Finals are coming and summer is only a few weeks away. For most students, they currently hold a few textbooks in their hands.
Although these textbooks are going to be history once you hand in all those super finals in a few weeks, the question on every students mind may be: What should I do with these textbooks I have used and abused all semester?
The answer simple; do whatever you want to do with them.
If you need that extra cash for your thrilling summer plans, then the best way to do that according to Moorpark, Oxnard, and Ventura Colleges Bookstores is to do the obvious and sell your text books back to the school that you are attending.
Susan Royer, Ventura College Book Store manager said that all three campuses will be buying the textbooks back at the same cost and no college will be giving you more for your money compared to another-unfortunately.
“The very best deal for a student, is the student who comes in-lets say for fall semester- and they buy a used book in the hopes that the instruction re-adapts that same book for spring,” said Royer.
“That student can bring that book to buyback and they can get up to 50% of the new textbook price. That is the best deal in town.”
An important aspect to remember about textbook buy backs is to pay attention to when the buy back dates are going to be taking place.
Jay Kim, local off-campus book store manager located in Moorpark, said that the best time to sell a textbook back to their store-that say the college book store would not buyback-is not the end of the semester but rather the beginning of the next semester.
“We could buy [a textbook] from a student and sell it back to a different student right away and there is more profit coming in at that time,” said Kim.
The off-campus book store, one of the only off campus book stores in Ventura County, buys the textbooks backs at the same rate as all three campuses.
Royer says, a good question to be sure to ask the sales assistant when you are selling your textbook back is to see if the current edition of your textbook will be up-to-date for the following semester.
If it is not going to be, then the school will most likely not buy it back.
In a case like this, the student now has an older edition book that they can either choose to keep for the point of looking back to it when they need to refresh their memory of the course, or another option is attempting to sell it on the internet.
Online Web sites much like Amazon and eBay are both great sites to attempt to sell your text book.
Another good consideration to make is that some teachers will allow students to use older editions of their textbooks the following semester, depending on the subject.
One problem students may run into when trying to sell back their textbooks online is the fact that the book they are hoping someone will buy may never be bought.
The seller would likely have to sell the textbook for a low price so that they would be one of the first people buyers would see, and that would drive people to buy the textbook from them at a low price.
At the end of the day, it all comes back to the question of what do you really want in return of a long, stressful, yet rewarding semester?
The answer is simple; a little pat on the back and a pile of cash in your hands.
Do not forget to bring a form of ID when you come in to sell your textbooks back, and be sure to get it done and out, making room for the summer ahead.
