Quick Summary: How to get the most money for your old university textbooks in the UK — which platforms pay best, the exact timing that maximises your return, and which books to sell versus keep.
Most students leave hundreds of pounds sitting on their shelves when they graduate or move on from a module. A first-year law textbook set bought for £500 can realistically return £150–250 if sold at the right time on the right platform. A medical textbook bought for £80 might sell for £35–50. Over a three-year degree, selling your used textbooks consistently can recoup £400–700 of your initial spend.
The key variables are timing, platform, and condition. Get these right and you substantially outperform students who either don’t sell at all or dump everything on the first buyback site that offers them pennies per book.
In This Guide
Timing: When to Sell for Maximum Return
Timing is the single most important factor in textbook resale value, and most students get it wrong by selling either too late or at the wrong point in the academic cycle.
Best Time to Sell: End of Spring Semester (May–June)
This is peak demand. First-year students are finishing their modules and realising they need books for second year. Second-year students are doing the same. It’s before most people have bought for the following year, demand is high, and supply hasn’t yet flooded the market. A book listed in May will sell faster and at a better price than the same book listed in September.
Second Best: August, Before Term Starts
Students searching for books before term begins in October are actively looking, motivated buyers. You have a window from mid-August through mid-September before the panic-buying phase peaks and used prices start to soften (as new stock floods platforms).
Worst Time to Sell: October–November
This seems counterintuitive — term is starting, students need books — but it’s actually the most competitive period. Every seller lists in September and October. Platform inventory is highest. Competition suppresses prices. Your book will sit unsold unless you price aggressively.
The New Edition Risk
The moment a publisher announces a new edition, the previous edition loses significant resale value — sometimes overnight. Monitor publisher websites and Amazon for new edition announcements. If a new edition is coming, sell before it’s available for sale. Sell immediately when you finish with a textbook — don’t wait until you “might need it again.”
Best Platforms for Selling Textbooks in the UK
Amazon Marketplace — Highest Return for Popular Titles
Amazon Marketplace consistently produces the highest sale prices for popular textbooks with strong demand. Your listing appears alongside new copies, benefiting from Amazon’s search traffic, and buyers who trust the platform pay close to market rate. The fee structure — referral fee plus closing fee — takes around 15–20% of the sale price, which is offset by the higher prices achievable vs other platforms. Best for: common undergraduate textbooks in current edition with good demand.
Time to sell: 1–4 weeks for in-demand titles, longer for specialist books
Return vs new price: 40–65% for popular current editions
Effort required: Medium — need to create listing, pack and post
Your University Secondhand Scheme — Fastest and Easiest
Students’ Union secondhand schemes, Facebook groups, and Noticeboard sales eliminate fees, are immediate (no postage), and buyers can inspect before buying. You typically won’t achieve Amazon-level prices, but the zero-fee, zero-postage, immediate-payment structure often produces better net returns on lower-value books. Also genuinely helps fellow students.
Time to sell: Hours to days at start of term
Return vs new price: 30–55%
Effort required: Low — post to Facebook group, arrange collection
eBay — Best for Bundles and Specialist Titles
eBay works well for selling textbooks as bundles (all first-year law books together, all year-one chemistry texts) where buyers appreciate convenience. It also performs well for specialist texts that have limited presence on Amazon. Auction format occasionally produces excellent prices; Buy It Now is more reliable for time-sensitive selling. eBay fees run at around 12–13% of sale price.
Time to sell: 7–14 days (auction format)
Return vs new price: 25–55% depending on demand
Effort required: Medium
Instant Buyback Services: Convenient But Low Return
Services like WeBuyBooks, Ziffit, and Music Magpie offer instant price quotes and prepaid postage — you scan the ISBN with their app, get an immediate offer, and post the lot. Convenient, but the prices reflect the commercial margin these businesses need to maintain: typically 10–25% of new retail price. Use these services for books you can’t sell elsewhere (outdated editions, heavily marked copies) or when convenience outweighs return. Don’t use them as your primary selling strategy for books in good condition and current edition.
Get a Quote from WeBuyBooks →How to Price Your Books for a Fast Sale
The Research Step (Always Do This First)
Before listing on any platform, search Amazon Marketplace for used copies of your exact edition and note the lowest price in each condition category. This tells you the floor price — what you’re competing against. Your price needs to be at or below the lowest comparable listing to sell within a reasonable timeframe.
Condition Matters More Than You Think
A book in Very Good condition can legitimately price 30–40% above the same title in Acceptable condition. Take an honest look at your copy: no highlighting (Very Good), some highlighting (Good), heavy highlighting throughout (Acceptable). Price accordingly and describe honestly — buyers who feel misled leave negative feedback.
The Sweet Spot: 15–20% Below the Lowest Comparable
Price slightly below the current lowest comparable listing and you sell fast. Price at the lowest and you might wait. Price above any comparable and you almost certainly won’t sell. Factor in platform fees when setting your price — if you want £30 net from an Amazon Marketplace sale, you need to list at approximately £36–38 to cover fees.
Which Books Are Worth Selling — and Which to Keep
Sell Immediately:
- Taxation textbooks — they update annually and last year’s edition is worth almost nothing within months
- Module-specific textbooks you won’t use again (year-one chemistry lab manual, specific legal case books)
- Any book you borrowed but somehow own
- Previous-edition copies when you’ve just bought the new edition
Consider Keeping:
- Core reference texts you’ll use across your career — Brealey Myers for finance students, the Royal Marsden for nurses, Elliot & Elliot for accountants
- Books that will support professional qualification exams you’re planning
- Any text you’ve heavily annotated with useful notes — your annotations have value to you that the resale price doesn’t capture
Does highlighting reduce the resale value of textbooks significantly?
Yes, but not catastrophically. A book with moderate highlighting (a few pages per chapter) grades as Good rather than Very Good, which typically reduces sale price by 20–35%. Heavy highlighting throughout the book grades as Acceptable, reducing price by 40–60% vs Very Good. Always describe highlighting honestly in your listing — buyers prefer accurate descriptions to nasty surprises.
How much will I get for selling an old textbook edition?
It depends on how old the edition is and whether a newer one is available. For widely used textbooks (Brealey Myers, Gray’s Anatomy, Elliot & Elliot), even one-edition-old copies retain 30–50% of new retail value because students whose programmes accept previous editions actively seek them for the savings. Two-edition-old copies typically fetch 10–25%. Older editions of standard texts can be worth almost nothing new or sold cheaply as references.
Is it worth using instant buyback services like Ziffit or WeBuyBooks?
For current-edition books in Good condition, no — you’ll significantly underperform vs selling yourself on Amazon or eBay. For books with limited resale demand (old editions, heavily marked copies, very specialist texts), yes — getting something is better than nothing, and the convenience is real. Use them as a last resort for books you can’t shift yourself, not as a primary selling strategy.
Last Updated: July 2026 | Author: Textbooks.co.uk Editorial Team. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases via affiliate links. Full disclaimer.