Do You Buy or Sell Used Books?
Just last week I started listing some of my new, used, and slightly shop-worn Preschool - Grade 12 textbooks, workbooks, and teaching materials at Biblio.com. I created a logo on
PicMonkey using this
image from Pixabay for my storefront at Biblio. That's what you see above.
I have added a few books manually while updating my 6000+ book database for a bulk upload. I'm getting back into the bookselling game again. I chose Biblio as my new bookselling home for many reasons, but I haven't been there long enough yet to review the site from a seller's point of view. I will say Biblio has a very responsive support team that answers my questions. You can watch my store shelves at Biblio fill as I begin to offer bargain books on cooking, gardening, crafting, and other interests as I have time.
Please check out Barb's People Builders' new home at Bibio.com
As I've been spending more time on the site, I've discovered a lot of new features that weren't there a few years ago. It's a very user-friendly place for book buyers. I like to support the independent booksellers who have opted not to rely completely on Amazon as a selling site. Many of those sellers you see at Amazon also list on Biblio. But on Biblio they are able to offer you more than they can on Amazon.
I Love the Newest Biblio Search Feature
As you may expect, you can search Biblio for books by author, title, ISBN, and keyword. There are also several filters you can apply to narrow your search, including price, attributes such as type of cover, condition, whether a dust jacket is present, publish date, whether the seller has included a photo, and more. There are also many ways you can sort your results.
The new feature I especially love is the ability to always show or exclude certain dealers from your searches. You can easily change your mind later about your favorite stores to search or include excluded stores again. I hate having a couple of bargain sites with multiple copies of the same book monopolizing my search results, and I can easily exclude them so I can see what other dealers are offering.
Biblio Sellers Are Independent and Can Communicate with You
If you have a question about a book you can probably call or email a Biblio seller directly without a middleman getting in the way. Although many of us work from home and don't list our phone numbers, you can email us and arrange for phone call if you prefer that.
Independent booksellers, especially those with open stores, know their books. I don't know of any of us who have had time to list them all yet. I still have hundreds unlisted I'd like to sell. Let's say, for example, a homeschool wants to teach a unit study on frogs or pond life. So far I haven't listed the books I have on those subjects, but I do have lots of them I could suggest if someone contacts me.
Nonfiction books for children are one of my specialties. I could probably meet most of your needs from unlisted books sitting on my shelves and give you a consolidated shipping price for them if you contact me directly. In contrast, Amazon often charges a standard $3.99 shipping fee per book, even if five books are shipped together. Not everything you buy from third party sellers qualifies for free or prime shipping. Some Biblio sellers also offer free shipping. We are also required to ship internationally.
Are you a book collector? There probably are Biblio sellers who specialize in the books that interest you. When you contact them directly they can watch for books you might want as they acquire them and let you know about them. On Amazon you need to put specific titles on their wish list. They use artificial intelligence. A human bookseller uses human intelligence and may know about books in your specialty you don't know about yet.
Amazon sells books, but it's not a bookseller in the same sense as an independent bookseller is. Amazon is primarily a book marketer. There's a difference. Independent booksellers know what's on their shelves at home or in their storefronts. They've often read a lot of them related to the topics they specialize in. They can advise you on content or style. Most of them love to talk to customers about what they are both interested in. You may find that this direct communication is worth the extra bit you
might have to pay for postage.
Other Reasons I Like Biblio.com
Biblio provides services to independent sellers with reasonable fees and lets them communicate with buyers directly. Their individual stores post a way to contact them.
Biblio is socially responsible. It cares about the environment. It uses its profits to provide jobs and benefits to its employees as well as to give back to the community. Think of it as your local bookstore in the worldwide community. It is independent instead of being owned by a large corporation. Biblio also founded a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring literacy and education to impoverished communities.
See the details here.
I hope next time you're searching for an out-of-print or used book you will give
Biblio a try. And
please check out my storefront while you're there, especially if you have children or grandchildren who like to read or need academic practice at home.
More Places You Can Find Great Books for Children and Education
If you are homeschooling, you also may want to check out this post:
Should Homeschoolers Sell Used Curriculum at Homeschool Used Book? I think it's not only a good place for homeschoolers to find materials they need, but they can also find new homes for teaching resources and textbooks they no longer need. They can use credit from from their sales to buy different books they see listed on the site. Or they can get cash for their sales instead.
And don't forget to visit the site I've been resurrecting since going back to bookselling --
Books to Remember. I'll be listing and reviewing many of my education resources there with links to where you can get them. The site also hosts one of my book blogs for parents and educators.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
