Is it worth using 'World of Books' to recycle books?

I’ve been sorting through my books, and as has been said, for the small amount you get for them, just not worth the faff.

A few I have managed to car boot, some of the older ones ( quite readable, but yellowed pages) I have placed in a telephone box exchange, a few to charity shops, some to a book sale at church, and the newest and best condition ones donated to the library. The latter, if they don’t make it to the ‘borrow’ shelf, they go in the occasional book sales they have.

I have bought many books from WOB and am very grateful to the people who send their books there as they tend to be rather niche Latin, Ancient Greek, Classics, History, piano and Archaeology textbooks. I would never have found them in a local charity shop, and they have saved me a lot of money rather than buying new. So thanks to everyone that offloads their books this way!

I’ve just used WOB - DPD collect and it’s free and I need them to be collected. I was paid just over £111 with a price range from 10p to £4.27. Very efficient service and for me the easiest way to get rid of the books.

I've tried loads of online booksellers but the prices I got would nowhere near cover the cost of the price of the book and postage. A lot of my books were hardbacks and reference books.
I gave up trying and took them all to our local recycling centre to put in the recycle shop along with all the cd's I had.

25Avalon

Tesco’s often have a charity book section where you donate unwanted books which are then purchased by individual shoppers, at quite a low price, and the money raised is used for local community charities.

This 👍🏻

I would take them to the supermarket & let the charity who they deal with it take the money.
Ive picked up four good books today. Donated to the local hospice.
It’s probably not going to be worth your while posting them.

I thought the same, Wolfie59. It just wasn't worth the effort to sell them so I donated mine. I've also bought books from World of Books and some have been in very poor condition, one was even an old library book.

I gathered up 9 or 10 books, some hardbacks but most paperback, all excellent condition, some recent like Richard Osman books. I got £8.50 from World of Books (I did know that is what I was going to receive cos when you scan each one in the app it tells you what it's worth), but frankly by the time I'd found a suitable strong box, packed it all up safely, taped it tight, took it to the nearest courier drop-off point (about a mile away), I really wish I'd just given them to our local charity shop and let them keep the £8.50. I wasn't swindled as the app is very clear about what you have to do, and what each book you scanis worth, but frankly it was just a whole load of faff. I won't be doing that again.

I've used We Buy any Book and World of Books (when they were Ziffit) to sell books, videos and CDs. We checked everything on both sites, and got better deals for some items on or other of the sites. I only sent them things in very good condition so there were no rejections. We made about £200 over a few months of making up a box now and again but no item was valued over £5.

What an amazing fact grandMattie

Tesco’s often have a charity book section where you donate unwanted books which are then purchased by individual shoppers, at quite a low price, and the money raised is used for local community charities.

Some of the villages local to me have a book swap system in their bus shelters. I take a few, return them then take some more. Would it be worth starting one up? Old telephone boxes can be utilised for this too. I also swap jigsaw puzzles this way.

Anglodoorstep don’t appear to collect from my area.

If I try and sell books, and they say they will collect, do I still have to print a label?

I don’t have a printer.

Luluaugust we buy any books still goes through Workd of Books though

Cabbie I sell books on eBay for the charity shop I work in and it’s a very long winded process and they reject far more than they take I probably check 30 in the hour I do it and they only take perhaps 2/3 if we re lucky
World of books is a quick and easy way to tidy the books out of your life and make a little bit of money but you will not make much either way unless you have a very niche book or a first edition or signed on eBay

A friend uses We Buy Any Book

I have used World of Books. I listed about 80 and only 50 were accepted for sale. Two boxes were collected. That was easy. Most made between 80p and £1.50. One was listed at £5 but on arrival it was rejected because of condition.
However, I only received half the money I was quoted as one box got lost in transit! I complained and they sent me the total originally promised, as a goodwill gesture! About £36 for not a huge amount of trouble, but a fraction of what I might have raised by selling individually on eBay, but then I didn’t have to pack and send each one individually.
I also used Oxfam Bookshops and National Trust to disperse books as well as selling a few privately and giving lots away to people I knew. NT were super helpful: unloaded my car and took the books on their buggy.

Doodlebug I ve never heard of this organisation and looking on the map they don’t collect anywhere near my area so maybe that’s why Sounds a good idea if you do live where they collect

Chocolatelovinggran

We have a few boxes around our town in which you can deposit a few books, and take one in return. Would that work?

Our GP surgery takes books which they resell for £1 or 50p and so does my hairdresser, they donate the proceeds to charity.

When I needed to off load a large quantity of specialist books I donated them to our local Oxfam bookshop and the bookshop at the National Trust property where I was a guide.
It's worth contacting a National Trust property in your area to ask if they have a bookshop.

Anglo doorstep collections take books. If you go to the website you can see when they are next collecting from your postcode. They will knock and pick them up, or you can leave them on the step if you are going to be out. The money from the sales goes to a charity, and you can choose from a small list which one you want your donations to help.

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk

I use them a lot - they also take clothes and bric-a-brac. There is a list of what they take on the website (no furniture or bedding).

Thanks for the reminder about Oxfam. I could get the 'special' books to them as there is an Oxfam bookshop I can access.

We have a few boxes around our town in which you can deposit a few books, and take one in return. Would that work?

Stoneofdestiny not always so easy a lot of charity shops are overrun with books and not taking them in

Useless fact.
There is a section of the M25 made using shredded, remaindered books!
Better than landfill…