Can I Sell My Textbooks Back To University Bookstores?

Most large university bookstores in North America offer students the opportunity to sell back the textbooks they bought from the store at the beginning of the semester. Normally, bookstores will advertise their campaign to buy these used books either immediately before, or after, the summer vacation. Although this is a good opportunity to make back some of the money you spent on books (and the average, full-time university student in North America will spend over $400 each semester), you should be careful in order to ensure that selling these books is actually worth your while.

Most campus bookstores will pay you between 10% and 25% of the original purchase price of the book. If you are selling back a book that was already second-hand when you purchased it, you will probably only receive about 10% for it, while the rate for new books is closer to 25%. As such, you should only sell those books that you are certain you will not need in the future. If you bought an expensive science textbook for over $100 (a fairly standard price for introductory texts), be warned that you may only get about $20 or so when returning your book.

For history, political science, social science and humanities texts--and especially those books that are not specifically geared towards university students, but rather a more general audience--you should consider bypassing your campus bookstore and see if you might get more money by selling these to second-hand bookstores that usually surround urban universities.