Brigham Young University students can sell back their used textbooks to the BYU Bookstore for up to 60 percent of the current new retail price for books on the Sell-Back list Monday through Saturday, Dec. 12-17.
The BYU Bookstore is one of few schools that offer 60 percent for textbook Sell-Back. The national average is 50 percent. As a result, every year the Bookstore typically conducts the largest Sell-Back, based on dollars given back to students, of any university in the country, said Tom Hirtzel, manager of the Textbook Department.
“The university does all it can to keep textbook expenses down for students,” said Hirtzel. “One of the biggest ways the BYU Bookstore helps is by returning as much as we can to students during textbook Sell-Back.”
The books that are eligible for Sell-Back are those that have been requested by an instructor for a future term and are not overstocked from prior terms. The Bookstore cannot accept packets, workbooks or books with tear-out pages, and books must be the correct edition and in good condition.
If a book is not placed on the Bookstore’s list, it may be available for wholesale sell-back. During Sell-Back, a national wholesaler is on hand to buys books for the national used book market.
“This wholesaler will offer students a national market value price for books that the Bookstore cannot buy,” said Hirtzel. “The wholesaler determines prices by demand—typically between 10 percent and 30 percent of new retail value.”
Writer: Angela Fischer
