Thursday, July 24, 2014

Buyback Summer 2014- Four Handy Reminders

Buyback for Summer 2014 begins today and lasts through Friday, July 25th, 8AM to 5PM, at the OTC Springfield campus. Here are some handy reminders to make the book-selling experience an easy one:

-OTC SmartCard required. We've been lenient about this in the past, but now it's very important that you bring along your OTC SmartCard so that we can verify your status as an OTC student. If you haven't registered for a SmartCard yet (shame shame!), please visit the bookstore at the OTC Springfield campus, or the main offices of any of our extended campuses in Richwood Valley, Lebanon, Waynesville, or Table Rock. If you've registered for your card and haven't received it yet, please bring in the pamphlet you were given upon registering for verification.

-Sell back early. Our buyback methodology hinges on one important phrase: supply and demand. Our need for textbooks is highest on the first day of buyback. Every semester we buy back a certain number of each book, depending on how many we need to have enough supply for all the students enrolled in the classes for that semester. Simply put, the more books we buy, the higher our supply becomes. The higher our supply becomes, the less demand we have for more. The less demand we have for more, the less money we pay out. Once the demand for more textbooks is gone, we quit purchasing them.

-Bring all supplemental materials. If your textbook comes as part of a package that includes multiple books, CDs, DVDs, or the like, please bring those with you. We may be still be able to buy the textbook back from you without the additional materials, but we'll often pay a decent sum more if they're included. Unfortunately, some books we are unable to accept without said materials.

-Please be understanding! Frankly, we wish we could buy back every book customers bring in to us. Unfortunately, from a financial standpoint, we simply can't. As has been said already, sometimes we're unable to buy a textbook because we either have all the supply we need or we can't resell the book without the supplemental materials. Sometimes the department that adopts the textbook you used last semester decides to switch to an updated edition or even a new book entirely. Sometimes the books brought in are damaged. For more information on why we may be unable to buy back your book, please refer to this blog post. Rest assured that we'll do whatever it takes to buy your books if we can!

With these pointers in mind, you're equipped with all the knowledge you need to be a successful book seller...backer.

We may need to come up with a better name for that.

Monday, July 7, 2014

I Scream, You Scream...

I don't think I need to tell you how hot it is out there.

I also don't think I need to tell you how refreshing some ice cream would be right about now. 
I can say that with confidence because it's been scientifically proven* that everyone in the world EVER likes ice cream.

Trust us, we sell college textbooks. We know these things.

The OTC Bookstore has partnered with Blue Bunny to provide refreshing relief from the summer heat. We have a wide variety of frozen dairy treats to choose from:
  • Cool Tube- $1.19
  • Jolly Rancher Bomb Pop- $1.19
  • Ice cream sandwich- $1.29
  • Champ cone- $1.79
  • Cookies and cream bar- $1.59
  • Heath bar- $1.59
  • Strawberry shortcake bar- $1.59
  • Turtle bar- $2.89
  • Big Bopper ice cream cookie sandwich- $2.89
  • Champ Bunny Tracks deluxe cone- $2.89

Don't wait until fall rolls around to realize you spent your summer at OTC ice cream-less. Stop by the Bookstore today!

I'd use a bad pun about us being the "cool" place to be during the summer, but I like to think we're all above that**.


*Not actually scientifically proven
**We're not

OTC Bookstore Employee Keeping World Cup Fans Jerseyed Up

World Cup fever is in full swing, and fans are flocking to stores to show their support for their favorite teams.

Of course, we're not a sporting goods store, but we do have an employee who works at one.

Image courtesy of KY3 News

Our own Alex Yocum, who has been with the bookstore since Fall 2011 (check out our August 2012 interview with him here), also works at Rally House, where he was briefly interviewed by KY3 for a news story on how the World Cup is driving traffic to the store. You can read the article or watch the news story on KY3.com.