By Kumarr Clark
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Each semester students make their way to the registration offices to sign up for the upcoming school year. Excitement lingers around the campus, as students are a step closer to obtaining credits to earn a certification for a particular field of study or an undergraduate degree. Most of the excitement happens during the beginning and end of the semester when students are purchasing and selling textbooks. Why are students creating uproar about the prices of books that will benefit their future? Is it because the textbooks from the bookstore are too expensive? How about when the student sells the book back for a refund, do they receive full compensation?
Jade Lucas, a customer service representative at the CCC bookstore, who has been employed since 2011, says, “Students will develop attitudes toward the representatives of the bookstore when they find out the prices of the textbooks they need, and some students will become demanding.” Lucas also stated, “When students sell textbooks back some are angered by hearing that the store is not buying the books back or they will receive half of the money they purchased the book for.”
Students who purchase textbooks online find the Internet reliable, but not the best source when buying and selling textbooks. Communications major Deleon Floyd frequently purchases his textbooks online and says, “The Internet is cheaper, but inconvenient. I purchased my communications book online for $111, when the bookstore was selling it for $169, the only problem was the book arrived three days after my class had begun.”
Ayani Ellepola, a nursing major at CCC Blackwood, purchases her books online also and has done so for the past two years. She too saves money when she buys her books. “Compared to the bookstore I saved around $100 and I can make a good profit when selling them back also,” Ellepola says. She refers all students to purchase and sell textbooks to cheggs.com.
Although the bookstore receives a lot of dissension from students who are purchasing and selling textbooks, some find the bookstore better. Khaula Muhammad is a nursing major who has been attending CCC for two years. She finds the bookstore the best place to get her books and says the Internet does not always have what she needs when she needs it. However, when asked about comparing prices, she agreed the Internet had the upper hand.