Working any sort of customer service job entails some degree of exasperation due to human contact, particularly when you are bearing bad news to the patron, such as that the textbook they purchased for $100 is being sold back at $10.  Just about every college student can relate to the dismayed feeling of their buyback money not totaling what they desire, but a very select few comprehend what the person on the other side of the counter experiences. I am attempting to help you understand what exactly goes into a buyback price so that you will not be quite so disappointed when you go to sell your books during the course of the next week or so. Also, this means that you are informed as to how the system works and I can therefore be justifiably frustrated if you still make glaringly incorrect statements.

As a preface, whining and being sarcastic about how little money you will get back on a book is neither cute nor novel. During the course of a 12 hour day, the person at the counter will have heard your sob story once out of roughly every three people who come up to the counter, and your angry diatribe over how much you paid originally from every other person.

Okay, here are things that actually factor into a buyback price:
 -        The wholesale price
 -        Whether the book will be used again
 -        Whether the publisher is coming out with a newer edition or not
 -        How many of that book are in the store’s inventory

Here is a list of things that are NOT related to buyback prices that  people seem to insist are:
 -        What the book cost at the beginning of the semester
 -        Whether it was bought new or used
 -        Whether or not the person has read the book
 -        If the book is in shrink-wrapping
 -        Whether the professor used the book during the class or not
 -        The book’s size, including weight and number of pages
 -        The person’s final grade in the class
 -        Whether or not the employee is being “nice” or not

Other Notes: Try to keep in mind that the bookstore is not comprised of notorious fiends who decide that your expensive book will not be used next semester in favor of a newer edition with an extra paragraph. That issue needs to be taken up with 1) Your Professor and 2) The Publisher. New editions piss the bookstore staff off as well, because it means that they have to order brand new books (that they have to pay for, in case you are not familiar with how the retail business works) to try and sell.

   continue >>