How to get more bang for your buck

Reading Time: 2 minutes

After students are done with their textbooks, most look for ways to trade them for quick cash.
Mindy Harward / UVU Review

It’s the most anticipated time of the year, where the semester ends and our vivacious summers begin. But there are some obstacles to overcome, besides passing finals, before the fun can start.

Remember textbooks? Now is the time to sell them back, and it can be easier than ever with this guide to getting more bang for your buck.

1 Brush off the bookstore. Although the bookstore is a resourceful place throughout the year, it should be common knowledge that their textbooks are overpriced and students receive little to nothing back in price compared to what is paid.

2 Online opportunities are waiting. It might seem like a hassle to go online and post textbooks on various websites, but it might pay off, literally. Sites such as KSL, Craigslist, eBay and Amazon can serve students well. There are other students throughout the country just like you that don’t want to buy their books for full price. Who minds a used textbook that they’ll use for a semester?

3 Visit stores that are savers. If avoiding the hassle of posting multiple online listings and constantly checking emails for buys sounds like a good idea, do it. Stores like BookXChange, Beat the Bookstore and Bucks4Books are local and easy to find. They all buy textbooks back for reasonable prices, so take your books to each store, get a price quote and sell to whoever offers the highest price.

4 Be patient. Though most students feel the urge and pressure to sell textbooks back immediately, don’t. Wait until summer or fall classes begin. Go to the same class and name your price to students that need the same book. This allows you to directly sell to a student like yourself and do some negotiating if needed.

So there you have it, not only one, but four efficient tips to sell your textbooks. By following this advice, there is a good chance that you can not only make more on your textbooks than you realized, but maybe even break even or make some money.