to get started with one of those newfangled reading devices. Why not offset the cost by selling us your real books?

Has your kindle made these seem obsolete? Sell them to us! Photo credit: Fredrik Rubensson, Flicker.

But the purpose of this blog entry is not an anti-Kindle diatribe or to extol the joys of buying and selling used books (which there are many joys, discoveries, surprises, and financial advantages), but rather the purpose of this blog entry is to remind all of the Kindle buyers out there to sell us your books since you’re pretty much done with them.

Clear off the bookshelf and sell your used books. You’ve probably got 3G or something, so who needs a bookshelf? Just box ‘em up, and we’ll even pay for the shipping.

Head on over to Cash4Books.net and we’ll give you a bunch of cash for those dusty, glue-bound bricks of verbiage (which we happen to love just a smidgen more than their digital, dustless counterparts).

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What’s the best place to sell used fiction books, paperbacks, and novels?  Start with Cash4Books.net.  We have an iPhone barcode scanner, as well as an Android barcode scanner, for some quick price checks. If we are buying the books, and you like the price you see, you can sell them immediately.  We offer FREE shipping to our warehouse with our simple prepaid label that you can print from home.  After we receive the books, payment is quickly sent out by your choice of check or PayPal.

Sell Paperback Books

A reliable and trusted buyer of quality used books since 2004, Cash4Books.net has purchased over 1.5 million books from 230,000 customers. We offer our services to college students selling college textbooks, but equally so to everyday people selling hardcover/paperback fiction and non-fiction. Located in Beaverton, Oregon, we are a locally-owned business with 42 employees. Cash4Books.net is committed to providing a simple, secure, and convenient way for anyone to sell their books to us with confidence and receive instant price quotes, fast payment, and exceptional customer service. Read more about us here, some media coverage, and some reviews.

Sell Used Novels

There are a growing number of companies buying used textbooks, but not a lot that will buy used novels.  We are proud to offer the service of buying and selling used novels, and we have done so since we launched our website in March 2004.

Here are some Cash4Books offer prices for some popular fiction titles (Sessalee’s Picks at Barnes & Noble). These Cash4Books offer prices were sampled on May 22, 2011, and are provided as examples only. Our offer prices are subject to change:

The Help, paperback. Offer: $2.30

Room, paperback. Offer: $2.17

Caleb’s Crossing, hardcover. Offer: $2.61

Water for Elephants, paperback. Offer: $1.11

Tabloid City, hardcover. Offer: $4.48

Fly Away Home, paperback. Offer: $2.82

Faith, hardcover. Offer: $3.42

The Postmistress, paperback. Offer: $0.68

State of Wonder, hardcover. Offer: $4.14

Sell used fiction books in three easy steps:

1. Enter books to sell

2. Ship for FREE

3. Get paid

Visit the Cash4Books.net homepage to get started today!