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Is it worth using 'World of Books' to recycle books?

(21 Posts)
singingnutty Mon 15-Sept-25 20:20:44

This question has probably been asked before, but I am wondering if it is worth taking up the offer in the emails I keep getting from 'World of Books' to sell books I want to part with. Do they just give you one price for paperbacks, one price for hardbacks, or do they offer more maybe for some volumes? I have a few books that belonged to my Dad that I don't want and looking at charity shop shelves I don't think they would fit there.

PaynesGrey Mon 15-Sept-25 20:32:49

You will only know if you try the app (it used to be called Ziffit) or try the desktop version here. You enter the ISBN number:

sell.worldofbooks.com/en-gb?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21891283356&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8p7GBhCjARIsAEhghZ0UIL_0nN5zUgdkKp98Bud6QxPDepK0naHgELb0-9ZJ2cy0egqqvWsaAiAHEALw_wcB

They will probably only give you pennies.

To donate you could send them to Oxfam. They will sell collectable books through their online store. My local Oxfam dedicated bookshop also sells collectable books. Some are quite valuable. They keep them in a locked cabinet.

BlueBelle Mon 15-Sept-25 22:22:13

Depends how many books you’ve got to sell You only get between 10p and £1,50 for most books that they want and there’s many many they don’t want but it’s better than throwing them away
I sold on Ziffit for years now it’s one of the jobs I do at the charity shop but changed to ‘world of books’
bearing in mind we get through a lot of books we probably make about £20 ish a week, not much, but better than landfill
But if you ve only got a few books it probably won’t be worth a lot to you

StoneofDestiny Tue 16-Sept-25 05:44:25

Not worth the time or effort for what they offer. Give them to charity.

grandMattie Tue 16-Sept-25 05:55:23

Useless fact.
There is a section of the M25 made using shredded, remaindered books!
Better than landfill…

BlueBelle Tue 16-Sept-25 07:19:13

Stoneofdestiny not always so easy a lot of charity shops are overrun with books and not taking them in

Chocolatelovinggran Tue 16-Sept-25 08:12:42

We have a few boxes around our town in which you can deposit a few books, and take one in return. Would that work?

singingnutty Wed 17-Sept-25 22:52:57

Thanks for the reminder about Oxfam. I could get the 'special' books to them as there is an Oxfam bookshop I can access.

Doodledog Wed 17-Sept-25 23:18:01

Anglo doorstep collections take books. If you go to the website you can see when they are next collecting from your postcode. They will knock and pick them up, or you can leave them on the step if you are going to be out. The money from the sales goes to a charity, and you can choose from a small list which one you want your donations to help.

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk

I use them a lot - they also take clothes and bric-a-brac. There is a list of what they take on the website (no furniture or bedding).

Aldom Thu 18-Sept-25 03:35:11

When I needed to off load a large quantity of specialist books I donated them to our local Oxfam bookshop and the bookshop at the National Trust property where I was a guide.
It's worth contacting a National Trust property in your area to ask if they have a bookshop.

Jane43 Thu 18-Sept-25 04:38:13

Chocolatelovinggran

We have a few boxes around our town in which you can deposit a few books, and take one in return. Would that work?

Our GP surgery takes books which they resell for £1 or 50p and so does my hairdresser, they donate the proceeds to charity.

BlueBelle Thu 18-Sept-25 04:51:24

Doodlebug I ve never heard of this organisation and looking on the map they don’t collect anywhere near my area so maybe that’s why Sounds a good idea if you do live where they collect

Cabbie21 Thu 18-Sept-25 07:31:58

I have used World of Books. I listed about 80 and only 50 were accepted for sale. Two boxes were collected. That was easy. Most made between 80p and £1.50. One was listed at £5 but on arrival it was rejected because of condition.
However, I only received half the money I was quoted as one box got lost in transit! I complained and they sent me the total originally promised, as a goodwill gesture! About £36 for not a huge amount of trouble, but a fraction of what I might have raised by selling individually on eBay, but then I didn’t have to pack and send each one individually.
I also used Oxfam Bookshops and National Trust to disperse books as well as selling a few privately and giving lots away to people I knew. NT were super helpful: unloaded my car and took the books on their buggy.

luluaugust Thu 18-Sept-25 07:37:08

A friend uses We Buy Any Book

BlueBelle Thu 18-Sept-25 07:50:44

Cabbie I sell books on eBay for the charity shop I work in and it’s a very long winded process and they reject far more than they take I probably check 30 in the hour I do it and they only take perhaps 2/3 if we re lucky
World of books is a quick and easy way to tidy the books out of your life and make a little bit of money but you will not make much either way unless you have a very niche book or a first edition or signed on eBay

BlueBelle Thu 18-Sept-25 07:52:15

Luluaugust we buy any books still goes through Workd of Books though

Calendargirl Mon 09-Feb-26 14:17:39

Anglodoorstep don’t appear to collect from my area.

If I try and sell books, and they say they will collect, do I still have to print a label?

I don’t have a printer.

shysal Mon 09-Feb-26 14:44:00

Some of the villages local to me have a book swap system in their bus shelters. I take a few, return them then take some more. Would it be worth starting one up? Old telephone boxes can be utilised for this too. I also swap jigsaw puzzles this way.

25Avalon Mon 09-Feb-26 15:02:55

Tesco’s often have a charity book section where you donate unwanted books which are then purchased by individual shoppers, at quite a low price, and the money raised is used for local community charities.

Maremia Mon 09-Feb-26 16:57:45

What an amazing fact grandMattie

AmberGran Mon 09-Feb-26 17:08:39

I've used We Buy any Book and World of Books (when they were Ziffit) to sell books, videos and CDs. We checked everything on both sites, and got better deals for some items on or other of the sites. I only sent them things in very good condition so there were no rejections. We made about £200 over a few months of making up a box now and again but no item was valued over £5.