FAQ

Below are some of our frequently asked questions. If you still can not find an answer you are looking for please contact us!

 

ISBN's

• What Is an ISBN?
• Where can I find the ISBN of my book?
• What does an ISBN look like?

Types of Books

• What types of books do you buy?
• What types of books do you NOT buy?
• Do you buy items marked Not For Resale?
• Will you consider buying rare or old books?
• Will you buy large quantities of books?
• Will you buy several copies of a given book?

Book Condition

• What sort of physical condition should the books be in?
• Do you accept books that include CDs?

Textbooks

• Do you buy textbooks?
• Do you buy international editions textbooks?
• Do you buy instructors edition textbooks?
• Do you buy examination copies?

Getting Paid

• When and how do I get paid?
• How long does it take to get paid?

Shipping

• Does Sell Back Your Book Pay For Shipping?
• What if I Want To Ship My Books Using UPS, Federal Express or the US Postal Service using First Class Mail?
• Should I pay for tracking and insurance on my package of books?
• What happens if I don't include some of the books on the packing slip?
• What happens if you don't receive my books?

 

ISBNs

Q: What is an ISBN?
A: ISBN is an acronym for International Standard Book Number. It's a standardized identification system for books, software and mixed media established in 1968-69 and maintained by RR Bowker, a division of Reed Publishing USA.

Q: Where can I find the ISBN of my book?
A: Publishers typically put the ISBN on the back of the dust jacket - typically above or near the bar code that is printed on the back of the dust jacket -- and on one of the first few pages of the book - usually where the copyright and publisher information is printed.

Q: What does an ISBN look like?
A: Usually the letters ISBN will be printed followed by a number with sections separated by hyphens, e.g. ISBN 0-89123-145-2

We typically do not buy books without ISBNs, however you may email us a list of your books (Title, Author, Publisher, Published Date and Condition) and we will search our sources to see if there are potential buyers for your books.

Types of Books

Q:What types of books do you buy?
A: We buy books that are in good or better condition that have an ISBN and that have a demonstrated demand in the used book market. We buy hard backs and paperbacks. Our pricing screen will tell you whether we are buying a specific book once you've entered the ISBN and condition. Books that we typically do not buy are: Older books, books without ISBNs, encyclopedia sets, magazines, music books, comic books, books that are marked as not for resale, books that are in poor condition, romance series and western novels, outdated text books, outdated computer books and Time-Life books.

Q:What types of books do you NOT buy?
A:We do not buy

• International Edition Textbooks
• Instructor Edition Textbooks
• Examination copies
• Teachers Edition
• Advanced Readers Copy (ARC)
• Items without an ISBN printed on the book
• Items that are sexually explicit and/or offensive
• Non book items such as Calendars and board games (even though they may have an ISBN)
• Encyclopedia Sets

Q: Do you buy items marked Not for Resale?
A: No we do not buy any items marked not for resale, for example, but not limited to advanced readers copies, international editions, instructors editions, and examination copies.

Q:Will you consider buying rare or old books?
A: If we have an identified buyer for your books we will consider buying them. Please send us an email with the details on your books (Title, Author, Publisher, Published Date, Condition)

Q:Will you buy large quantities of books?
A:We do buy large quantities of books. Please use the contact link to tell us about the books that you have. Please email us with the following information: ISBN of each title and quantity of each title - if you could put the information into a table such as Microsoft Excel (MS Excel 2007 or earlier) that would be appreciated.

Q:Will you buy several copies of a given book?
A:We do buy multiple copies of the same book. How many depends on the demands of our buyers. If you have more then one copy of any book then please email us to see if we are buying them. Again, email us with the title, ISBN of the title and quantity of each title. Also, if you already have an order number created, include that as well.

Book Condition

Q: What sort of physical condition should the books be in?
A: Books must be in very good condition which means that books must meet the following criteria:

• No tears to the cover, or pages.
• Corners of covers should not be bent, dented or frayed
• Minimal wear to the binding - pages should be firmly attached to the binding -- bindings cannot be broken
• No writing on the sides of the book -- for example a name written on the edge of the book
• A small amount of writing, underlining or highlighting of pages is usually okay, as long as it is on fewer than 20% of the book's pages. However, workbooks and study guides must be clean and unwritten in (no answers filled in already)
• No missing pages
• Absolutely no water or moisture damage - crinkled pages, stains, rings
• No fire or smoke damage
• No strong odor of any kind (including musty odor, cigar or cigarette odor)
• If a textbook originally came with a CD-Rom, the original CD-Rom must accompany the book when shipped to us. The CD must be in working condition
• No advance reading copies, uncorrected proofs, and/or promotional or screener copies of books
• No books that state not for resale (or not for sale) anywhere on the cover or inside
• No ex-library books
• No partial sets (ie, only sending volume 1 of a 2 volume set)

Books received that do not meet these requirements are not eligible for payment, will be deducted from the total amount and associated shipping charges (based on weight, we will subtract the weight of that book from your total weight and adjust the shipping appropriately) and will not be returned - so please make sure that your books meet our quality requirements and PLEASE pack your books carefully. Books damaged during shipment are not the responsibility of we buy your books and will be treated as unacceptable.

To ensure that books are not damaged please follow these guidelines:

• Use a sturdy corrugated box. Thin boxes (e.g., cereal boxes) will not protect your books in shipment.
• Do not use plastic peanuts for packing material. Plastic peanuts shift during transit and damage pages. Nearly every shipment we've received with plastic peanuts result in several damaged books
• Choose the right size of box. Huge boxes of books nearly always result in damaged books
• Keep the weight of the box and books under 35lbs. Heavy boxes nearly always result in damaged books
• Use wadded up newspaper to fill gaps. Newspaper can be wadded up tightly and provide protection

Q: Do you accept books that include CDs?
A: Yes, but be sure to include the CD along with the book. We are unable to accept books that originally came with CDs where the CD is missing.

Textbooks

Q: Do you buy textbooks?
A: We do buy all kinds of textbooks. They must meet our quality requirements and if the book came with additional media (e.g., inserts, CDs, etc) they must be included with the book. We unfortunately can't accept out of date textbooks, desk copies or teachers copies of books (any book marked as not for resale).

Q:Do you buy international edition textbooks?
A: No we do not buy any international edition textbooks! All international edition textbooks that are sent in will be recycled. Please help keep our shipping costs down by not sending in these items. Note, even though you may get price quotes returned from using our pricing tool you will not receive the quoted buyback amount for these items.

Q:Do you buy instructors edition textbooks?
A: No we do NOT buy instructors edition textbooks. Note, even though you may get price quotes returned from using our pricing tool you will not receive the quoted buyback amount for these items.

Q:Do you buy examination copies?
A:No We do NOT buy examination copies!

Getting Paid

Q: When and how do I get paid?
A: When we receive the box of books and confirm it's contents to the packing slip we process your payment in our next Paypal or check run.

Q: How long does it take to get paid?
A: To keep shipping costs down and pay you more, we ship via USPS media mail. This can take as little as a couple of days or as long as a couple of weeks. So, the real variable in time to get paid is the postal service's shipping. You can always purchase tracking so you can track your order to our location. It can take up to 21 days to arrive at our warehouse. Depending on the volume of boxes that we receive - we attempt to check in all books within one business day. For quickest payment use PayPal!

Shipping

Q: Does Sell Back Your Book Pay For Shipping?
A: We do! For our US Postal Service option, we pay for shipping, just print out and attach our prepaid USPS shipping label. For our Fedex option, all orders over $50 are free, otherwise we deduct 3.00.

Q: What if I Want To Ship My Books Using UPS, Federal Express or the US Postal Service using First Class Mail?
A: We will gladly accept your packages no matter how you decide to ship them to us. However if you decide not to use either our US Postal Service or our Fedex service, you are responsible for the shipping costs yourselves.

Q: Should I pay for tracking and insurance on my package of books?
A: If you use our Fedex option, tracking, insurance and delivery confirmation are automatically included. Otherwise You should pay for tracking if you are interested in confirming the location of the box as it moves through the postal service and ultimately delivery to our location. You should purchase insurance if the loss or destruction of your package through the postal service is an unacceptable risk. Both of those costs are up to you. Generally, it doesn't cost much to track and insure a package and we strongly suggest using fedex since tracking and insurance up to $100 is included.

Q: What happens if I don't include some of the books on the packing slip?
A: We'll contact you via email to confirm that the books were not shipped. If you purchased insurance and your package is missing books we will work with you to recover the cost of the books from the postal service. Note: only the shipper (you) can recover the cost from the postal service, we will help you by providing an accurate accounting of the value.

Q: What happens if you don't receive my books?
A: If you purchased insurance through the postal service, you can submit a claim to the postal service. We can only pay for books that we receive and meet our quality requirements (see book quality above).