"Why Won't You Buy My Book Back?!"

I've heard all sorts of questions during my employment at the OTC Bookstore, but this one more than perhaps any other.

We're winding down our major textbook buyback for the semester, and I'm sure this question has crossed your mind at some point. Let's start by assuring you guys that we'd love to buy ALL your textbooks. None of us enjoy having to turn your books away, but unfortunately, there are a number of factors completely our of our control that determine whether we can buy your book back or not. Here are the five major ones:

We have all the copies we need
The number of books we buy back is based on the number of students enrolled in those classes every semester. Once we have all the copies we need, we no longer have any need to purchase any more. Three words: SELL. BACK. EARLY.

Low demand
This is why we buy the bulk of our textbooks during the last two weeks of the semester. During that time, we work hard to replenish our stock of textbooks for the following semester so the students will have used copies to purchase. When students aren't buying a lot of books--say, two-thirds into a semester--we don't have a demand for purchasing a lot of books. Therefore, we often don't.

The textbook is no longer being used
We don't like it either, but it's a fact of life: college textbooks change. Sometimes the various departments [i.e. English, Science, Networking] switch to new editions of current books. Sometimes they  decide to change the books entirely. Whatever the reason, it's the bookstore's job to carry the books the college adopts.

The book is in poor condition
Ask yourself: if you saw a badly-damaged textbook on our shelves, would you want to buy it? If your book has liquid damage, large tears and the like, chances are we won't be able to buy it from you. We desire the books we have on our shelves look attractive to our customers.

Excessive highlighting/writing
Again, if you were a customer thumbing through a book that had lots of highlighting and writing, would you want to purchase it as opposed to one that didn't? Our rule of thumb is if a book has more than ten pages of highlighting/writing, we won't buy it back.

Hopefully this post gives you a greater idea about why we don't buy back certain books. Note that these aren't the only reasons, but more often than not a book rejection falls into one of these five large areas. Happy buyback, guys!

More Than Just Textbooks

Last time, we spoke briefly about how college bookstores aren’t the cold, uncaring corporations many people think they are (at least, we’re not). Let’s delve into why that actually is. What makes the OTC Bookstore more than just a business out to make a quick buck selling textbooks?

Quite a bit, actually. Just as textbooks are only part of the college experience, textbooks are only part of what the OTC Bookstore is about. Like college, we’re about more than just learning; we’re about bettering your life, making it more enjoyable. After all, where would be the fun in working someplace where all of the customers leave with frowns on their faces? Since OTC began running the bookstore in July of 2009, we’ve been striving to be, not just a location to buy textbooks, but also the biggest place on the OTC campus that celebrates the spirit of our fine college.

For starters, we fully believe in giving back to our community. Records indicate that we paid out nearly a million dollars to students last year for their unwanted textbooks. We participate in a variety of OTC events, including Community Day and the semester-ly SGA Picnic, giving away free prizes and offering a variety of games to play. Once the big textbook rush dies down, we have Game Day, where students can take a break from classes and play video games for a chance to win bookstore gift cards. In the past, we’ve donated textbooks to young men and women in underdeveloped countries. On several occasions, we’ve been known to offer the chance for students to win a free textbook or two.

But let’s talk business for a bit, shall we? What items does the OTC Bookstore sell besides textbooks? On the educational side, we have writing utensils, folders, notebooks, backpacks, and other assorted items essential for the average college student. On the more fun side, you can show your OTC pride with our large variety of T-Shirts, sweatshirts, hats, even coffee mugs, Frisbees, and footballs bearing the OTC logo. Hungry or thirsty? Eat, drink, and be merry with our huge food and drink selection. Satiate your electronics hunger with discount DVDs, video games, printers, even laptops and iPods. And that’s to say nothing of the other assorted items we carry, such as bobbleheads, candles, Buckyballs, and the latest New York Times bestsellers.

Yep, there’s a lot more to the OTC Bookstore than meets the eye. So stop on by today—if not for a textbook, then to check out all the neat stuff we have to make your college experience more enjoyable.

After all, that’s what we’re here for.