Selling books online is a snap with Facebook

Times Contributor

 

Although there is something to be said for walking into a bookstore with a Starbucks in hand, browsing the new, glossy books, many people have found a way to keep book selling and swapping up-to-date with technology as social media websites like Facebook continue to grow rapidly. 

Small towns in particular have taken to creating groups on Facebook that members can join and sell, buy, swap and lend a variety of different books.

Lesley Boutilier is the administrator and creator of the “Strathmore Books – Buy, Sell or Trade” Facebook group, which currently has over 130 members and several picture albums full of books for sale.

Boutilier says she created the group because she was looking for specific titles from an author, and found that asking around on other local groups wasn’t doing much good. When asking around, Boutilier realized there was interest in an online book sale group, so she began one. Within the first 24 hours of the group, there were over 80 members.

“I would say [the group] is not mine, more everyone’s,” Boutilier said. “I think I got so many people to join [right when the group opened] because reading is one of those pastimes that never go away.”

Although groups like these would work in big cities like Calgary, they are most common in the surrounding area of smaller towns and cities, like Okotoks, Lethbridge, Strathmore and Chestermere. While the size of the small towns does contribute to this, there are often less bookstores and smaller libraries.

“The small-town living is great for a group like this, big cities just move too fast,” said Boutilier. “Neighbours offer to pick up items or have items dropped off at their home to make things as convenient as possible for you.”

Ashley Webb, a first year student at Medicine Hat College, has used both the Strathmore book sale group and the Medicine Hat book sale group. 

Webb says that although Strathmore has a “great library” there is something special about owning your own books.

“It’s a really convenient way to get more books. You browse through the photos of books, find a few that you like, and go pick them up,” said Webb.

Books on these websites are usually used, and therefore range between about one to five dollars per book.

“For a post-secondary student on a budget, these groups are great,” Webb said.

Other than the low cost, there are many other benefits to groups like these, such as the family feeling that the members get.

“You can make friends on a group like this, and before you know it, you’re organizing a book club and giving each other recommendations,” Webb said.

Boutilier points out groups like the Strathmore Books – Buy, Sell or Trade are also a “great way to de-clutter” and “find specific titles.”

Books are a hobby, and with creative people making sure they don’t get left behind in the wave of technology, they can also be timeless.