Every semester, Kingston students make the same mistake: they carry a stack of textbooks to the Queen's Bookstore at the end of term, hand them over, and leave with $15 for books they paid $180 for. The bookstore buyback exists for your convenience — theirs, not yours. You can do significantly better by selling directly.
What Your Textbooks Are Actually Worth
Textbook value depends on three things: whether the course still uses that edition, how many people need it, and when you're selling. The formula:
- Current edition, in-demand course: 40-60% of new price
- One edition old, still relevant: 20-40% of new price
- Outdated edition or niche course: $5-20 regardless of original price
- Custom Queen's course packs: Often worth nothing outside the course; list for $5-10 and accept what comes
Check the Queen's bookstore website to see if your edition is still required for next semester before setting a price. If it's not on the required list, lower your expectations accordingly.
Where to Sell
Fliku (Best for Local Sales)
List your textbooks on Fliku with the ISBN, edition, condition, and your asking price. Kingston students searching for specific textbooks find local listings faster than shipping platforms. No fees, no waiting for mail. A textbook listed on Monday morning in September often sells by Tuesday.
Program Facebook Groups
The fastest channel for in-demand textbooks: post directly in your program's Facebook group or class group chat. "Selling COMM 211 textbook, 4th edition, good condition, $60" in the first-year Commerce group reaches exactly the people who need it. Response is often same-day during the first week of semester.
AbeBooks, eCampus, or Chegg (For Shipping)
For textbooks with value beyond Kingston — specialized texts, graduate-level books, texts used at multiple Canadian universities — shipping platforms reach a larger buyer pool. AbeBooks has the highest fee structure (~15% commission) but the widest reach. Factor in shipping costs and platform fees when pricing.
Queen's Bookstore Buyback
The last resort. Use it for books that have no direct buyer and no shipping value — they'll give you something rather than nothing. Don't use it for current-edition, in-demand textbooks when you can easily get 4x more selling direct.
Timing Your Sale
Best time to sell: First week of the new semester. Students are purchasing required books, haven't yet decided to skip buying, and the market demand peaks. A $90 textbook listed on September 3rd sells at full price; the same book listed October 1st sells for $50 if you're lucky.
Worst time to sell: During exams or after the drop/add period closes. Students who didn't buy the book by week three usually figured out how to get by without it.
Buying Textbooks (The Other Side)
The same logic in reverse: buy in the last week of the previous semester from students who need to offload before leaving. The Fliku and Facebook listings in late April have desperate sellers offering textbooks at 20-30% of new price because they're moving out and don't want to carry them. That's when you buy next year's texts at a fraction of cost.
Where can I sell textbooks in Kingston for the best price?
Program-specific Facebook groups and Fliku during the first week of semester get you the highest prices — 40-60% of new for current editions. The Queen's Bookstore buyback pays significantly less (often 10-15% of new). Sell direct first; only use the bookstore buyback for books that didn't sell.
When is the best time to sell textbooks at Queen's?
The first week of the new semester (September and January). That's when demand is highest and students are actively purchasing. Waiting until week three or four means the market has moved on and prices drop significantly.
