A couple of months ago, I decided to start clearing out all my old DVDs. I’ve never had much of a collection, but I never watched these anymore. I wasn’t looking to absolutely maximize my price, I knew these weren’t the hottest titles anymore and was looking for the most convenient option. I found the website SecondSpin.com and used them. Here’s my experience:

Day 0 – Checking Prices
I typed in the UPC numbers from the back of the DVDs, and they told me their offer upfront with no commitment. I didn’t waste much time comparing prices across the web, but overall I did get more than if I sold for the lowest price as an individual seller at Amazon.com (and definitely more than what they were offering directly for gift cards). I agreed to sell back 9 DVDs for a total price of $23 plus their shipping credit. If you sell back 5 items or more, they reimburse you for the cost of USPS Media Mail postage.

Day 1 – DVDs Shipped out
I packed and shipped the DVDs via Media Mail out at the Post Office to their address in Itasca, IL. I was reimbursed for $3.16 in postage (up to 3 pounds), but actually had to pay $3.55 (up to 4 pounds). Perhaps I packed it too well.

Day 28 – Shipment Finally Received
I knew Media Mail could be slow. But nearly a month later, I receive an e-mail from SecondSpin that they have not received my DVDs yet, and that my price quote is about to expire. However, they agree to extend the quote for another 2 weeks as a courtesy. I get a little worried that they are lost in the mail, and I didn’t buy any tracking since the value was so low.

Later that very same day, I receive another e-mail that they have indeed received my shipment successfully. 2 of 9 items were rejected for being “severely scratched”, but that only reduced my payout by $1.40. (More on this below.)

Day 29 – Payment Received
You can elect to receive payment by check, PayPal, or store credit. I chose PayPal, and received my payment electronically without problem. I’m relatively happy, and figured that my rejected DVDs were just going to be trashed.

Day 60 – Rejects Come Home Again
I was surprised to find a package from SecondSpin.com in the mailbox. They had sent back the two rejected DVDs, postmarked at about Day 45. The postage they paid for USPS Media Mail: $2.38. If they had simply bought the DVDs at the price I already agreed to (even to junk them later), it would have cost them only $1.40. It actually cost them 98 cents more to reject my DVDs and send them back. I guess they want to make a point that you shouldn’t send them scratched DVDs?

I checked the DVDs, and there were slight visible scratches but nothing that would affect playback, nor what I would call “severe”. If you use Netflix, you know what I mean. However, I respect their decision not to resell them. I’ll just throw them on next year’s garage sale pile.

Overall, I was satisfied with the process. It took a month, but Media Mail is slow and I wasn’t in a rush.

The other site I used when selling back my old textbooks online was and SellBackYourBook.com. All the websites I used did indeed eventually pay me for my books.

Reviews on the Web
I did not spend more than couple minutes on this, but a quick search did not find any claims of non-payment or scam reports on SellBackYourBook.com.

I found two Better Business Bureau listings for this site. One gave No Rating and the other gave an A- rating. SellBackYourBook.com does advertise that it is an BBB Accredited Business, so if you do have issues I would file a complaint.

My Personal Experience
After typing in my ISBN numbers into BigWords.com, SellBackYourBook was the highest bidder for certain textbooks. Although I found their site lacking polish, I went ahead and agreed to their price and terms, and they provided me with a printable packing slip and prepaid shipping label. Here’s part of the email sent to me:

This confirms that your order has been placed with Sell Back Your Book. Please print a copy of your packing slip and include a copy of it in the box with your books. A link to print your packing slip can be found at the bottom of this email. Please mark your order number on the outside of your box so that we can quickly check in your books and pay you (order number is listed below).

It took me a couple of days to get around to going to the post office, and mail it out via USPS Media Mail (formerly known as Book Rate). 20 days later, I received a confirmation email, partial text below. There was no 2nd email confirming payment was sent.

Thank you for your order. We have received your books and payment will be processed with in three business days.

A check was made the same day, and three days later it was in my mailbox for the exact amount the promised me for my books. It was from “Ez Book Recycle Inc.”, for which SellBackYourBook.com is the sourcing arm. In total, 23 days went by from mailing out to receiving the check.

Summary Timeline

Day 1 – Sent out book via USPS Media Mail

Day 20 – Email confirmation of arrival

Day 20 – Check printed and mailed out

Day 23 – Check received successfully

It’s been about a month since I wrote about selling back my old textbooks online. I ended up selling books to two websites, ValoreBooks.com and SellBackYourBook.com. I figured I’d do a quick review of each one, starting with ValoreBooks.

Reviews on the Web
There were some online accusations at RipOffReport and ComplaintsBoard from people who said that ValoreBooks was a scam because they mailed off their books and never received any payment at all. It’s hard to prove anything because ValoreBooks only covers your Media Mail postage to their warehouse, and it is your option to buy Delivery Confirmation or other sort of tracking. But if I’m only selling $15 worth of books, it’s hard to just paying another $1-2 in my opinion. Perhaps for a larger order.

The Better Business Bureau gives them a rating of A+, although I don’t really think it’s that hard to achieve such a rating. It does indicate that the company is willing to try and resolve issues, if you file a complaint with the BBB.

BBB processed a total of 21 complaint(s) about this business in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total 21 complaint(s) closed in the last 36 months, 21 were closed in the last 12 months.

My Personal Experience
After typing in my ISBN numbers into BigWords.com, ValoreBooks was the highest bidder for certain textbooks. I agreed to their price and terms, and they provided me with a printable packing slip and prepaid shipping label. Here’s part of the email sent to me:

Please follow the steps below to complete your order:

1. Include your packaging slip with your shipment.
2. Package your books tightly in a cardboard box or padded envelope.
3. Cut out your prepaid shipping label and affix it to your sealed package.
4. Drop off your package at your local Postal Office.

It took me two days to get around to going to the post office, as you have to drop off the package in person for items weighing more than a pound. “No, this is not an explosive.” Would I really tell you if it was?

Then came the waiting game. Media Mail is notoriously inconsistent, so I almost forgot about the book when 15 days later I received the following confirmation in my email:

ValoreBooks Ship to Us Order: 1026XXX Arrived
Your sell back order has arrived at our warehouse and will be processed within 48 business hours.

I’ll never know if it really took 15 days to get there, or if they just sat on it for a while. In any case, one hour later I received another e-mail:

ValoreBooks Ship to Us Order: #1026XXX Confirmed
Thank you for choosing to sell your book(s) with ValoreBooks.com. […] Your order has successfully been checked in and you can expect payment within 10 business days to the following address: […]

Six calendar days later, a check was in my mailbox from “Bucks4Books” of San Diego, CA. I did get the exact amount the promised me for my book and reported condition. In total, 22 days went by from mailing out to receiving the check.

Summary Timeline

Day 1 – Sent out book via USPS Media Mail

Day 16 – Email confirmation of arrival

Day 16 – 2nd Email confirmation of payment approved

Day 19 – Check printed and mailed out from ValoreBooks

Day 22 – Check received successfully