What price for your used book?

Pricing a used book is not copying the cover price. That number paid for new paper and retail margin; your copy has its own condition, edition, and demand. The calculator returns an indicative range, not an official appraisal or a promise that someone will pay it tomorrow.

You start from cover or reference new price, apply condition coefficients (the same scale as our guide for describing used books), adjust for format and how sought-after the title is today, and open a margin around the result. On the Librarius marketplace you publish the listing and close the deal in chat; nothing here auto-lists a title for you.

First take cover price or the reference new price for your edition. Multiply by a base percentage for condition: like new ~58%, very good ~42%, acceptable ~26%, read-and-pass-on ~12%. Those shares are not market law; they summarize what often moves in reader-to-reader sales when the description matches the photos. Then multiply by an edition factor: paperback ×1, hardcover ×1.12, other editions ×1. Finally demand: high ×1.12, medium ×1, low ×0.78. The product is rounded (half units above five in euro-style pricing) and opened to a ±15% band, capped at 85% of cover.

• Like new: reserve this for copies with no reading wear. If you read carefully once, that is usually very good, not like new.
• Very good: firm spine, clean pages, maybe a discreet name on the endpaper.
• Acceptable: wear shows; it is still a complete book, not a display piece.
• Read and pass on: heavy highlighting, smell, tired spine. The low band pushes toward symbolic price, swap, or gift.

If the label does not match the photos, chat goes cold. Before you raise the number, read how to describe used book condition. Price should follow condition, not how much you loved the story.

A hardcover essay or illustrated edition often holds a bit better than a mass-market paperback read twice, which is why the edition factor nudges hardcover up slightly. “Other” covers collector copies, signed runs, or limited editions: the calculator does not detect rarities; if your case is special, treat the range as a floor and explain why in the listing text. High demand fits book-club picks, recent prize winners, or titles hard to find locally; low demand fits saturated backlist or tiny niches. When unsure, pick medium and compare real listings for the same ISBN.

• Anchoring to a decade-old cover price when the current edition costs less new.
• Asking “almost new” while photos show visible highlighting.
• Ignoring that paid shipping eats the margin on a cheap paperback.
• Not lowering after several serious chats with no close; sometimes the market is telling you something.

In the app you mark the book available on the marketplace, write a note, and set price or swap-only. Librarius connects readers; there is no checkout or payment hold in the product. If the calculator pushes you toward gift territory, an honest zero beats a dollar for a copy that would disappoint on arrival.

Local charity shops and online marketplaces move at different speeds: a range that looks high in a small town may look low in a capital city with active student swaps. Refresh comparables every few weeks on slow listings rather than holding one number out of pride.

Swap-only listings skip price math entirely: the calculator still helps you describe condition consistently so trade partners know what they receive today. Mention smoke-free shelves or pet homes in text when smell affects perceived value as much as spine wear.