Bookstore FAQs for Students

How do I determine which books I need for a class?

There are two ways to determine which books you need for a class:

  1. Go online to the efollett.com Web site and follow the prompts to look up the classes you are taking. The books you need for each class will be listed approximately six weeks prior to the beginning of a traditional semester period.
  2. Bring your class schedule to the bookstore and check the textbook shelves to determine which books you need. The textbook area is arranged alphabetically by course. Each course is labeled with a shelf tag and is coded the same way as your class schedule. If you need help figuring out which class is which, ask one of the bookstore employees to assist you.

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Can I order my books online?

Yes. You can order your books online at the efollett Web site. You can either buy the books online via a credit card and have them shipped to you, or you can choose to reserve your books in the bookstore for pick up. Keep in mind that ALL online book orders are filled and processed at the bookstore.

NOTE: Although you do have the option of reserving or purchasing either new or used textbooks, we cannot guarantee the availability of USED BOOKS for all assigned textbooks. This is because some textbooks are newly released, newly revised editions and there are no used books available for these editions. Also, there is a limited availability of used textbooks, so some titles cannot be obtained from used book suppliers. If you are ordering books online and if you request a used textbook, PLEASE indicate that you will accept a new textbook as replacement. Otherwise, your order will not be processed. The bookstore will attempt to inform you of new book substitutions if the total cost difference is significant. However, sometimes this isn’t possible.

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Why do textbooks cost so much?

Traditional textbooks cost a lot of money for two main reasons:

  1. The cost to produce a textbook is much higher than a book you would buy in a regular bookstore. Textbooks are made to be used and abused by students. They have high-quality binding and are printed on high-quality paper. They also usually have extra features such as CDs, color graphics, and color photos.
  2. Textbooks have a limited market: students. They are not mass produced for a huge general audience like books found in regular bookstores. Therefore, because of the limited market, along with the high cost of production, publishers set higher prices for textbooks in order to make some sort of profit on the books they publish.

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Can I get my money back on a book if I drop a class or buy the wrong book for a class?

Yes. You have ten days from the first day of class to receive a full refund on a book. If the book is new, it MUST be returned in the same condition in which it was purchased. After the ten-day cut off date, you have two school days from the time of purchase to return a book for a full refund.

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Can I get my money back on a textbook if I drop a class half way through the semester?

Yes. You can receive a full refund on books for a class you dropped, up until four weeks prior to the end of a semester. You will need a signed drop slip which can be obtained from the Registrar.

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Can I sell my books back to the bookstore after I finish a class?

Yes. You can sell a book back to the bookstore any time.

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How do you determine how much money I will be paid for a book I sell back?

Every bookstore that buys back books determines the price of such a book by the same standard: NEED. If the bookstore needs a book you sell back for an upcoming class, you will receive more money for it. You will receive 50% of the new price of the book. For example, if you paid $80 for a new edition of a textbook, you will be paid $40 for the book when you sell it back after you finish a class. REMEMBER, the 50% sell back price applies ONLY to books NEEDED by the bookstore for an upcoming semester.

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You buy books back all the time. But, are there better times during the semester to sell back a book?

Yes. The best time to sell back your books is at the end of a traditional semester period, which is usually the week of finals. The reason this is the best time to sell back your books is because by that time, most of the professors using textbooks will have notified the bookstore which books they will be using for the next semester. Therefore, we will know which books we NEED for the next semester and can offer more money for those books. In other words, YOUR PROFESSORS have a lot of influence determining the sell back price of a textbook.

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My friend sold back a book at the end of a semester and got 50% of the purchase price back. But when I tried to sell back the same textbook, I got less. Why?

In many cases, the bookstore will NEED only a certain quantity of books for a class. After the bookstore has purchased that quantity of books, the NEED for that book drops along with the buyback price.

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I paid $100 for a new textbook at the beginning of a semester, but when I tried to sell it back, I got NOTHING for it. Why?

The publisher released a new edition of the textbook some time after the beginning of the semester. When this happens, the buyback value of a textbook drops to zero because the NEED for that old edition becomes extremely limited. There ARE exceptions: if a professor assigns an old edition of a recently revised textbook, the bookstore will pay 50% of the original price for the old edition.

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What if I have a textbook to sell back that hasn’t been revised but hasn’t been assigned to a future class? Can I still get money for it if I sell it back?

Yes. In this case, the bookstore will pay anywhere from 5%-30% of the book’s original sale price. The buyback price in this case is determined by used book wholesalers.

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