Amazon.com Trade-In Program: Earn Amazon Gift Cards for Old Books, Electronics, Movies + More
Do you have old textbooks, electronics, video games and movies collecting dust on your shelves or taking up space in your closet? If so, you may want to take note of Amazon.com’s Trade-In Program. Simply trade in eligible books, electronics and more and Amazon will give you a gift card in return.
Here’s how it works…
* Head over here and find out if your item(s) is eligible for trade-in and how much it is worth (you can search by title or keyword)
* Add the trade-in item to your trade-in cart by clicking on the Trade-In Here button
* You’ll then be prompted to select the condition of the item (choose from Like New, Good and Acceptable)
* If you find the trade-in value to be acceptable, you’ll then be prompted to choose the shipping method and return address. Just print the shipping label, affix it to your box and then bring the box to your local UPS store or USPS drop off location (and Amazon.com pays for all the costs!!).
* Be sure to ship your items within 7 calendar days of submitting the trade-in.
* If your submission is accepted, an Amazon.com Gift Card for the value of your trade-in will appear in your Amazon.com account, generally within 2 business days. Your gift card payment is automatically added to the available balance on your account so you don’t need to redeem any claim codes or wait for gift cards in the mail. It’s that easy!
Check out the email and picture above that I received from reader, Jamie…
I have discovered that the post college life can be challenging, trying to settle into the real world of working, paying off student loans and trying to get ahead. That is why I started couponing when I graduated; I am able to live a much more comfortable life while I am still on the bottom of the work totem-pole. I recently started packing my house in preparation for a move across the country and I noticed a lot of text books on my bookshelf collecting dust from college. These are books that I know I will never open again, and it was a little painful to think about how much I had to pay for them when I purchased them.
I got the idea to sell the books on Amazon.com that I have no plans of ever looking at again and much to my surprise they were worth a lot more than I thought! Amazon will buy books back and give you a gift card for them or you can sell them yourself on the website (they take a small fee if you do this). I did a combination of both and was able to get over $150 in gift cards and cash!!
The best part is that I am getting rid of what I don’t need before I have to move, earning money, and helping out another college student get their books at a great price. I think that’s pretty hip!
Come back and let us know if you have ever participated in the Amazon Trade-In Program and if it worked well for you!
I have traded in several books for cash. It’s easy! I would recommend it. I suggest doing a search by ISBN number, so you do not accidently send out the wrong thing. When I was selling a book, not trading it in, I did that once and the buyer was very upset. I sent a hardcover instead of a paperback. I had to lose the shipping cost on that one.
Glad you posted this! I use to sell books on Amazon years ago and went back this weekend to look for information about this program.
I have traded-in/sold some regular fiction books to amazon many times before. It is quick and easy. They pay shipping which is really nice. In the past I’ve gotten my credit about a week to week & a half after shipping my items.
There used to be an Android app where you could scan items with your phone to add the items which I used a couple of years ago, I think it’s called Amazon Student now.
If Amazon won’t buy your books back…try cash4books.net. This is a wonderful site. They pay for your shipping to their warehouse and send your check within a week! Just another idea – if you want to shop around on getting your best rates for your old college books!
I have done it quick $60 from one book!
The problem with trade ins on the books is you can’t have writing in them…and I always buy used when I can and the darn things always have writing from the owner before me! I did make around $2
00 for one book though last year!!!
Yes that is the issue. The books that have writing in them are the ones I am selling myself and making a note about the condition. You can still get some money for them
There are to many BIG sellers selling thier books or pennies for me to mess with it. 🙁 I usually make more just selling back to the various local book stores.
There were some books that I could not sell because of that – but it depends on the book!
half.com is another great one for selling books. Its part of ebay, so most people already have a username for the site. And not just textbooks for that matter – all types of books, dvds, cds, video games.
P.S. half.com is a great site for buying these items for cheap too if you are looking for something!!
I like to go to http://www.dealoz.com. You can enter the book’s ISBN and the site will list the prices for all of the buyback sites (Amazon, textbooksrus.com, etc.). Then you just click to be redirected to their site and go from there! Super easy! I made over $300 selling back my books last week.
I rather sell on ebay. Amazon doesn’t give enough for books. I’ve seen 50 for a book that’s 150. I can get 100 for that book on ebay. If it doesn’t sell on ebay THEN i would sell to Amazon.
I paid for Christmas gifts last year trading in books to Amazon and earning gift cards. They do cell phones as well. It’s easy (very!!) and stress free, that’s what appealed to me.
I regularly sell books on Amazon myself and have done trade-ins as well. Is all pretty easy. I’ve sold on half.com as well, but lately I’ve had more luck with Amazon.
Another way to make money on old textbooks is by selling them to Bookbyte.com. They will take them even with writing. They will give you a shipping label, you can hand it to UPS or mail man and you’ll get a check within 2 weeks. No fees.
Personally I like selling my books through Amazon (not trading them in). I think you get a little more although Amazon still takes a cut. I did this throughout college with books that I knew I would not need again. If you wait too long to sell them their is a new edition. Also certain majors (most health related) are often not able to sell their books at all due to constant changes in the field. Still for classes outside your major it’s a great idea. I bought used whenever I could and sold books whether I bought them new or used. You should be honest about the condition but you’ll be surprised what college students will buy. As long as the text is legible and all the pages are intact many students don’t mind saving a few bucks by putting up with someone else’s highlighting/notes. Amazon has condition categories that you have to use. Personally I elected to get use to taking my notes outside the book so my books were in better condition to sell. I saved a lot of money over the years this way. Made the money from my summer job/work-study go a lot farther.
I’m not a huge fan of this program, because it seems to have very low rates for many popular books. I highly recommend https://www.textbooksrus.com . I sold my textbooks on there and got such a wonderful deal.