This is a quick comparison of the main online buyers of used books, looking at how they operate and which is best if you’re looking to sell secondhand books in the UK. I’ve checked out We Buy Books, Ziffit, Zapper, Music Magpie, Sell It Back and Momox to compare their rules and systems. The summary table shows for each buyer:
- How you can input your books? – Do they have a mobile scanning app for barcodes? Can you upload items in bulk or must they be entered separately?
- What’s the minimum value or number of books you can sell them? All the sites set a minimum order level so that it’s worth their while paying the postage. Given that the prices they offer per book are sometimes very low, you may need to send a lot of books to hit the minimum.
- How can you send your books to them? – Which carrier do you need to drop them with? Or will they collect from your home?
- Do they take ex library books? Some of the sites won’t take former library copies, even if they’ve been visibly stamped as withdrawn from use by the library.
- What happens if they reject a book when it arrives? Some are willing to return books if you pay for the postage, but most say they will just ‘recycle’ it themselves.
- How do they pay you? Generally it’s bank transfer or PayPal. In addition, some offer the chance for you to automatically donate the proceeds to your nominated charity.
- What other types of item can you sell? The sites generally also buy CDs, DVDs and computer/video games. Some also take all sorts of tech (phones, tablets etc) and a couple even take Lego. You can add such items to boost your sale package.
=> I’ve also compared the prices offered by the different sites in this post:
Sell Used Books Online UK – Who Gives the Best Offers for Secondhand Books?
Selling Secondhand Books - compare online buyers
| Scanning App (iOS & Android) | Bulk input | Minimum Order | Shipping method | Home collection | Accepts ex Library | Treatment of rejects | Payment methods | Charity donation option | Buys CDs | Buys DVDs | Buys Games | Buys Lego | Buys tech | |
| We Buy Books | yes | 25 items | £5 | Hermes | yes | yes | return at seller's cost | bank transfer, cheque or Paypal | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Ziffit | yes | no | 10 items or £5 | Collect+ | over 5kg | yes | recycled/no returns | bank transfer, cheque or PayPal | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Zapper | yes | no | £5 | Collect+ | no | yes | recycled/no returns | bank transfer, cheque or PayPal | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Sell it Back | yes | no | 10 items or £10 | Collect+ | over 60 items | no | recycled/no returns | bank transfer, cheque or PayPal. Or Awesome Books voucher | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Music Magpie | yes | no | £5 | Hermes, Post Office, Asda & Co-op Drop-Off | yes | yes | recycled/no returns | bank transfer, PayPal | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Momox | yes | 100 items | £10 | Post Office | no | no | reduced offer or return at seller's cost | Bank transfer | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no |