I have promised myself that I would get rid of most of the paperbacks in my house before I purchase a Kindle 3G.  Has anyone found a profitable way to do this?  I have several hundred books.  I can trade here for credits and sell credits.  That won't earn anything, though.  Have you ever sold books on Craigslist?  Do you have other ideas?  Ebay?  I'm not really a rereader.  I should get rid of them.  Ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

Amazon has a 'trade in' service that you can sign into from your on-line account and check to see if they want any of your books.

Here.

You enter the ISBN under "Textbook" (which includes hardback, paperback and tradesize) and they'll show if they're offering anything for it, and how much. If you start finding you have things they want, find a box and fill the box. When it's full then finish the deal by accepting the 'offer'. They'll send you a lable to put on the box that pays for shipping. (Pretty sure it's media mail, so it'll take a bit to get there.)

They'll check the books and make sure they're acceptable. If they don't accept a book they'll mail it back in a few weeks.

I've sold a few boxes to them in the past and got Amazon Gift cards in payment. Don't remember right off what kind of conditions they're looking for, but figure it's still there somewhere. Never had any problems with them. Got a lot of good deals on trade sized books. But it's hit and miss on what books they want and when they want them.

There are a few sites on-line that do the same thing. I think one was cash4books.  You should be able to Google some of them up.

I'm going to try it!

I sold my crs here & got Amazon eGift cards Purchsed my Kindle & about 200 eBooks!  Why do you Think it wont work?

You can also try selling the books to some of the other textbook buyback sites.  I've found a website (www.bigwords.com) where you can put all your ISBNs and it compares what the different websites are offering.  Then, you can go directly to the websites and sell to them.  The process is similar to what Cindy describes, with a few variations depending on the specific site and their procedures.  It might not be particularly profitable (sometimes they offer very little to nothing on books that are not recently published).  However, it might be a better deal than sending books as singles on PBS and then selling the credits.

P.S. In response to Barbara A's question, trading here and selling credits won't "work" because she'll spend more than she'll get.  Unless her paperbacks are wishlisted books that she can send as multiples, or she finds someone willing to make multiple credit deals, she'll end up sending lots of singles or 1 credit deals.  So let's say she sends a "normal" paperback book.  Media mail would cost $2.41, unless she adds extra services.  Add to that the cost of mailing supplies (tape, wrappers, etc).  Then, when she goes to the bazzar she finds that people want to buy cheap credits.  So let's say she sells them for $2.50.  She'd end up just about breaking even or even spending more money than she's getting.

She can group them by Authors & sell them as Sets!  Saves her postage & she earns crs to resell.  I let go ALL my DVDs & Books in Dec... Buy reselling the crs I purchsed my Kindle Mid Jan [$139+SH]   Before I got the Kindle I purchsed PC games for my son Extra Batteries for different things  MP3/WMA Player, etc   & still got the Kindle & eBooks.  Did I make a Profit NOOO  & I might have broke even but since I only got the books 1-2 per month adv & same with DVD & I enjoyed them.   And I got the eReader Without spending money from my bills.   Profit...your in the Wrong place LOL 

The problem is, I have mass market romance novels.  No one wants to buy them back.  I'm going to keep trying.  Next week I am going to the bazaar and offer deals, as well.  If I break even, or even close I'd be happier than buying the Kindle and keeping all of these paperbacks.  I think I am going to quit paying for the extra services, though.  That would help.  Maybe Ill be back to this forum soon for ebook advice!

Has anyone heard rumors about WHEN Kindle will be able to accept library books?  Epub, right?

The problem is, I have mass market romance novels.  No one wants to buy them back.

Sounds like you'd be better off doing a big deal and just keeping an eye on your bottom line. But I do think the wait to get through romance might take a while.

Has anyone heard rumors about WHEN Kindle will be able to accept library books?  Epub, right?

I actually haven't heard. Rumors, but nothing concrete.

But besides freebies you can borrow some Kindle books for two weeks. If you don't mind reading on your computer monitor, you can get "Kindle4pc" and start collecting free ebooks, and borrow some from Kindle book lending sites.

If I were you, I'd think about needing to have all your books out first if it's really a Kindle you're going to end up with. (If you can afford it, of course.) It may be cheaper to get the kindle and read freebies and trade books for a while and get rid of your library a bit at a time. What new books you don't buy can help save money. If you get a Kindle with the ads you can save a bit as well. They just had a $1 for a Selected Kindle Book offer (there were about 3,000 books on the list available for a $1) that only those with a Kindle-with-Ads could take advantage of. Plus it's about $50 cheaper than the other models.

I just got one last Saturday, Wifi only, and don't mind the ads. I can put all my saved Kindle freebies I've been collected on it, the loaned books as they come in, and my own stuff (collected fanfic and DRM-less fiction) and it's a nice machine.

I've been able to have tons to read and haven't even bothered with a library yet.

Thats what I did to get my Kindle!!   And Every day Amazon has GA eBooks Most are Romance!  So you have a Win-Win LOL   

I'm in the same boat - tons and tons of MMP romances - posted a bunch a few weeks ago and mailed out over 25 books and would have come out ahead purchasing credits and keeping the books but I figured I'd spread al ittle 'love' around since I've gotten so many deals(obviously since I've run out of space!) I debated putting together a big box of simialr books or authors and doing a deal here or possibly on ebay - will have to check out amazon though.

Leah,
I realize this isn't what you asked, but do you have a Smartphone?  I have an android phone and used the kindle app for free at first.  I never thought I'd like reading from my phone, but I ended up loving it!  I did buy a kindle a few weeks ago because we're going on vacation to the beach and I want to be able to read in the sun.  That's the only reason I went kindle, otherwise, the free phone app would have been fine with me (plus, I also have acrobat, kobo, nook -- all on one device and all free apps).  Of course, now that I bought the actual Kindle, I'm addicted to it.  (Other note: the Kindle isn't backlit like the phone, but I bought a Kindle case and it has a built in light).

So, I've been loading up on the free stuff and reading anything I own in print that's wishlisted.  Offering them in the multiples thread has been great for boosting the credits.  My objective, however, isn't to pay for my kindle but to get rid of my print books.  I replace all wishlisted print books with ebooks if  the cost of the ebook was less than the cost of postage to send the print book out (not sure my logic there - that's just the cutoff I settled on).

I have over 3000 books in my house, but can't seem to part with any that I haven't read (a little ADD and OCD here:-)), so to me the investment in the digital medium is worth the cost.

Sorry I deviated from your actual topic.  I still highly recommend the free kindle apps if you have a smartphone and can't yet get the Kindle.

Denise

i agree the kindle app on the android is great