Volume 82, Number 25
Saying Goodbye to Dawnie, Courtney K, Trevor, and Shane Since 1920
April 24, 2003
ongwood Bookstore s Biujback Policij-or: Wkij $.75 for a $75 Book?! Willard A. Vaughn Opinion Editor
Its that time of year again. Classes end, exams are finished, and there is only one more thing left to do...sell back your unwanted books. But exactly how does that process work? "[We) would rather pay the students [for their books] than buy them anywhere else," said Longwood Bookstore Manager
Louisa Lackey. She further explained how the buy back process worked. First and foremost, the amount that you receive for your book is dependent upon your professor. Ideally, they have their book orders in for the fall semester by the end of March. That list is then entered into the computer and the amount of books needed is determined based upon past sales of textbooks for that particular class.
This determines the number of book that are in demand to cover the amount of books needed by the students for the class. When you go to return your book, if it is determined that the book you have is in demand, then you will get back 50% of what you paid for the book originally. Once the number of books in demand has been satisfied, then the computer determines the national market value for your book.
This is typically anywhere between 5% and 20% of the value of the book depending on the demand nationally for that book. Other factors that contribute to this price is the amount of work that has to be done to log, store and resell the books to colleges and university all across the country. Either way, the bookstore has no say in how much the wholesaler will take for the book.
Unfortunately, some books just cannot be purchased back. This is usually because a new edition of the book has come out. When a publisher releases the book, their profit only comes from the direct sale of that book. The only way that they can make any additional profit on that book is to release a new edition. There are some professors that do not care about the edition that is purchased for his class, but
See BOOKSTORE p. 7