Textbooks for Sale

Selling your used textbooks is an easy way to earn quick cash before the holidays, but a few measures are being taken by the bookstore to prevent theft.

Bookstore manager Anita Little-Drown gave some useful information for students and their textbooks.

In an email, Little-Drown said to sell a book, a customer needs to have their picture ID and the book they intend to sell. The bookstore will scan the book and tell students what they can offer for that particular book. Students will be asked to fill out some paperwork and then given cash on the spot.

Little-Drown says no reciepts are needed for the transaction. The bookstore buys books that they have a need for year round, and the best time to sell is before an upcoming semester. If the bookstore has an open order for the book trying to be sold, and is in good shape, the price they offer is generally half of the retail price.

Selling textbooks also comes with the worry of stolen items trying to be sold back to the bookstore. Little-Drown recommends students place a small mark in their book so that they can identify it easily. Some examples include to write initials on the page of your favorite number, or to circle a specific page number in each book. She feels students books are assets and should be treated as such. Books should be treated with the same care as an iPod.

Consequences of selling stolen books are handled by the college she says. She could not cite specific numbers of stolen textbooks this year or give specifics on identifying stolen books, but the software in the bookstore can assist in the process.

George Hacking, head of public safety, said all they can do is investigate and send information to student life for a judicial hearing. Also in an email, Hacking said they always have the option of sending it to the State Police if the school decides it is a better venue.

Litte-Drown says the bookstore also buys books that are needed by a wholesaler, those titles they ship to the appropriate vendor. Those titles the bookstore does not generally pay half for, they offer the current wholesale price.