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Comments (8)
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Save/ShareGuidebooks are obviously good for helping you plan a trip. But what do you do with the book when your trip is over?
A lot of travelers just line their old guidebooks on bookshelves, where they do little more than collect dust. If you're planning on revisiting the destination in the near future, hang onto the guidebook, obviously. But if you won't be traveling there again anytime soon, perhaps you'd be better off putting the book to better use. You might want to:
Sell them online
GuideGecko.com allows you to list guidebooks for free, then takes a 15 percent commission when you make a sale. Glyde, meanwhile, is an online marketplace for used books, CDs, DVDs, and video games. When an item sells, the site takes 10 percent and sends you a pre-addressed, pre-stamped Netflix-like envelope, so you can mail the item to the buyer without having to package it or wait at the post office.
Sell them to a bookstore
Many bookstores sell (and buy) used books. Some stores are particularly picky, however, and you'll have the best chances of getting some money for your guidebooks if they're fairly new and only gently used. Call the store first and ask about what they buy, and how much they'll pay. Otherwise, you might haul in a box full of books for no reason.
Swap them
At Swaptree, members trade books, CDs, DVDs, and video games at no cost other than shipping. The way it works is that you list the items you want to trade, along with items you'd like to get. The site automatically figures out when there's a match with another member (or three members, in a triple swap), you're notified via e-mail. Once everybody agrees to the swap, you mail your old book (or whatever you're trading) and wait for your new CD, DVD, video game, or book to arrive.
Leave them behind
Inns, B&Bs, hostels, and small hotels often like to keep brochures and guidebooks on hand to help out guests. So if you enjoyed your stay (and perhaps even if you didn't), why not give your guidebook to the cause once you're done with it? Alternately, when your trip is over and you're leaving the destination, you could hand over your book to some traveler just arriving at the train station, bus depot, or airport. You can totally make some traveler's day. It's good karma too.
Give them to the library
Library budgets have been slashed, and most are happy to receive any and all book donations. At many local libraries, the travel section features guidebooks from the '80s, so they need all the help they can get. Ask for a receipt when you bring in your books. You can use the donation as a deduction on your taxes.
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Don't give your outdated guidebooks to the library, unless the library has a friends group or something similar that runs a book sale periodically.
Posted By Barbara on February 21, 2010, 5:57 PM
I have accumulated many Paris travel guidebooks over the years. I give them away to visitors of my website.
Posted By Steve From TravelingProfessor.com on February 22, 2010, 8:55 AM
As I put a scrapbook together of the trips I've taken, I use some of my old guidebooks as part of that scrapbook along with my photos and other momentos that I've collected on my trip.
Posted By Kathy on February 22, 2010, 3:12 PM
Decidedly, old guidebooks may miss out on new things - which are readily available on the web or new editions.
Nevertheless, they, old guidebooks, could still be of SOME use to guide newcomers(there will always be people new to a place) and there may still be some tourists who prefer reading guidebooks or do not have unlimited access to the Internet.
Old guidebooks are not totally useless because the sites and street maps and hotel/resto info could still be 70 or 80 per cent useful.
Posted By peteampil on February 22, 2010, 10:05 PM
I agree with Barbara. Most libraries pride themselves on keeping their travel books up to date since they are a high circ item. Can't imagine who did any research to come to the conculsion that many libraries still have books from the 80s. They take "any and all" titles to put in their book sales, not on the shelves! Can you guess that I work in a library.
Posted By Diane on February 23, 2010, 11:06 AM
Donate them to Goodwill and take a tax deduction :0)
I am talking about actual books - either hardbound or paperback - it good condition and not 20 years old. I liked the scrap booking idea too! I have also left mine in our hotel room 'hopefully' for someone else to use. If not, the hotel can dispose of them.
Posted By CMM on February 25, 2010, 5:11 PM
I've given my guidebook away on the last night of a trip at a hostel or B&B to someone just starting out on their journey a few times. I've regretted doing this, too! After one trip, without the Oaxaca guidebook beside me upon returning home, I found in nearly impossible to write a detailed trip report about my travels. So, if you do this (and it's a great thing to do!) just be sure you've transcribed all the info you'll need for your trip report, blog post, Flickr captions, etc.
Posted By Lauren from casacasa.org on February 25, 2010, 10:41 PM
But it all depends how old the guidebooks are of course... guidebooks can change radically with every update; I cringe when I see travellers walking the streets using a guidebook I wrote 8 years ago, knowing 3 editions have followed! Eek!
I can just imagine those poor people arriving at a restaurant that closed a few years back, or trekking all the way to an out of the way museum that has shut for renovations...
If the book is more than a couple of editions old, it's probably not worth keeping at all to be honest, except for the history & culture section.
Posted By lara dunston on March 5, 2010, 1:12 PM