Best Apps to Sell College Textbooks

You have two choices - download an app that compares offers from multiple vendors or download a specific vendor's app and sell your college textbooks directly to that company. We recommend using a comparison app to find the best offer and then divide your books up and sell them to the vendor(s) that pay the most. Keep in mind that some vendors have a minimum value of books they will buyback and offer free shipping. This prevents them from losing money on the transaction because shipping can sometimes be more than the value of the book.

As you may have guessed, this is what BookTrapper does - compare buyback prices from top online vendors to help you find the best offer and get the most money for your textbooks. The app lets you scan a barcode or enter an ISBN through the keypad. It is available for IOS and Android.

The BookTrapper App has several helpful features:

App Download Links
BookTrapper on the IOS App Store
BookTrapper on Android at Google Play

Additionally, BookTrapper has a student book trading platform online that lets student post book they need and books they want to sell. Get matched with other students on your college campus for trading/buying/selling without having to go through the campus bookstore. It works like a dating service for textbooks, but this feature is only available on the website and not through the app. It has all the colleges in the United States listed on the platform.

Another popular price comparison engine, the BookScouter app is available for IOS and Android. It allows for scanning of barcodes and entering ISBNs manually. You can also go on their website and search buyback prices also. This company has been around for a while and they have lots of small, obscure vendors that you may not find on other platforms.

Some cool features:

App Download Links
BookScouter on the IOS App Store
BookScouter on Android at Google Play

These are apps released by specific companies that buyback books. What's great is that you can complete the whole process in one place without having to ship to multiple places. Just scan the books you want to sell, add them to your cart, go through checkout, get a free shipping label, and get paid all in one app. This is super nice if you want to get everything done quickly, but the downside is that you are not shopping around and must take whatever price they quote.

A highly rated buyback site, the BooksRun app is intuitive, easy to use, and self explanatory. All the steps you need to sell your books are right there in the navigation bar - searching, scanning, and cart. Upon downloading the app, BooksRun has a helpful tutorial that explains the process for first time book sellers. BooksRun does buybacks, sells books directly to students, and offers rentals. They can offer significant savings over the campus bookstore.

App Download Links
BooksRun on the IOS App Store
BooksRun on Android at Google Play

This is another great vendor that buys back textbooks, and their mobile app makes the process smoother. Upon downloading, you will see a welcome screen and a quick tutorial. This company emphasizes that they give instant quotes, which saves you time - no middlemen, comparisons, or shipping out to multiple different companies. The app lets you scan a barcode or enter an ISBN through the keypad. The whole process is very easy and self-explanatory.

App Download Links
SellBackYourBook on the IOS App Store
SellBackYourBook on Android at Google Play

Another awesome app that will buy your books directly, ValoreBooks, is associated with Follett, and Follett manages most of the campus bookstores in the United States. This means that ValoreBooks i.e. Follett does lots of volume and offers consistently good buyback prices, since they are such a large company. It is a full service textbook company, offering books for students to purchase or rent in addition to their buyback program.

Their app is a little confusing to use at first - you can scan a barcode or enter an ISBN manually, and it has a button where you can 'Lock In' the buyback price. Next, it redirects you to their website where you can complete the transaction. It's a little less user-friendly than some other vendors' apps, but it works.

App Download Links
ValoreBooks on the IOS App Store
ValoreBooks on Android at Google Play

Although this post is about apps to sell college textbooks, the web has more options. And websites are basically 'web apps' anyway. BookFinder is easily searchable on google. This site has been around a long time, and it compares buyback prices just like BookTrapper and BookScouter. The interface looks dated, but it's an effective tool to find offers for you books.

Web Links
bookfinder.com