I tested out Music Magpie when selling my unwanted books online and compared them to their online competitors. Here’s my Music Magpie review specifically for those wanting to sell secondhand books.
About Music Magpie:
As the name suggests, Music Magpie started off buying and selling CDs online but later branched out into a range of other items.
They’ve been operating from their headquarters in Stockport since 2007 and are probably the best known of this type of website in the UK, not least because of their extensive TV advertising over the years.
Music Magpie gain extremely good reviews from site users on Trustpilot.
How to Submit Your Books on Music Magpie:
- Enter items via their mobile app or on the website
- The app can scans your bar code via your camera. It’s available on both Google Play (Android) and the Apple App Store (iOS).
- If you don’t use the scanner you must enter the ISBNs one at a time.
Music Magpie Review – Additional items you can sell there:
Music Magpie can buy a very wide range of items in addition to books:
- CDs, DVDs, Blu Rays and video games
- Mobile phones
- All types of Apple products – Macbooks, iPads, iPods, TV, headphones etc
- tablets and Kindles
- smartwatches
- games consoles
- GoPro cameras
- And also LEGO, valued by weight
Creating a Trade at Music Magpie:
Your package needs to be at least £5 in value. This can be a mix of books and other items.
Once an offer has been made you can hold it in your basket for 14 days before deciding whether to sell.
You must be at least 18 years of age or have permission of a parent or guardian to sell to Music Magpie.
Music Magpie Review – Books they won’t accept:
The following will cause books to be rejected on arrival
- no barcode
- missing, damaged or defaced pages
- annotation, highlighting or drawings of any kind
- visible damage or discolouration on the pages or cover caused by liquid, mould or deterioration over time
- substantial damage to the front cover
What Music Magpie do with rejected items:
If any books are rejected on arrival will not be returned but will be recycled.
Music Magpie Review – delivery mechanisms:
- Hermes – drop off or collection
- Royal Mail – drop off or collection
- Smartdrop Kiosk (Asda & Co-Op shops)
- Asda store drop off
Music Magpie Review – Getting Paid:
Payment is by bank transfer, PayPal or cheque.
You can also opt to donate to one of their named charities.
Bonuses & Offers at Music Magpie:
Music Magpie run frequent bonuses – generally an extra 10% on your offers. These are sent by email to subscribers.
My Experience with Music Magpie:
In my experience Music Magpie often offered on books other sites didn’t want, although such offers were usually very low – less than 10p per book. This has meant that it would be very hard to make up a batch big enough to meet their minimum requirements without adding other types of items. My trades with Music Magpie have included lots of CDs and DVDs as well as books.
Trade 1 – 14 days from creation of trade to payment received
Trade 2 – 8 days from creation of trade to payment received. One book for ‘no barcode’ (my own fault!).
Music Magpie Review – in Summary:
My comparison of online book buyers found that Music Magpie gave offers on more of my books than any of their competitors, but the offers were generally on the low end.
As far as books go, I’d say Music Magpie go for quantity over size on offers – a good strategy for them but less so for us sellers! I haven’t really examined how they compare for other types of items.
On the positive side, though, Music Magpie are very well regarded by their customers, offer a good variety of delivery options and can buy a huge range of other items you might be wanting to dispose of.
See my reviews of other online book buyers in the UK
Comparison of price offers received from online book buyers