As the semester comes to a close, many students are eager to take their stack of textbooks to the bookstore and sell them back for a heap of money.
Unfortunately, most students leave the buyback cash register with little money and a lot of disappointment.
Bookstores that charge exorbitant prices for paper and ink at the beginning of the semester are usually hesitant to give much money back, even if the textbook is in great condition. However, penny-pinching students can often get far more for their books with a little bit of research.
Price comparison between bookstores and websites revealed that there is no single best place to resell textbooks. In our comparison, Amazon paid the most money for the biology textbook while paying significantly less than the University Supply Store for the anthropology textbook.
Students should check each textbook venue individually to get the maximum amount of money for their textbooks.
Perhaps the biggest benefit to selling at the SUPe Store and The College Store is that each pays instant cash for textbooks. However, students often sacrifice some of the value of the textbook for the instant payment.
Although Amazon pays among the highest for used textbooks, students may be less enthusiastic once they realize that their refund is coming in the form of an Amazon gift card.
To get the biggest refund from Chegg, another popular textbook website, students must opt for a website credit instead of cash. Chegg offers an average 20 percent more for textbooks if students opt for a Chegg.com credit.
Textbooks.com guarantees a larger buyback amount for students who purchased their books from the company earlier in the year. In addition to getting what the website refers to as “prime market price” for the book, loyal customers will receive an extra 10 percent refund.
Barnes and Noble’s website offers payment for textbooks via PayPal, which results in faster payment for textbooks than many of the other options. Still, the website offers significantly less than some of the other options.
Nearly all bookstores, including the SUPe Store and The College Store, have online search engines that provide students with an estimate of how much each book will sell for at each particular store. Students can then compare the prices that the bookstores will pay with what they can get from Amazon, Chegg or other online textbook dealers.
Many local bookstores are paying less for some books until they receive the Fall 2011 textbook lists from UA teachers. As a result, students who wait until finals week may receive more for their textbooks.
