Selling Textooks

Unless your professor is as saintly as mine is for my Web Publishing class, you're gonna have to buy some textbooks. And I think as a society we can go ahead and update Benjamin Franklin's famous quip that three things are certain: Death, taxes, AND TEXTBOOKS BEING EXPENSIVE.

I've really got nothing more to add to the buying of textbooks other than search before you buy - you don't need them that first week - take the time to price them thoroughly. However I've got some advice for maximizing your Return on Investment.

Here are some options:

• Plan Z: The University Co-op is always there. You can check the prices of your books online before making the trek down Guadalupe to sell them back. There are also several other Co-op locations you can visit to buy and sell your textbooks. Again, I would recommend checking all the other options first.
• Beat the Bookstore: Located in the basement of Dobie Mall, just off of “campus.” Beat the bookstore buys books back (whoa, some good alliteration there), and it tries to give you more for your book than the above location. Many times you'll get better deals here, but it's smart to at least check a few websites first.
• Ecampus/Amazon/half.com: Name you price. You sell books to other students through the lovely internet. List your book on the site, punch in your asking price, and designate how much for shipping. People will contact you, and you only have to walk to the post office. This is also usually my preferred way to buy books.

One other option that will build you as much social capital as fiscal, is to talk to friends or younger people in your major, and work out a deal to say, "sell your Marketing book to them at the price the Co-op would buy it back from you." That way everyone wins. You get a fair buyback price and someone else gets a discounted buy (as there can be as much as a few hundred dollars between buy and sell prices).

Also help your voice be heard to your politicians about tax-free textbooks, it can save some money!