Extra cash, straight from my bookshelf

A couple of months ago I was looking at all the books on my bookshelf, and wondering why I was keeping them. As much as libraries make the most sense for the frugal reader, I'm just not a fan of dirty books. So I buy my fair share of books new from online sources. But what about when I'm done with them?

They go onto my bookshelf with all the other. There are about 30% of them that I want to keep and have read more than once. The rest of them are taking up space, and I have no good reason to really stay there. So why not sell them? Selling your books to a used book store is one option, but everything I've read indicates that you'll get about 50 cents to $1 per title, if you're lucky.

If doing a little extra work doesn't turn you off, selling your books on Half.com (an eBay company) can get you a better return on your investment. You still won't get a ton of money. Plan on selling a book that cost you $15 or $20 for $3 to $7. If you can make more than that, congratulations, but that seems to be the most reasonable range to expect. Half.com collects shipping fees for you, and you can send the books via U.S. Postal Service Media Mail at a reasonable cost.