Look! Your house is on fire! Aren't you glad you sold your books?

Things accumulate.  The item that you held so dear to you  becomes one more thing in you life that you wind up donating to someone because it is too much of a nuisance to pack when you move five years later.  That or you throw it out.  Heaven forbid you are forced to move in a hurry and the opportunity has passed.  Look at all of the crap that you have, even the little stuff.  Do you really love it? Then think of the possibility of your cable getting turned off and having to live without your "Madmen" or ESPN.  Selling that stuff can make the difference between you knowing what happens to Don Draper and if the French soccer team cheats. 

I was avoiding doing a blog on auction sites because this is so damned obvious.  This is Creative Poverty, not everyday knowledge poverty.  But, you know, it ain't your grandmother's Ebay any more and there are a few things that I know that may help you out  if you should decide that you really need help paying that bill.  Creative thinking can apply.  I will do several blogs on different types of items you may consider moving along into other hands for money.  I am going to assume that you can read the instructions on auction sites enough to set yourself up.  Ebay is a well policed entity that has worked out its kinks in the last couple of years. I will focus on the goods.

Let's start this first one by looking on your bookshelf.  Most people think that a book is more valuable if it is old or signed by someone.  The truth is they wrote bad books a long time ago too.  And sometimes they signed them.  Besides, if it is one that is old, signed and worth something, maybe you should make that a last resort unless you are really in a bad financial bind.  You probably have something less dramatic to sell first.

The books that sell the best are usually brand new best sellers that came out within the last couple of  weeks (because everyone is looking for a deal); true first editions of a book that was a famous author's first publication (that is one that either says "first edition" somewhere in the book or starts on the number line with the number "1"); technical books that are well known in their field;  children's books in great shape with illustrations done by well known artists  (rare since kids tend to love their books to pieces) or a signed autobiography of a well loved or infamous person who is dead.  Sometimes not dead depending on how many book signings they did.  All books must be in excellent condition, including the dust jacket.  Expect to have to explain the condition in detail or incur the wrath of angry collectors.

There are some authors that are on the best seller list so often that the publishers print a ridiculous amount of copies.  Often it is not worth the posting fee on an auction site to put a book up for bidding.  So do some research.  Look at the auction site's completed items listing for that book and find out if it is selling.  That is how you determine demand.  And an item is only worth what a person is willing to pay for it in Ebay land.

My favorite way around turning over less valued books is to define their categories and turn them into bulk lots.  Multiple copies in certain areas can be sold together and increase the possibility of selling. A large paperback that has been dragged around the beach all summer and is a little bent in places is not worth much.  But if you have a couple of really good titles in the same kind of genre like chick lit or mystery or how to's in one specialty (knitting, writing, gardening,etc.), then you may have the makings of a decent book lot.   If the condition of the lot is passable.  List them as "Summer Reading Lot" or "A Great Mystery Lot" or whatever catchy phrase to describes the genre appealingly.  Hell, you may even put together a bunch of the previously mentioned worthless overprinted authors and get something.  Start them at a bid a wee higher than the cost of posting (a little more if they are more recent books) and make sure you post shipping as media mail. 

I know that sometimes it feels better to donate these things to groups that are in need.  But, friend, right now, there is a strong possibility that you  are the needy.  Better to get rid of the loose bits and live to donate another day. You probably won't get a ton but you can get a little coin for the trouble and one less bunch of books in your house that you more than likely will never touch again. It's one more dollar or two on the utility bill payment pile. In your house.  Now. And, who knows, maybe you will get lucky and find a hidden treasure  on your bookshelf.  And then you can buy a latte and pay your cable bill too.

www.Ebay.com