Reagle: How to get textbooks without selling a kidney and a soul

Buying and selling books can make for some of the most frustrating times of the semester. During… Buying and selling books can make for some of the most frustrating times of the semester. During the first week or two, you drop hundreds of dollars on mandatory texts and course packets at the bookstore, and then at the end of the semester you sell them back for a measly $20 — if you’re lucky. If you’re extra lucky, you might even get a light-up cup thrown in for free.

But it doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t have to suffer through crazy high prices and the ridiculously low sellback rate if you do a little more legwork. Buying books can be a lot less expensive and selling them can be more lucrative if you put in some extra effort. Here’s some advice on how to successfully navigate the market.

Find out which books you need

This is the obvious first step. Most classes will have their book lists online a few weeks before classes start. The Book Center, the main student bookstore, has a website where you can find book lists for your classes, and it will also list prices for both new and used versions of the books. If your class isn’t listed, you can email the professor to ask which books you’ll need for the upcoming semester. If the semester’s already started, you can just find the books you need in The Book Center, located just outside of Litchfield Towers, and take note of the prices and whether used copies are available. Be sure to get the pricing from the store so you can be sure you’re getting a good deal later.

If you’re assigned a book that has multiple editions or if it’s a novel that’s been through a lot of reprints, ask the professor if an earlier edition or a different version of the novel would be acceptable for class. Earlier editions of books go for significantly cheaper prices, and sometimes you’ll already have a different copy of the novel you need for class. You might end up needing to buy the exact edition for the sake of following the pages in class, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Before deciding to buy books online, make sure you know that it might take a little longer to get the books. It might be a week or so into the semester before you have a book. However, this shouldn’t stop you. Copies of books are available in the libraries, and you can use those in the interim. Most professors understand the practice of buying books online and won’t fault you for not having your book in class as long as you get the reading done somehow.

Go online to find cheaper prices

At this point, you should have the list of books you need as well as the prices for these books, both new and used. Armed with this knowledge, head to the Internet. The two most popular places to buy and sell books online are Half.com — a company owned by eBay — and Amazon Marketplace. Other sites also exist to sell textbooks, and I’ve used some of these myself. However, lI find it easier to buy them all in one place, and both of these sites have a wide variety. If you want to use another site, just make sure it’s reputable.

If you’re using Amazon Marketplace and Half.com, look up a couple of books on both sites, and see which has generally better pricing. If you want, you could buy books from both, but I find it easier to just do one big transaction on one site. I might have to spend a couple more dollars this way, but it makes my life easier.

Once you decide which is the better site, make sure that the price you’ll pay is worth the wait and still a bargain once you calculate shipping, which is about $4 per book. If the book is only a few dollars cheaper than the used price in the bookstore, don’t waste your time buying it online. Just buy it at the bookstore, and save yourself the hassle. If you find that The Book Center doesn’t have a used copy of what you want, be sure to check out the other used bookstores, such as Campus Bookstore on Fifth Avenue.

Decide the condition you’re comfortable with

You’ll notice that books come in various conditions online. This basically determines the amount of writing in the book and general wear-and-tear on the book.

If you’re looking for something with very little or no writing, buy “like new” or “very good.” I never buy from the “brand new” category, because most of the “very good” books come from college students like us. We use them for a semester, and that’s it. “Like new” is going to be pretty close to brand new, and I refuse to pay more money for the title.

If you’re comfortable with writing — remember that it could be in pen — and a bit of highlighting, feel free to buy something in “good” or “acceptable” condition. I hate when there’s writing in my books, so I only buy from these categories if there’s a significant price difference. If the price is low enough for a heavily marked-up book, I’ll buy it.

Sell your books online

At the end of the semester, stick mainly to selling your books online. This isn’t true for every single book, though. That copy of “Macbeth” you bought on Half.com for $2 at the beginning of the semester? Sell it back at a cart around campus for the same $2 price. If it sells for cheap online, sell it back on campus. You shouldn’t bother with shipping books if you don’t need to. However, a lot of books can earn back most, if not all, of your original costs if you sell them online at the end of a semester.

To be able to sell books online, you’ll need to make an account on one of the aforementioned sites. I use Half.com primarily, and it’s incredibly easy. I imagine Amazon Marketplace is equally easy, but my instructions draw from my experience on Half.com.

After making an account, the rest is simple. You enter the ISBN number of your books on a form, and it finds all the listings for you.

The next step is to set your asking price. Unless it’s ridiculously low, I always set my prices a few pennies lower than the lowest price currently offered in my condition range. If the lowest price for the same “like new” book is $13.94, I’ll set mine at $13.90. Even if you paid $20 for the book, it’s better to sell quickly and lose a few dollars overall than to keep the price high and wait forever for someone to by it. Consider the loss a renter’s fee for using the book for a semester.

The final step is to choose the appropriate condition and make notes for the exact damage incurred. I like to be as honest as possible — “bent right corner of cover, highlighting in first chapter only” — in order to assure that my buyers know what they’re getting. In order to retain a good rating as a seller, you need to be honest about condition. If you hardly used a text, list it as “like new.” But if you dropped it in a puddle at some point, list it appropriately. If your buyers know that they are getting a mediocre copy up front, they won’t hate you when it arrives. Retaining a good seller rating will allow people to trust you online and continue to buy your books in the future.

It is also essential to ship your books as soon as possible once someone buys them. I once waited four weeks after classes started for a book to arrive, and it put me behind on my work. I left some nasty feedback for that seller, and people will do the same to you if you don’t ship your books in a timely fashion. Stay on top of your books for sale, and make sure you know when they sell.

When you put in the time to buy and sell books online, you can literally save hundreds of dollars. Just work it into your routine, and you’ll be happy when you have a little extra cash floating around. There’s nothing better than paying $75 for eight books when you know you would’ve spent $200 in the bookstore. Your parents will probably thank you, too.