Sell Your Textbooks in Australia

Used textbooks in Australia typically sell for A$10 to A$67 (about $7 to $47). Textbooks sell on edition and ISBN, and nothing else comes close — a buyer needs the exact edition their course specifies, so put the ISBN in the listing.

What textbooks are worth in Australia

Condition	Typical	What it means
New with Tags	A$67	Unused, tags or seals intact
Like New	A$57	Barely used, no visible wear
Good	A$44	Light signs of use, complete and working
Fair	A$30	Heavily used, or a described fault or missing part
For Parts	A$17	Not working or incomplete, sold as seen

Guide ranges converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate, not quotes — sellers set their own price. Grades are seller-declared; WishThrift does not inspect or verify them.

What lifts the price

Unmarked pages with no highlighting
Selling at the start of an academic term

What pulls it down

Superseded editions, which lose most of their value overnight
Used access codes, which cannot be reused

Selling textbooks in Australia

Bank transfer via PayID is instant and is what most private buyers will offer. Cash on collection remains common for larger items.

Australia Post covers everywhere, but distance pricing is real and interstate parcels cost meaningfully more than local ones.

WishThrift has not opened Australia for trading yet, so this page is a guide rather than a live marketplace — the category becomes browsable here the moment the first Australian sellers list.

Seasons are inverted relative to the UK and North America: warm-weather items move from September, and winter gear from around May.

Working out what yours is worth

Check the edition number against the current one
List at the start of a term rather than the end

Getting it ready

Check for highlighting, annotations and missing pages, and be honest about the extent.
Check whether any access code or online component was included, and whether it has been redeemed.

Photograph

The front cover straight on
A typical interior page, showing any highlighting
The spine and corners, plus any water damage or loose binding

Put in the description

Title, author, edition number and ISBN
Extent of highlighting or annotation, honestly described
Whether any access code was included and whether it is unused

Title, author, edition and ISBN: “Campbell Biology, 12th Edition, Urry, ISBN 9780135188743”. Edition is critical because courses specify one. Include the ISBN — students search by it directly and it removes all ambiguity in one string.

Sharply seasonal, peaking in late August, September and January as terms begin. Selling mid-term means waiting or discounting heavily.

It costs nothing to list

There is no listing fee, no selling fee and no commission, so the A$67 a buyer pays is the A$67 you keep. You and the buyer settle up and arrange the handover between yourselves; WishThrift does not hold the money or ship the item.

Where in Australia

Australia is a big place and what sells well moves with it. These are the parts of Australia with their own page for textbooks.

Common questions

Where can I sell textbooks in Australia?

List it free on WishThrift and deal with the buyer direct. There is no selling fee, so the whole amount stays with you. Bank transfer via PayID is instant and is what most private buyers will offer. Cash on collection remains common for larger items.

Is the access code unused?

Check and answer honestly. Access codes are single-use and often worth more than the book; claiming an unused one that has been redeemed is a guaranteed dispute.

Does highlighting reduce the value?

Yes, noticeably. Clean copies sell for meaningfully more, so describe the marking honestly rather than letting buyers discover it.

Are access codes worth including?

Only if unused. Codes are single-use, so an already-redeemed one is worth nothing and should not be advertised.

More: how to sell textbooks, what textbooks are worth, or Books across Australia.