Attention College Students – How to Make Money While at School

I know what it is like being a college student. It takes a lot of dedication to devote time to studies and because of that, not a lot of time to have a job. It’s a good wake up call to life by juggling many responsibilities and being on your own. So other than work, how else can college students make money at school? Here is an idea…sell your books!

Inspired by Nut @ The Writer’s Coin, I want to share how you can make some good cash by selling used college textbooks.  The university I attended had book rentals for college courses.  While it may seem like we were lucky for not having to pay for books, it was already built into tuition.  There still were books that needed to be purchased, but no where near what my wife had to pay each semester ($500+!!) at her university.

It was very often that the college bookstore would take the old edition textbooks that were no longer used in classes and sell them to students.  I can assure you, not many college students were running to get their hands on those big, thick Law books.  Because the university got their use out of them, and money out of you, they were surprisingly willing to part with the books for cheap. $1 per textbook or fill a paper bag for $10.  Some I kept, but most I sold.

One day, I scanned the textbooks and hopped on eBay to find out how much there going to by searching the ISBN.  I was shocked!  They were going for over a hundred dollars a piece on eBay! I soon realized that just because our university upgraded to the next edition, many other schools didn’t. The best part yet, even selling the books for, say $100, the buyer is getting a great deal. I found out after talking to the buyers that some textbooks would have cost them $170-$200 new!  A win, win for all!

I was able to make a decent amount of money off this process.  As time went on, it was obvious others had the same idea as the more profitable books became few and far between .  My last year at college, I started to see a group on campus who were looking to purchase old textbooks from students.  Was this the end?  Is it the end? I’m several years removed from college so I’m curious to find out if colleges still resell their books to their students.

So a few tips:

1. Avoid selling your books back to the bookstore or another group until you look at the value on eBay or their affiliate Half.com (or other market sites).  You probably can get twice as much online if you are willing to take the time and effort to list and ship them.

2. When you resell your books, be sure to wait until the start of the semester when students are actually looking!  All too often I see books flood on eBay when the semester is over.  While there are summer courses, your best bet is to wait until Fall or Spring semesters when demand is higher.

3. Just like selling books, buying books online can save you some much needed dough.  See if you can get a syllabus in advance to start your search for needed textbooks.

So check out your university bookstore today.  Do they sell used books? Are they worth more to other students around the country? While a bit more difficult, the same criteria applies to thrift stores and garage sales.

I guess you can chalk up another ‘side hustle’ option for college students.

Stupidly Yours,

Matt