Best way to sell off unwanted gaming books?

Spellslinging Sellsword · February 27, 2012, 07:05:13 PM

So, I'm looking at the hundreds of gaming books that I have and thinking about selling all but the small core that I plan to regularly use. The ways that I'm aware of selling them off include:

E-bay - possibly most money, but lots of unknowns and possibly a hassle
Amazon - seems straight forward, click on sell back to Amazon link
Noble Knight - I know nothing about selling to them, anyone done so? What is a typical offer price they give (e.g. 25% of their list price? less/more?)
Halfprice books - I recently took 34 legal and political science books and got $12 total so doubt it's worth selling rpg books to them
RPG Forum sell threads - does it offer any advantages over the other methods?

So any insight on these methods and typical results would be greatly appreciated.

danbuter · February 27, 2012, 07:30:18 PM

eBay is your best bet. Amazon works, but they take forever to get your money to you. Noble Knight is a good dealer, but you'll get a low price on your stuff, unless you just want to trade.

Imaginos · February 27, 2012, 08:59:33 PM

Bartertown.com also has a sell trade RPG section.

Endless Flight · February 27, 2012, 09:14:16 PM

There aren't lots of unknowns with eBay if you accept Paypal.

RPGPundit · February 28, 2012, 11:16:27 AM

E-bay, for sure.

jeff37923 · February 28, 2012, 02:02:29 PM

Amazon and eBay if you want to get the most money. Noble Knight is a good business to deal with. I have had a lot of annoyance in dealings with Troll and Toad, but Your Mileage May Vary.

brettmb · February 28, 2012, 03:37:12 PM

Another vote for ebay, just don't overprice your books.

S'mon · February 28, 2012, 03:38:12 PM

I found selling stuff on amazon z-shops a few years ago worked well, I got some ridiculous amount for "Slave Girl of Gor"

because all the copies already on sale were £30+, so my copy looked like a bargain at ca £20.

Edit: Now Marketplace - http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161232

A much better bet than selling back to amazon I think. The best thing is the huge postage charge, which you can keep most of on the lighter books.

Spellslinging Sellsword · February 28, 2012, 05:58:37 PM

Thanks for the input guys.

jibbajibba · February 28, 2012, 06:01:17 PM

Unless you need the money for medicine for your sick mum/kid/cat just give them to a bunch of local kids or a charity shop.

TheHistorian · February 28, 2012, 10:52:46 PM

It depends exactly what you have. If there is a strong forum for a particular game, advertise there. You're directly advertising to the most interested people, more often than not.

Some examples:

significantly old/rare/obscure stuff - acaeum.com
general (A)D&D - dragonsfoot.org
Ars Magica - forum.atlas-games.com
Call Of Cthulhu - yog-sothoth.com
a little of everything - rpg.net

And so forth. There is probably a good forum for most systems that anyone actually plays.

After that, probably ebay. Although if you're looking to trade, you can do okay trading to Noble Knight.

An important thing to remember is that while some books are desirable and/or tough to find, many are very common and may not bring more than $5-10 each, even if the original price was $20-30.

Spellslinging Sellsword · February 28, 2012, 11:03:03 PM

With e-bay is it better to set a price (like say 1/2 what Noble Knight lists it for) or to just start at zero and let people bid?

Endless Flight · February 28, 2012, 11:41:18 PM

I wouldn't start at $0. I would start at the lowest amount you are willing to sell it for and start there.

Teazia · February 29, 2012, 03:34:04 AM

I have purchased quite a few, actually a lot of books from the following:

1. Dragonsfoot classified
2. Ebay
3. Amazon

The historian is correct though, try forums first if possible.

TheHistorian · February 29, 2012, 09:13:28 AM

Quote from: ptingler;517859With e-bay is it better to set a price (like say 1/2 what Noble Knight lists it for) or to just start at zero and let people bid?

Noble Knight probably isn't the best guide. Very generally, their prices are about triple what ebay sales generate.

The best way to estimate (common) items' value is to search for the item on ebay, and then check off the completed listings box. Then you'll see what prices it has sold for recently (and what prices it has failed to sell at recently). That's the real market value.