Sell Your Books
FAQ
Do you have a textbook you no longer need? Looking to make cash on that textbook? Don''t want to mail your book away somewhere and wait for your cash?
Several Campus Bookstores have merged their textbook BuyBack lists for access by students on or near participating Schools.
The purpose of the facility is to increase the resale market for used books, to make more used books available for resale at Campus Bookstores at reduced prices, and to provide more options for students to help manage their textbook budget.
How is the Buyback Price determined?
The pricing formula isn''t too complicated; it contains 3 levels and depends upon who is buying the book. Here''s how it breaks down:
1. If the York University Bookstore is buying your book (i.e. the book is being used on a course at York and the bookstore is not already fully stocked for this title), you will receive approximately 50% of our current new book price. We call that the "Home Price".
If we we are buying a particular book, we will have a quota based on our current stock and the number of students enrolled in the course on which it used. Once we have purchased our quota, the system automatically switches over to the next category of buyer: other campus bookstores.
2. If your book is being bought by another campus bookstore in our buyback network**, you will receive approximately 30% of the current new book price (much of the difference in price is to cover the shipping and handling to send the books across the country). We call this the "Away Price"
** Most of the largest university and college bookstores are members of the "SellMyTextbooks.org" buyback network. Some of these stores include Concordia, U of T, UBC, Queens, Brock & Western.
Like the York University Bookstore, these other campus bookstores set quotas for the titles that they buy. Once one store has met its quota then the buying continues for the next in the queue until no more copies are being bought for other campus bookstores. Then the system switches automatically to the next category of buyer: used textbook wholesalers.
3. If neither the York University Bookstore nor the other campus bookstores are buying your book (because everyone is fully stocked or the book is not being used this term), then the last buyers are textbook wholesalers operating out of the US. Unlike campus bookstores, the wholesalers do not fix their prices as a percentage of the current new price but instead set their bids based on their "guesstimate" of the demand for each title. Sometimes when a book is not being widely used the result can be a very low bid price.
For example, rather than controlling the number of copies that they need by setting a quota, the wholesalers use price to control their supply. If they don''t want many copies of a book they will offer a low price for it. If they want a lot of copies they will offer a higher price.
So when you get a very low bid price on a book it means a) that the wholesaler bid is the top bid because none of the campus bookstores are currently buying it, and b) that the wholesalers don''t think they need many copies of that book.
What can I do if I find the price offered too low?
If the book has not yet been adopted on any campus you can list the books, in fact, you can list all of your books in BuyBack Alerts. As soon as a participating campus adds the title you will be notified by email of the price.
How firm is the price?
The demand for the book is finite and is maintained in real time. The demand decreases instantly with every sale and can expire quickly as other students line up across North America at end of terms to sell their books.
I attend a school in another town. When I go home can I sell my bookback to the university/college in my hometown?
Yes! and we encourage the practice but remember demand can expire quickly so get there quickly. Also, please make sure that the university/college in your hometown is buying your book.
What happens if demand expires before I get to my nearest store?
Sorry, you are out of luck. You can list the book in resale registration and when another campus adopts the book you will be notified by email.
What happens if I am notified by email and demand expires before I get to the nearest store?
Sorry again but it is due to the real time nature of the system. The local store has no control over the demand for a book or the numbers needed at another school.
How does my book get to the other Campuses?
Your home or nearest participating bookstore will pay you the cash and look after shipping the books to the campus with the demand.
Do you buy study guides or CD ROMS ?
Some schools do, some don''t. As long as it has an ISBN number you can search and won''t miss any opportunities at participating schools.
What is an ISBN?
International Standard Book Number. All books have one and each edition of a title has a different ISBN.
Can I sell a book I originally purchased used?
Yes, you will receive about 50% of the new list price if it will be used on your home campus and about 30% of the new list price if used elsewhere.
Does the previous edition of my text have resale value?
Not usually, and the system buys based on ISBN to ensure the correct and most current edition is purchased.
Can I sell back books in any condition?
The decision belongs to the buyer at each school. We want used books not abused books and reserve the right to refuse to purchase damaged books or books that are unlikely to be repurchased by other students.
Why are there not more titles on the list?
Late adoptions or a change in editions, a different book being used on the same course are some of the reasons. Only those books that are certain to be used on a campus make it to the list. Ask your instructors to adopt early and adopt the same book to help increase the numbers and value of used textbooks.
