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Just a few semesters ago, it felt like it was a given that selling back textbooks was a pretty awful process. We could describe buyback it as a hassle that almost always involved waiting in lines only to experience disappointment over feeling utterly ripped off. But things have changed — and for the better.

Not only does textbook buyback not have to be a time-waster that culminates in rage, it can actually be fast, easy, and lucrative.

Here, in Part 1 of our Spring Textbook Buyback series, we’ll touch on the rules and basics of buyback. This info will help you get organized and it will put you in great shape when it comes to actually selling your books back in the coming weeks. In our next installment, we’ll go deeper and we’ll cover tips and tricks that will get you the most money back — sometimes so much that you actually will have made money buying, owning, and selling back a textbook!

Buyback Rules, Basics, and Reminders

  1. Avoid the campus bookstore. Sure, you can try to sell your books back at the college bookstore, but bookstores are notorious for 1) making students stand in line for hours, 2) declining to buy a lot of titles, 3) offering about $5 for that book that cost $200 at the beginning of the semester.
  2. Shop around. In owning textbooks, you possess a valuable commodity and your have options. Use the CampusBooks.com SELL Price Comparison Tool to see ALL of the offers available and to pick the best deal.
  3. Don’t assume that you can’t sell certain books. Even if you highlighted text or used the access card, your textbooks — even a little used and/or without supplements — may still have buyback value, which brings us to…
  4. Be honest. Don’t tell a buyer that your textbook is in good condition when it’s warped from a beer spill. Don’t say that the book is complete when you lost the DVD. It’s better to get a little less than to get nothing at all.
  5. Read the fine print. Some buyers have a minimum for payout, some offer credit rather than cash. Others buyers won’t accept books shipped without using official pre-paid labels or they won’t take international editions. Know the deal before you take it. #LifeLessons
  6. Follow instructions and follow through. Remember that thing about textbooks being a valuable commodity? That. When it comes to buyback, you’re dealing with for-profit businesses, not your softy English professor who always gives extensions and grades on a curve. So, if a buyer tells you that a buyback quote is good through a certain date and that you need to ship the book via UPS and pack it with the quote printed out and in the envelope, you need to do exactly that.

Next Steps

  1. Keep this list handy for when you’re ready to sell.
  2. If there are textbooks that you’re already finished with and don’t need for finals or term-papers, start putting them into Keep/Sell piles.
  3. Check your shelves for any books you’ve held onto in the past but now might be ready to sell and add those to your Sell pile.
  4. Stay tuned for Part 2 where we’ll talk about tools that can make selling back books easier and faster and we’ll also talk about timing and how holding onto your book a little longer could mean getting a lot more money later.

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How Can I Tell Whether It’s Better to Buy Textbooks or to Rent Them?

We know that it can be a little confusing to discern which is the better deal — buying or renting textbooks. And the truth is that it’s a little confusing because there is no right answer for every student or even for every book; sometimes buying textbooks is best, sometimes renting books is the better option.

So how do you know? Well, just in the nick of time for back-to-school, we’ve got a brand-new infographic sure to help you be the smartest shopper you can be when it comes to textbooks. Save on, students, save on.


Renting vs Buying Textbooks

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Textbooks are expensive. It is a fact if not a universal law. Thankfully in the 21st Century there are more options other than your campus bookstore. There are in fact dozens of options online where one can shop for the best price on their books. The same is true when it comes time to resell those books. For those who are excessively thorough it can take hours to surf through all of those sites in order to track 5your book titles.

Different PCTs (price comparison tools) will list different prices for the same website. For example, a copy of Biology (ISBN 080537146X) has a $20 dollar cost swing on Half.com according to two leading websites. Some websites list shipping costs, while others go a step further and list the costs of different shipping options. Some don’t list shipping costs at all requiring some extra work. Certain websites also list any website coupons or deals within the information about the book.

Campusbooks.com has a pretty incredible Price Comparison Tool. Campusbooks.com is dedicated to the textbook marketplace, and as a result invest tremendous resources to building and improving their PCT. It lists the leading web marketplaces—eBay, Half.com, eCampus, Textbooks.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and Amazon.com as well as a dozen others. The site goes on to break down the version of the text (New, Used, International, Rental, eBook or Teacher’s) and its lowest price. They offer a level of filtering that provides a tremendous amount of information on one page. They include everything from shipping price and availability to condition quality notes to coupons and merchant return policies. In a word, it’s extensive.

As always it pays off to be thorough. Nowadays thanks to Campusbooks.com and similar websites it takes far less time to be thorough and find the best textbook deals. The PCT’s are great but nothing is perfect. Take a little extra time and double check through the specific website, most will list comments regarding the buyer or seller. When that poorly rated seller is offering a too good to be true deal on that textbook it probably is.