Used textbook prices too low -- students
Students are frustrated with buy-back programs because they get meagre amounts of money for their used textbooks
(0)Despite getting little money for their used textbooks through university bookstore buy-back programs -- sometimes as little as 10 per cent of what they originally paid for them -- students are still using the service in droves.
Every year in April, just before heading home, thousands of students in Halifax line up at buy-back office rooms, (usually located next door to the bookstore) to sell their used books. But the money they get for them frequently amounts to far less than half the price they originally paid.
Dalhousie MBA student Zeeshan Jiwani says he sold two books through the buy-back program. "I was not happy with what they offered me in terms of price," he says.
"It was way below what I would get if I sold it to another student. Basically on the two books, the total price at the bookstore was approximately $200 and I only got $65 back which works out to 32.5 per cent. It is interesting that the bookstore says they buy back the used books (there is a sign up in the bookstore) for 50 per cent of the value," he says.
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A poster telling students where to bring their books and when. Photo: Natalia Roque-Cuadra
Where to buy/sell your books:
- Go to www.kijiji.ca and post an ad under the book section
- For Dal students: log in into my.dal.ca & post an ad in the classifieds tab
- For SMU students go to www.smusa.ca & post at "buy/sell books from students"
- Can go to www.dsu.ca to "buy/sell books" through Tiger Books
- Go to Facebook & join a book selling group such as "Dalhousie books for sale"
Jiwani's experience with the wholesaler is similar to that of hundreds if not thousands of students in Halifax.
In most cases the bookstore and the wholesaler work closely together. The bookstore hires the wholesaler to buy used books from students, which in many cases end up back on the shelf after being marked up.
Students have other options -- Dal
Dalhousie Public Relations spokesperson Charles Crosby says the bookstore guarantees at least 50 per cent of what the student originally paid.
However, that does not seem to be the case. When the student tries to sell the book directly to the bookstore, he/she is directed across the hall where the wholesaler has their own office.
That's where one can hear students say "that's it?" when getting an offer from a wholesaler clerk.
Crosby says students don't have to sell their used books to the wholesaler if they don't want to. He says students have many other options such as selling them on their own.
But students' most common response to Crosby's suggestions are that it takes a long time to sell the books if they decide to go that route.
Saint Mary's University student Stephanie Hills says she tries to sell her books on her own whenever she can but sometimes it takes her too long and it is a bit of a hassle to be carrying books around.
This is especially true for students from out of province who move either back home or somewhere else to work when the academic year is over.
SMU Bookstore Manager Don Harper says he realizes this is a big problem for students.
The SMU bookstore operates similar to Dalhousie. The bookstore hires the wholesaler.
At the end of each academic year SMU bookstore people hand out a survey to professors to find out what books they will be using next year.
He says if no faculty member pre-orders the title for use the following year, the wholesaler will set a low price for the used book.
A pre-order guarantees the bookstore there will be a market for it. However Harper says that sometimes professors don't reply even though they are teaching the course next year which means students could've gotten a higher price. "And when that happens, we feel bad," he says.
In any case, the wholesaler will still buy the books back at a reduced cost and ship the books to other companies. At least that's what the student is told.
No market for old editions -- SMU
Students can't sell their books to the wholesaler at all if a new edition has come out. "We simply don't buy them," Harper says.
Student Hills says, "When I can't sell my books myself to a fellow student I will sell them back to the bookstore. I would rather get a little bit of money for them than try to prove my point, continue to be poor and move around with a hundred pound box of books I'm never going to look at again."
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