Making Quick Money

[Vella_Malachite]

Hey, guys. Quick question for those who've done this sort of thing before.

I tutor for money, so I'm out of work for the next two weeks because of school holidays. I've also got a bag of books I don't want to read again (some of them I'd even go so far as to say I don't want to so much as look at again, but I'm assured they're wonderfully popular). Does anyone have some good ideas for getting rid of them and earning cash in the process? I've gone to a couple of second-hand bookstores and they usually offer store credit for books rather than money, which doesn't help because I'm overloaded on books at the moment, but there's still a couple to try on my list.

Thanks in advance for the help
Vella

[Mordokai]

Amazon? E-bay?

Not really fast, but worth a try, I guess.

[Tirian]

Find a friend who needs something from the bookstore, pay for it with your store credit, and have your friend give you cash.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

If you have a Half Price Books nearby they will give you money for books, but you likely won't get a whole lot, especially if they books are a bit older.

[RS14]

The place I worked generally offered ~1/3 market price for books we thought we could sell. Usually we looked at Amazon for market price. Anything paperback will be hard to get more than a dollar for; I think we mostly sold ours for $1.25.

Popularity isn't really a good thing, particularly for older books, as it often just means there is a glut of cheap used copies on the market (no, we don't need a 6th copy of the Da Vinci Code). Best for the seller is a well regarded but not overly popular book.

Prices are so low because most books will go months or years before selling (if at all). The store's cut goes to overhead (store, employees) and to subsidize buying books that never sell.

Store credit is of course a very good deal for the store.

If you want more detailed comments, let me know what you have, condition, hardback/paperback, etc.

[kaptainkrutch]

I donate plasma (they call it "donating," I call it "selling") when I need some money. I don't know if you have plasma "donation" centers in Elsewhere, but if you do, you could make $60-$100 a week off of "donations." It goes to medical research, if that makes you feel any better about it.

[Vella_Malachite]

@RS14: They're mostly paperbacks, and for the most part, they're fairly new. Many of them have only been read once. Some of them, not even that; I never finished two of the books there. On the other hand, there's two or three that are starting to have seen better days.
I've got David Eddings, Fiona McIntosh, Ann Patchett, Terry Goodkind...and a whole lot which are more obscure.

@kaptainkrunch: I think we have plasma donation centres, but see, I pass out when people try to take things out of my body with needles. I've tried giving blood several times and it never works. I'd probably be just wasting their time. Good idea, tho.

@everyone: Thanks for the suggestions!