East Carolinian

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After paying an arm and a leg for textbooks, who wouldn't want at least an arm back?

Fortunately, students have many options available to turn used books into cash.

Most students sell to local bookstores like U.B.E., Dowdy Student Stores and Book Trader. However, Internet sites, such as Amazon.com, Cheapbooks.com and Textbookx.com are increasing in popularity, but many local businesses give warning about the online book buying trend.

"As far as buying and selling online, the prices may seem better, but once you pay the commission rates online for selling your book back and shipping it to the buyer, they really aren't," said Tony Parker, manager of U.B.E.

With no online returns available, students risk buying the wrong materials for class and having no way to exchange them.

U.B.E. buys books from students at 50 percent of the price.

Booktrader offers a 20 percent credit toward any book and sells them at 50 percent of the cover price, but the store does not buy specialize in textbooks.

"Textbooks are accepted at [Booktrader] but only those that would capture the interest of the general public," said Booktrader owner Mary Atkeson.

The best time to sell books is during the last week of classes. But most students choose convenience and procrastination, waiting until the last day of finals.

"You can bet that for an exam 8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m., we'll be getting slammed around 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.," said Myra Hamlett, manager of U.B.E.

"Very late in the afternoon or first thing in the morning are the slowest times."

Students frequently encounter rejection when trying to profit from used books. A book is rejected if it's an old edition or the store is overstocked. So, to help ensure your book is bought back, try to return as close to when classes end as possible.

Student IDs are required when selling books back to prevent book theft.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.

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