FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Question: Who owns The Willamette Store?
Answer: The Willamette Store is owned in its entirety by Willamette University. All Store employees work for the University.
Question: Why are textbook prices so high?
Answer: Textbook cost prices are determined by the publishers who manufacture them. Manufacturing costs have risen faster than inflation, however, due to several factors, including the following:
- frequent edition changes (one reason for which may be the publishers' desire to circumvent the used textbook market)
- expensive packaging of textbooks (glossy covers, colorful pages, lots of pictures)
- high marketing costs (sales rep commissions, free desk copies for faculty, textbook "bundles" at no extra charge, etc.).
The Willamette Store, like the vast majority of college and university bookstores nationwide, prices its textbooks at a 25% retail margin. While the Store sells a lot of textbooks, this margin is comparatively modest and its income from textbooks alone is inadequate to cover operating costs. Fortunately, The Willamette Store offers a wide range of products for sale besides textbooks.
Question: Why should students shop at The Willamette Store for their textbooks?
Answer: We realize that students now have more options than ever before for buying textbooks and course materials. We also believe that The Willamette Store is the best possible shopping choice for students, because it provides the following benefits:
- GET THE RIGHT BOOK and get it ON TIME! Quite often, publishers have different editions and different versions of their textbooks in print. The Willamette Store carries only the correct titles ordered by our professors, and they are in stock and available no later than the first day of classes.
- A knowledgeable, friendly staff willing to go beyond normal customer service duties in assisting students (and their parents) in the transition to college life.
- Student-friendly return policies in case a student drops a class or has a schedule change, with no need to pay for shipping these returned books across the country.
- The ability to accept a wide range of payment methods such as cash and personal checks from local banks, debit cards, credit cards and Willamette's own Compass Card.
- More USED BOOKS stocked to save students money. Making used books available is the single most significant way that college bookstores are reducing the cost of textbooks for students. According to estimates from national surveys, college bookstores have saved students more than $2 billion over the past ten years by making used books available.
- Buyback services that enable students to get extra money at the end of the term for books they no longer need or want.
- We'll special order any book in print, for a class or for general reading.
- Your patronage helps support the University.
- We sponsor special events, readings, book & author events, and cultural programs that contribute to the quality of campus life for students, faculty and staff.
If you are thinking about shopping elsewhere, especially from one of the
giant, online companies, consider the following:
Is the book being sold online the same exact book that is being used in class? Is it actually cheaper, after factoring in shipping charges, especially compared to the price of a used book? When you hear inflated claims by some heavily-advertised online companies, don't take the bait! National studies that have made book-by-book price comparisons have concluded that "Campus stores still have the best book deals" ("Textbooks 101: Web offers few bargains," U.S. News & World Report, September 20, 1999).
Will the book be available in time to be useful in class? Often the online booksellers have no inventory of the required book and/or they will ship the book anywhere from three to six weeks from the date of the order. This timing would almost always be unacceptable to students at the start of classes.
Question: What is the returns policy on textbooks?
Answer: Textbook returns and exchanges are done at the beginning of the semester, when students often add and drop classes, for example. These returns should not be confused with books sold back during buyback, discussed below. In general, the returns policy is as follows:
A textbook may be returned for a FULL REFUND or exchange if
- It was purchased at the beginning of the current semester.
- It is returned in the SAME CONDITION as purchased. A new book with signs of wear, any markings, or a written name is NOT eligible for a refund. DO NOT MARK in your textbooks until you are sure that you need them.
- It is accompanied by a CASH REGISTER RECEIPT showing the date purchased. KEEP ALL RECEIPTS!
- It is returned NO LATER THAN the last day specified for returns. Refer to the colored receipt flyer attached to your cash register receipt for specific dates. In general, the last day for refunds or exchanges is the Saturday at the end of the first week of classes for that college (College of Liberal Arts (undergraduate), College of Law, Atkinson Graduate School of Management, or School of Education). Textbooks purchased after this date are non-returnable.
Exceptions to the above:
- LAW REFERENCE BOOKS and study aids are NOT RETURNABLE. Be sure that these books are useful and necessary before you buy them.
- Computer software and books or materials with computer software enclosed are not returnable if they have been unwrapped.
Note: any DEFECTIVE books or materials should be returned for an exchange as soon as possible. Defects must be those not associated with normal wear and tear nor with misuse.
Question: When can students sell back books they no longer need? How much will they get for them?
Answer: A used-book buyback is held at the end of each semester, usually for five days beginning with the start of final exams. Consult the receipt flyer attached to your textbooks cash register receipt for specific days.
Buyback is confusing at best, both to students and to faculty. How much a used book is worth can be somewhat complicated. Students want to get the most money possible for their used books, and often it seems to them that they are getting next to nothing. A brief discussion of how buyback works and how we can all work together to improve it may bring about a better understanding of this process.
Perhaps the first question about buyback that comes to mind for most people involved is this: "How is the buyback price of a textbook determined?"
The buyback price of a textbook will almost always be one of the following three options: 50% of the current price of a new textbook, the current wholesale (used book company) price, or nothing (no value at all). The first option, the one that allows us to pay the student the most money for his/her textbook, presupposes a timely reorder for that textbook by faculty. If a textbook is needed for the next term, the buyback book buyer will offer 50% of the new book price. The only way for us to know if a text will be needed for the next term is for the professor to submit an order prior to book buyback.
If a textbook cannot be purchased for resale at 50% of the new book price, it may be purchased for a used book company at the price currently listed in that company's catalog (which is also loaded into our computer's database). This price will vary, depending on the company's estimation of national demand for the book, but it will always be substantially lower than the price we pay for books that are going to be resold to our own students. Wholesale prices can range from 5% to 30% of the price of a new book, with paperback books falling at the bottom of this range. Sometimes we cannot buy a textbook for the used book company (wholesale company). The company may be overstocked, it may anticipate no demand for this particular title, the book may be going into a new edition, or the book may not be in acceptable condition (and they would not reimburse us for our purchase of the book). In such a case, the textbook will have no value at the buyback.
In sum, at buyback a textbook will typically be worth 50% of the new book price, unless:
- The book is not being used in the coming term
- The textbook adoption was not turned in on a timely basis
- The Store already has enough books on hand or has reached its purchase limit
- A new edition will be (or already is) available and will be used in the course
- It is falling apart or has pages that are missing or workbook pages filled out
- It is a law textbook and is too heavily highlighted or cribbed
- It is water-damaged
The more books we can purchase for resale to our own students, the happier everyone will be. It means more money for students selling their books, fewer books to be ordered, and more used books available to students at the start of the next semester (at 25% off new book prices).
A final question, in light of the above discussion: "What can faculty and students do to enable students to get the most out of buyback?"
Faculty can do their best to get textbook adoptions (especially readoptions) turned in prior to the buyback. Of course, there will always be a few cases where new textbooks are still being considered and this is impossible.
Students can get the most out of buyback by taking good care of their textbooks (not damaging them or highlighting them excessively), by bringing their textbooks to the buyback as early as possible (before buyback limits have been reached), and by sometimes holding onto books that may be used again until a subsequent buyback. If a course is offered only once a year, the textbook may be worth more at the buyback immediately preceding the semester in which the course is offered, when the textbook re-adoption has been received.
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