Beginning Thursday, students can sell many of their textbooks back to the Syracuse University Bookstore for up to 50 percent of the books’ original retail prices.

The bookstore will buy back any textbook professors have committed to using again, including custom books, loose-leaf books and books that were bought used, said Kelly Rodoski, communications manager in the Office of News Services, in an email.

For books in national demand, the bookstore may pay 15-40 percent of the current retail price, according to the SU Bookstore’s website.

Buyback at the SU Bookstore in the Schine Student Center begins Thursday and lasts through May 11, Rodoski said. In addition, students can sell textbooks on Waverly Avenue between Schine and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications starting Monday through May 10. Buyback will occur in Graham Dining Hall, Ernie Davis Dining Hall and the Sadler Main Lounge starting Wednesday through May 9.

Students with the bookstore’s smartphone application can scan their textbooks to find a buyback quote, she said.

More than 600 textbook titles have been confirmed for reuse next semester, Rodoski said, which is significantly lower than in previous years.

Low return prices on textbooks inspired Kyle Coleman, a junior majoring in accounting, information management and technology, economics and finance, to create an alternative for students during his freshman year, he said.

He worked with the Student Association and SU Bookstore to create Books2Bucks, an online database that allows students to sell their textbooks directly to other students. The website went live last year.

“It was a way to try to drive down the cost for books,” he said.  “Keep the program in mind because we are going to work on it, and I believe it will eventually be a success.”

Like Coleman, many feel the buyback program at the bookstore does not offer enough money for books look for deals.

“It’s a ripoff,” said Connie Marrano, a senior communication sciences and disorders major. “It’s understandable if your book was returned in bad condition, but if you returned it in almost as good condition as you bought it, I think you should get more money back.”

Marrano said she prefers to rent or sell her textbooks through websites like Chegg and Amazon.

Alaetra Combs, a senior communication and rhetorical studies major, said she appreciates the buyback program, but keeps an eye out for alternate deals.

“I think it’s a really good service,” Combs said.  “I use it usually every year, but I kind of go between (the Schine bookstore) and Marshall Street, just to see where I get a better deal.”

She said she also sells textbooks to fellow students through Facebook and by word of mouth.

Willy Landsberg, a freshman entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major, said he was frustrated when he used the buyback service for the first time last semester.

“I was angry,” he said. “I wasn’t getting enough money.”

Despite some student dissatisfaction, the buyback program has grown in recent years. Rodoski, of News Services, attributed the increase to students’ growing concern about textbook costs and the closing of Follett’s Orange Bookstore last year.

Rodoski upheld the buyback program’s value to students, calling it  “the most beneficial method for students wanting to save money on textbooks.”

Published on April 25, 2013 at 12:31 am

Contact Maggie: mmcregan@syr.edu