Ben and I are in the process, once again, of purging our junk. We both tend to be savers, and despite my Moretz genes, I think Ben has me beat in seeing the value of something he MIGHT use again. With another baby on the way, our house seems to be shrinking, so thanks to my friend Priyanka, I am on my way to making $400 in Amazon credit. I can dig it.
She told me about the Amazon Textbook Buyback Program, and so I had Ben to bring in the box of old textbooks from the garage that I'd had in my office when I worked more full time - books I don't know if I'd opened since grad school. I simply typed in the title (or ISBN number which is found above the barcode), hit the submit button, and I heard cash register sounds in my ears. Keep in mind I graduated grad school 9 years ago (holy cow), and undergrad 11 years ago (holy cow-cow), so I was not expecting more than a dollar or two, if any, for the books. By the time I was finished, Ben said I had dollar signs in my eyes, and I was scrounging through our bookcase for any other books that I could get rid of. And Ben's.
Then, you box up your books, choose your preferred delivery method (UPS/USPS...) print the free pre-paid shipping label, and take them to your delivery location. Any books that are not in good enough condition will be sent back to you at no charge, at which point they WILL not re-enter my abode.
Now of course they didn't take all of them as we entered them in. And some were for minimal payback, but due to the space we need (and for Ben, bad memories), some books were worth the $.25 It was a sad realization that we were in the 2nd edition printings of many books, which are now on their 9th edition. I initially wondered what on earth could change in an anatomy book that would warrant republications every 2 years. And then Ben pointed out that one of the "models" had a mullet. Apparently even publishers want to be fashionable.
So, more recent grads - don't keep your old books unless you are positive you'll use them. My rule for Ben is if you haven't worn/read/opened something in 2 years, toss it. That's why God made libraries.
2 comments:
Hey, you might want to save that, "Atlas of Human Anatomy" book. Might come in rather handy when you have the ol "Birds & Bees" chat with the girls. Some people are visual learners...just sayin....
Funny, Lauren. Actually, Ben & I both had that book, and we're keeping mine because it was littered with notes to my classmates, possible new married signatures, maybe some horns/glasses on the "models" etc. How 'bout this: you can borrow my book and teach the girls what they need to know. You are the teacher, afterall.
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