Diane Gallagher
Assistant Features Editor
In this economy not only do students want to, but they need to save money while in College. You have spent your savings, loans and grant money, and have sacrificed in order to stay within your budget all semester. Now, as the semester comes to a close and everyone is preparing for finals, the age old question, “how much of a return can I make on those used textbooks,” comes to mind. Textbook buyback is one of the best ways to be smart about money.
The annual full-time tuition and fees at Millersville University, for Pennsylvania residences, comes to $8,926.50 for commuters and $18,390.50 if you live on campus; while non-residences are paying $28,604.50 annually. These hefty price tags do not include the price of parking on campus, meal plans or the price of textbooks. On average a student can expect to spend $1,168 on textbooks.
In order to ease the financial burden a little, most schools offer buyback programs at the end of the semester. The Millersville Bookstore will hold its textbook buyback from Monday May 13th through May 18th.
However, sometimes the school cannot offer the best buyback price. Instead of settling for a lower buyback offer, there are alternatives that may help to increase the return you receive on your textbooks.
If you are on a tight budget and have a stack of unused books, here are some tips you can use to earn some extra buyback money:
1. Sell the textbooks online. Start by looking for websites that do textbook buybacks.
2. Start selling earlier – when sites have reached their stock requirements, you might not be able to sell your book anymore, or prices may go down.
3. Make sure to compare sites. If you want to earn more money, don’t sell your book to the first site that you see. Find the one that will give you the most money for your book. If the site offers free shipping, that’s even better.
4. Be sure to have all the extras that came with your book, this gives your book higher value.
5. Compare payment plan: If you get paid via check, are there processing fees? What is the payment method that has the least additional fees?
“If you want the most for your money, the best way to go is eBay. They make it so easy to sell books there, all you have to do is put in the ISBN number, and it calls up all the pertinent information about the book. Then you describe the condition of the book and people will bid on it. I did this with all my unneeded books and easily made a couple hundred dollars,” shared Logan Radle
Selling your textbooks online is the quickest and easiest way to see high returns. Comparing buyback prices on various websites like Amazon, Chegg, and Half.com should help you determine the value of the book(s) you are interested in selling. Bigwords.com and other sites like it offer quick one stop shopping. The site presents an overview of what online retailers are willing to buyback your book(s), the price they are offering for the book(s), and what shipping will cost. It is important to remember to factor shipping costs into the overall price that a site offers to pay, as high shipping costs can eat into your return.
Heidi Young said, “I’ve sold books on Amazon. A plus about Amazon is that they let you keep your book listed for several months.”
Be sure to check as many sites as you can in order to be sure that you receive the best buyback price available. It is also a good idea to search for online coupons. Online coupons can make a noticeable difference in the price you receive for your book(s). Websites like ReatailMeNot.com offer a wide variety of coupons to choose from that will help you earn a larger return.
