Selling your old textbooks after exams: a student's checklist
By the ApnaBook team · 2 min read · Updated
Every year, the textbooks you have just finished are exactly what the students one class behind you are about to need. Selling them locally gets you some money back, saves the next student a lot, and keeps usable books out of the raddi pile. Here is how to do it well.
Timing: list before the new session starts
Demand for school and college textbooks peaks in the few weeks before and after a new academic session begins, when students are getting their book lists. List your books as soon as your own exams are over. Waiting until the session is well under way means most buyers have already bought.
Sort the pile
- Textbooks for the current syllabus: list these individually and as a set.
- Reference and exam preparation books: these often sell for more than school textbooks.
- Guides, solved papers and question banks: most valuable when they are recent.
- Filled-in workbooks and old-syllabus books: bundle them in for free, or recycle them.
Sell the full set
Parents especially like buying every book for a class in one go. Photograph the whole set together, list the titles in the description, and give a set price that is a little lower than the individual prices added up. You can still sell individual books if someone asks.
Clean up the books
Rub out pencil marks, remove loose sheets and old exam papers you do not want to give away, and wipe the covers. Check that your name, phone number or roll number is not written inside if you would rather not share it. Ten minutes of tidying can make a book look a condition grade better.
Handing over safely
Students should arrange handovers with a parent's knowledge, meet in a public place such as outside school or a busy market, and take payment at the handover rather than before. Never share an OTP or your UPI PIN — you never need either to receive money.
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