Getting used to “used”

By: Christine Chow

Whether it’s the continuous Facebook notifications, the Campus store queue that never seems to dwindle over the first week of September, or the throng of people glancing doggedly at their phones and then at each other outside of MUSC Starbucks, nothing says “new school year” quite like the painful business of buying textbooks, or the subsequent hassle of getting them off your hands.

Gone are the days of meaningless cost replacement values, where returning your badly battered textbook to the teacher at the end of the semester was all it took to pay your due. University is a whole different ball game, and when a brand new textbook can cost you anywhere from $50 to $200, you’re better off saving yourself some money and buying them used.

In most cases, this is true, so long as you take the proper precautions to ensure you’re buying the current edition, or, if you do the latter, that it won’t compromise your learning experience.

If you’re having difficulties dumping your books on someone else once you’re through with them, know that you’re not alone. In the evolutionary arms race between used textbook sales and store-bought copies, the odds are stacked against you.

New textbooks now often come in packages with codes for online software that make up part of a course’s marking scheme. Even in cases where a used textbook for the course appears ideal, waiting to sell proves risky with sudden switches to newer editions.

Whether the so-called newer edition actually contains any useful, updated information or just a newly designed cover with renumbered pages is debatable. What is not, however, is the decreased market value of your textbook. Spamming the used sales group on Facebook is no longer going to cut it. So what are your alternatives?

Consider expanding your buyer base by using the MacInsiders marketplace or posting a Kijiji ad, the latter of which supports finding ways to reach out to students at different universities using the same textbook. Chances are they might be interested or even willing to pay more, depending on how the textbook in question is packaged and sold at their school.

If your book has truly reached the end of its lifespan, consider keeping an eye out for events like McMaster Science Society’s Textbook Swap Day, or donating it to Shinerama’s Textbook Drive in MUSC 201, which is taking textbooks until October.

Selling your textbook ASAP can make a huge difference. The sooner you get it off your hands, the less likely it is that you’ll have to deal with the blowback of a new edition. So if you’re taking a course in first semester, try to sell it in the second instead of waiting for the next year to swing around. Selling sooner, for example, right after exams, might also mean that the Campus Store will buy back your textbook at the Hole in the Wall for a higher price.

To keep up with new editions, ask your professor to tip you off at the beginning of the term about whether editions will be changed in the upcoming year. This could prove useful in deciding how much to invest in a copy, as loose-leaf and PDF versions, despite being harder to sell, might offer a more viable alternative. Whatever you do, don’t let your textbook sit on your shelf, where it’ll only collect dust. Don’t fool yourself. You’ll never pull it out again for a bit of light—er, heavy—reading.