College Adds Up–Juanita Ashe
Attending college is a rewarding experience that will follow you throughout your life. While this may be true, along the way there may be upsets to the journey such as unexpected costs. There are resources available to help pay for the classes themselves, some jobs offer tuition reimbursement and the government even offers incentives to go back to school. This may be all well and good but, what about the other expenses? And yes, there are other expenses. At the beginning of your college semester, you have just dropped approximately $500 on books and school supplies. But let’s not get too discouraged; after all, you can get a return on some things. Ever wonder what happens when it comes time for you to resell your books back to the bookstore?
You have just successfully completed your first semester. What to do with your used books? Oh, that’s right… you can sell them back. You decide to go to the college bookstore to resell your books and make a fast buck with the high hopes that you will at least walk out of the store with $200+ for 4 or more books…NOT! You proudly wait in line thinking of all the things that you can do with the money you get back (minus, of course, the pens, pencils and backpack that you will keep). Oh, this will be grand, or so you think. Christina Maxwell, a student of Camden County College majoring in Communication comments, “I always attempt to resell books every semester. Many times, like in the spring of 2008 when I took Statistics, the bookstore did not accept the book back because the company who produced the book said that they were making a newer version. Averaging every semester I usually get about $100 back. Sometimes it becomes very frustrating.” So, this is usually how the bookstore scenario goes… your turn is up and the lady at checkout says that one of your books is obsolete and therefore unsellable and you have written in another book and therefore that book is unsellable. And the remaining books you can return for an average of twenty-five percent of the original purchase price. That’s it, a measly twenty-five percent of the original purchase price for each book. Reality sets in and you realize that you have to buy more books at full price for your next six classes. So you wonder “Is there anything I can do to get back more money?” One good thing to know is that Camden County College offers new and used textbooks for Blackwood and Cherry Hill courses that can be purchased online at www.whywaitforbooks.com. Additionally, academic-priced software (up to 75% off list price) can be purchased through www.journeyed.com/bookstore.
There are determining factors to the amount you will receive when you sell back your book. For example, the time frame in which you take the book back. Waiting until the start of your next semester may not be wise. You will want to return the book at the finish of the semester so as to insure that not too many of the same books have already been returned and yours will be accepted. Keeping the books neat and clean will also benefit you. Be sure that the books do not contain writing, use a notebook for this; and make sure that the book is not dog-eared, keep it in a neat place. Textbooks help students pass classes and earn degrees. But, the buy-back option sometimes offered on nationwide university campuses has little effect on students’ wallets. In all of this let’s not forgot why you decided to go to school in the first place. Not for the buy-back price you will get on your books, but the lifelong educational experience that will help you to succeed in life.