How to make a few hundred extra dollars this semester

If you’re looking to make a little extra cash without investing a lot of time and hardly any capital, you should look no further than selling books online, especially if you’re a student.

There are several factors that make being in school a great time to start selling books.

Free Books

First, there are plenty of unwanted books to be had on your campus, especially if you’re at a school with graduate students.  As new students move in and older students move out, stacks and stacks of books get trimmed from personal collections as the prospect of packing and moving them all becomes unbearable.

In my department we have a dumping ground (well, a countertop) where students and faculty regularly drop off unwanted books that are taking up space on their shelves or would be too much of a hassle to move long-distance.  A lot of these books are worthless (in the financial sense), but it’s always worth taking a look.  Besides finding books I was interested in and required to read for classes, I’ve found books that sold for as much as $70.

Free Supplies

Second, campus mailrooms are virtual warehouses of free packing material.  I’m not talking about stealing office supplies, I’m talking about recycling boxes and bubblewrap that other people are tossing out.  No need to scrounge around the grocery store for grease-stained cardboard or shell out a bundle at the store when there are plenty of materials to be found in your department’s mailroom  on a daily basis.

Other Considerations

Of course it’s necessary to invest some time at the outset if you have a sizable inventory or are brand new to online transactions, but sites like Amazon Marketplace and Half.com make the process very simple.  Personally, I have had much better results using Amazon, which undoubtedly gets more traffic than Half.com.

Once you get the hang of packaging books and combining trips to the post office with your other errands, you’ll find online selling a rather efficient, effortless way to make some dough.  I’m not talking about living off selling books, but it’s nice to get those emails every few days telling me I’ve made another 20 bucks using someone else’s website to sell someone else’s unwanted book.  Over time it really adds up.

This post was inspired by the group writing project Darren Rowse has sponsored at his website, ProBlogger.  Head on over to find a huge list of great how-to articles from around the world.