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.
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.
Bartertown.com also has a sell trade RPG section.
There aren't lots of unknowns with eBay if you accept Paypal.
E-bay, for sure.
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.
Another vote for ebay, just don't overprice your books.
I found selling stuff on amazon z-shops a few years ago worked well, I got some ridiculous amount for "Slave Girl of Gor" :D 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.
Thanks for the input guys.
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.
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.
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?
I wouldn't start at $0. I would start at the lowest amount you are willing to sell it for and start there.
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.
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.
I usually follow this process:
1. I post the items for sale on RPGnet.
2. If RPGnet doesn't work out, I post them for sell on Amazon marketplace. Offer only regular shipping if you do this. Their reimbursements for faster shipping aren't nearly enough for all zip codes.
3. If the first two don't work, I send a list to Noble Knight for store credit. If I like the offer, I send them in for credit. If I don't like the offer, I can hang on to them. Trade in credit will always be more than cash. So I only do this if I'm interested in getting rid of stuff and then replacing it with new stuff.
Quote from: jibbajibba;517735Unless 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.
These days I've been giving my surplus stuff to my local city animal farm's charity shop. Last time I looked, d20 Gamma World was still there. :D
Quote from: S'mon;518054These days I've been giving my surplus stuff to my local city animal farm's charity shop. Last time I looked, d20 Gamma World was still there. :D
Giving them that one is almost an act of cruelty. I'm generally against burning books, but in this case...
RPGPundit
Also, if you are selling rpg books, make sure you advertise them on the various rpg forums in their advertising sections. Definitely improves the price you will receive.
Is it better to group items or sell them each individually? For example, say you have a half dozen or so Forgotten Realms supplements from 1E or the first 5 adventures for Ravenloft, should I list each one individually on e-bay or list them as a themed group for sale?
Quote from: RPGPundit;518508Quote from: S'mon;518054These days I've been giving my surplus stuff to my local city animal farm's charity shop. Last time I looked, d20 Gamma World was still there. :D
Giving them that one is almost an act of cruelty. I'm generally against burning books, but in this case...
RPGPundit
Well, picking it up would grant one the pleasure of getting to burn it. Might be worth the money, depending on how strong you feel about this. :D
Quote from: ptingler;518754Is it better to group items or sell them each individually? For example, say you have a half dozen or so Forgotten Realms supplements from 1E or the first 5 adventures for Ravenloft, should I list each one individually on e-bay or list them as a themed group for sale?
I'd research their rarity. Valuable books are better off sold solo. More common books are better in lots.
Quote from: ptingler;517470So, 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.
Do you have a list of what you are looking to sell?
Quote from: Tetsubo;518959Do you have a list of what you are looking to sell?
Sorry, not yet.