• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Trading Heroes

Trading Heroes

Forex Trading Education

  • Articles
  • Products
  • About
  • Login

How to Sell, Donate or Recycle Your Old Trading Books

Do you have a pile of trading books that you will never read again just taking up space in your home? This post will show you how to get rid of them in the best possible way.

Home / Trader Life / How to Sell, Donate or Recycle Your Old Trading Books

Last updated: August 11, 2022
By Hugh Kimura

I find television to be very educating.  Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book.

-Groucho Marx

If you are like me, I'm sure you have amassed quite a sizable library over the years on topics of interest, especially trading. At a certain point though, I realized that there were a lot of books that I would never read again.

So as I was doing a little New Year's cleaning, I did some research on how I could get these books to people who could make use of them.

Here is my list of things that you can do with old books that you do not want anymore. I was actually surprised at the number of options there are out there.

Trading book

Sell Your Books

My first suggestion would be to see if you books have any resale value. At least you could get some money back to buy more books.

RELATED: Positive affirmation tracks to reprogram your subconscious

One way to do it is you can find out if a book reseller will be willing to buy your books. Obviously they will only pay a fraction of the retail value because they need to turn a profit. The benefit to you is that you at least get some money for your books and they usually pay for your shipping.

Most sites have an online database where you can just enter the ISBN of the book and it will tell you how much they are currently paying.  Here are a few of the many sites out there:

  • Cash4Books
  • We Buy Your Books
  • Powell's
  • Blue Rectangle

If you want to cut out the middle man, then you may want to try reselling directly to a fellow reader. The benefit is that you will usually get more per book, on average.

The downside is that it may take awhile to sell and it is time consuming to list, pack and ship every single book. This would be my least favorite choice, but it may work for you. Here are a few sites that you can sell them on:

  • eBay
  • Craigslist
  • Amazon

Donate Your Books

So no one wants your copy of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook for Dating? OK, maybe that's not a good example.

But, most of the books you have may not have any resale value. However, they may be good books, classics even.

The next thing I did was to look at donating them.

I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is donating them to your local library. They may take it, but I have found that sometimes libraries are a little picky as to what they will accept.

Go figure.

They usually only have limited shelf space and have a list of books that they want to carry. In addition, they may not have the proper channels to distribute books that they do not need and they may go to waste.

I Googled around a little and here are some great options for donating:

  • I don't know about you, but I am all for supporting developing countries. Still, there are people in MY country that could use some books so I would rather support them first. I found Reader-to-Reader and it looks like they support a lot of initiatives in the US, so I sent a couple of boxes of books to them, with more on the way. Donations may be tax deductible.
  • Another good option is BetterWorldBooks.com. You can either sell or donate books to them. They will pay for your shipping and profits go towards supporting global literacy programs.
  • Of course, I'm sure your local school, hospital or hospice would be happy to get some donations also!

Recycle Your Trading Books

If none of these ideas have appealed to you yet, then this section may be for you. Here are some ideas for going green! Keep those books out of the landfill and have some fun in the process.

  • Use Freecycle to find a new home for those books. You just post what you want to give away for free and if anyone wants them, they come and pick it up.
  • You can swap books using ReadItSwapIt, Paper Back Swap, Bookins or BookMooch.
  • Live vicariously through your books! Check out BookCrossing.

Here are some other fun ideas for books that are beat up or out of date:

  • Invisible book shelf – Amaze your friends with this fun and practical project.
  • Secret Hollow Book – Need to hide some stuff? Hide it in plain sight.
  • Turn it into a clock – What time is it? Time to read!

And if all else fails and that book need to be taken out to pasture, click here to see the last resort.

Conclusion

I hope this post helps you do some cleaning and find great re-uses for those old books. Trading books are great for keeping around for reference, but there are some books that you know you will never read again. Clear out the clutter and make room for new books or other valuable things in your life.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Some links on this page are affiliate links. We do make a commission if you purchase through these links, but it does not cost you anything extra and we only promote products and services that we wholeheartedly believe in. 

Related Articles

  • What is a Forex Broker?What is a Forex Broker?
  • MitsuiFX fake broker5 Simple Ways to Spot a Forex Scam
  • Forex Trading in Tallinn, EstoniaForex Trading in Tallinn, Estonia
  • Run DMCGunnar Glasses (Intercept): 90 Days of Daily Use vs Gamma Ray Flexlite
  • How to Build Your Own Low-Cost Metatrader Virtual Private Server (VPS)How to Build Your Own Low-Cost Metatrader Virtual Private Server (VPS)
  • Truth About Forex Conference 20177 Things I Learned at the Truth About Forex Conference 2017
  • Oanda Trading ScreensHow to Get Around FIFO and Hedging Forex Trades With a US Broker
  • Happiness in lifeThe 7 Trading Training Steps of Professional Forex Traders

Category: Trader Life Tag: Alternative Finance, Charities We Support

About Hugh Kimura

Hi, I'm Hugh. I'm an independent trader, educator and researcher. I used to work at a hedge fund and the largest bank in Hawaii. Now I help traders optimize their trading psychology and trading strategies. Learn more about me here.

Financial freedom is probably closer than you think. Stop paying for things that don’t make you truly happy.
Nobody understand everything. Double check your assumptions. Double check others.

Primary Sidebar

Trading Guides

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Forex Backtesting

How to Figure Out Your Trader Personality Profile

The Forward Testing Guide for Beginners

How to Create a Precise Trading Plan (with PDF worksheet)

Learn the weird trading method that doesn't use stop losses...

Forex Hedging Guide
FREE Guide
Download Now

Footer

Company

  • Trading Courses and Education
  • Trading Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Beware of Imposters

Community

  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Tutorials & Guides

  • Best Trading Resources
  • Free Forex Trading Course for Beginners
  • Free Backtesting Guide for Beginners
  • Trader Personality Profile
  • Best Trading Books

Articles

  • Backtesting
  • Podcast
  • Trader Life
  • Trading Psychology
  • Trading Software Tutorials
  • Trading Strategies

Trading involves risk and can result in the loss of your investment. Invest at your own risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All information on this site is for informational purposes only and is not trading, investment, tax or health advice. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions. Seek the advice of a qualified finance professional before making any investment and do your own research to understand all risks before investing or trading. TrueLiving Media LLC and Hugh Kimura accept no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. You are 100% responsible for your losses...and gains. You are more powerful than you know, keep expanding.

 

Copyright © 2007–2023 TrueLiving Media LLC | Terms | Privacy | Risk

Learn Zen8 Forex Hedging

Hedging can be a low-stress and consistent way to trade. Enter your email and I'll send you the FREE guide. 

x