On The Side,

I am heading into my fourth term, at first I thought I’d keep my books just in case I needed them again or a friend needed them, but now I have a huge pile of books and nothing to do with them. How do get rid of the ones I don’t want and make back some of my money?

Thanks,

Never Wanted a Library

Well, Never, personally I have always wanted a Library, not necessarily full of textbooks, but that’s neither here nor there. So after calling book stores and digging through craigslist, eBay, (both are sites for selling unwanted stuff online) and the dreaded Internet, my conclusion is that the textbook trade in Central Oregon is sadly lacking. This is shocking considering that we have such a growing and thriving college scene here in Central Oregon.

One should hope that you could walk into any used bookstore and buy or sell decent quality textbooks. Yet all of the used bookstores contacted: Linda’s Book Exchange & Gifts, Paulina Springs Books, Pegasus Books of Bend, Bookmark, and Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe stated that they do not buy or sell textbooks of any kind.

Now now don’t lose hope, there is one place that those of you who can’t or won’t use the Internet can sell your old text books. Postal Connections at the Forum Shopping Center will actually buy used textbooks, but if you want to buy text books from them you’ll have to visit Amazon.com.

For the more technically inclined, if you’re looking for a reliable online place to sell your used textbooks here are a few:

Amazon.com buys and sells a selection of used textbooks that are in good condition. This means that book your dog chewed on is out. In exchange for your old book you’ll get a gift card added to your Amazon account. If you send in a low quality book the price they give you is determined by them once they have the book.

Barnesandnoble.com buys and sells used textbooks but you must have at least ten dollars worth of books to sell. If you bought it for two dollars just keep it. They’ll ship you a check for the book once it’s received and the quality is evaluated.

Sellusedbooks.com buys used books and will either send you a check or add the amount to a Pay Pal account.

For the do it yourselfers among you there is always Craigslist or eBay. There you can list your books for whatever price your heart desires. Keep in mind that just because you added the answers to all your tests to the margins doesn’t mean someone is going to pay twice what you originally paid. If you are buying books from these jokers for twice the amount you’d pay for them in the student book store please stop encouraging them!

While there are plenty of ways to get rid of those old textbooks, the market is still wide open for someone to come along and open their used book store up to textbooks.

Please keep in mind that the views in this column do not necessarily represent the views of The Broadside, and that the columnist will choose the questions to be answered. Have a question? Please email it to [email protected] all email addresses and names will be kept confidential.