What do you do with books you no longer need? How to decide what to keep?

[SW in IL]

I'm a packrat, and I'll be the first to admit it. I'm also a completionist, if that's the right word for it. If I have a book that's part of a series/set, I feel compelled to get all the books to complete that set. But now I'm finding that I really want to consolidate some of our books. A few are in the "definitely keep" area (such as our Kingfisher history book which I love). A lot of them are in the "get rid of" box... mostly chapter books that my son read years ago.

 

Of the books that I know we'll never turn to again... How do you decide what to sell and what to give away or trade? Probably about half the books are used in some curriculum or other, mostly either WTM or Sonlight. Most are in quite good condition. In the most recent box of books I went through, I pulled out the best of the best... Books that we turned to over and over throughout the years. Some of these titles include Children Just Like Me (DK), Lives of the Musicians, Oceans Thematic Unit, By the Shores of Silver Lake reading comprehension guide, McGuffy and His Readers, and Shepherding a Child's Heart. I don't know if I should try to sell them or what, though. And, if I sell them, where to post them for sale.

 

Finally, I have lots of books that I'm just not sure what to do with. For example, we have possibly all the Magic School Bus series books. I loved those books, but DS never cared for them. So they sit on our science shelf. I've been working on getting all the DK Eyewitness series books and we have 30 or 40 of those. Again, DS doesn't care for them so they don't get used. Ditto the COFA series and COF and Landmark books. I have software (StartWrite, Critical Thinking, DIVE cds, etc.) that we had planned on using that never did get used. I don't know if I should keep any of these... maybe pack them away and come back to them later...

 

And most of this barely touches on the homeschooling materials that we never used! DS is 14 and will probably be going to public school for high school next year or at least within a few years. I keep wondering if some of these books would make good reference material then, but most of the books are for younger kids.

 

So what would you do if you had more books that you could fit in your home and no longer had the option of storing them elsewhere? How would you weed out what you don't need? Would you keep books that you liked even if your dc never cared for them? What about books you're pretty sure would never be used? What would you sell? Where would you try to sell them? Any thoughts/ideas?

 

Thanks,

Sue

[G5052]

I have one packaged on my washer that I sold late yesterday on http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com and will ship tomorrow. Such sales help finance next year's curriculum. Whenever I need something, I tend to look at my shelves to see what I can sell first.

 

Basically you can sell on Amazon, homeschool swap boards, or eBay. I usually do Amazon for books worth at least $5 if mine is the cheapest listing, homeschool swap boards for almost everything else, and eBay for lots of books (i.e. Sonlight Core 2 Books, etc.). I've done Paperback Swap for some books and have spent the credits on more school books and reading for me. Each has various rules and procedures.

Edited December 25, 2008 by GVA

[stripe]

Yes, I've sold stuff I don't need. On half.com, various boards, and homeschoolclassifieds, depending on the subject matter. I've made back my money or most of it on several foolish purchases (if that's the right word), and that was a relief. It does take time. Not everything sells right away. You will do better to try to sell your homeschooling stuff directly on a place without fees, with a targeted audience, such as this fine forum. :)

 

I've also donated to the friends of the library for their book sale and to thrift shops. Some used book stores will sell your books, but I doubt you'd get a lot of money from them, unless you had some valuable stuff or a lot of stuff. I don't mean to sound rude, but the entire collection of a paperback series is probably not going to get you a bunch of money back. And I've passed things on to particular people who wanted stuff, for free.

 

But most importantly -- save money first; stop "completing" series that no one at home is reading!

[Tammy]

I give them to the nearest daycare in my neighborhood!

[skylark]

I rarely use any money to buy anything school related unless I sell something first. I keep only books I think are must-haves and choose something to sell when I want to buy something.

 

It works out pretty well! I've had great turn-out selling online!

[Julpost]

I just got rid of childrens books on our local Freecycle board.