Bookstore buyback policies have long been the enemies ofstudents like Todd Coppedge.
Coppedge, a University of Memphis public administration graduatestudent, was not thrilled with the buyback offers he received forhis used textbooks last fall. He sold books back to the Tiger BookStore on Walker and received close to $100 on books he said wereworth about $225.
"If you keep your books in good condition, I think you shouldget at least 50 percent," he said.
A new campaign by The U of M University Bookstore aims toprovide students with options to get the most out of their usedtextbooks.
"We have a huge campaign going on right now," said Beth Cain,University Bookstore manager. "We want to give back 50percent."
As part of the campaign, the bookstore is sending a letter toall faculty members urging them to put their book requests in assoon as possible to help the bookstore know what books to buyback.
So far, the University Bookstore has received 804 ofapproximately 3,100 textbook adoptions from professors for the fallsemester.
"We're in constant communication with professors (about bookrequests)," Cain said.
U of M sophomore Rachel Roberson said she wishes bookstoreswould offer a fair price in exchange for barely- used books.
"I'd be happy with 40 percent," said Roberson, who said the lastbook she sold back to the Tiger Book Store depreciated by about 62percent over just one semester.
TextbookX.com, ecampus.com, booksvalue.com, bookbyte.com andtextbooks.com all offer buyback services. With a possible negativeeffect on the buyback price, some of these sites will pay theshipping charges to send the book to them.
Barnes and Noble, which runs the University Bookstore as well astextbooks.com, has initiated a buyback awareness campaign to offsetthe high cost of textbooks, Cain said.
The best time to sell your books back is the week of finals,April 23 through April 29, Cain said. However, she said studentsshould come as soon as possible, while the bookstore has not metits buyback limit, to get the best possible returns.
"It's about recycling," Cain said. "I want to give back money,as well as have used books on the shelf."
Tiger Book Store management could not be reached forcomment.
