Students shop around for book buyback

Three local stores: Kennel and University Bookstores and Sequoia Textbooks offer different options but similar resale values for books

By Valerie Westen
The Collegian

The semester is already over and many students are about to sell their books back hoping to get a decent amount of money for them.

For Fresno State students three locations seem to be most convenient: the Kennel Bookstore on campus, the University Bookstore on Shaw and Cedar and Sequoia Textbooks on Shaw and Maple.

Tina Borrelli, a business student, said she is worried about how much she will get for her books.

“I often keep the ones that I think will be useful for my major and in my career, but I also try to sell a lot of them back, because I need the money to buy more books next semester,” Borrelli said.

She said she will sell her books to the Kennel Bookstore and does not consider going anywhere else.

“The bookstore on campus is more convenient, I would only waste my time because the prices are the same,” Borrelli said, “but it is robbery to give us less than half of what they will be selling them in the fall.”

Misty Bassham, manager at the Sequoia Textbooks, admits that their prices do not compete with Kennel’s and they will pay approximately the same for any given book.

“The reason why Fresno State students sell their books back here is because they don’t have to wait in line and they can get individual attention. The access to our bookstore is easier,” Bassham said.

She also said another important factor is where the students bought their books at the beginning of the semester.

“The students who buy their books here will sell them back to us most of the time,” Bassham said.
The University Bookstore refused to comment, but many students go to the yellow building to sell their books back mostly when they have missed the buyback days.

“I know that they buy textbooks all year long,” Ariana Tamayo, a business administration major, said.

Although she bought all of her books at the Kennel Bookstore, Tamayo intends to sell them to the University Bookstore because she believes she will be getting a few extra dollars.

“It will still be a rip off and I think they should give the students more money instead of trying to make a profit,” Tamayo said.

Susan Bartel, book department manager at the Kennel Bookstore, explains why some students may think they are not getting as much as they should for their books.

“If a professor has not turned in their book order for next semester, we don’t know if they’ll be using them again, that’s why we cannot pay more,” Bartel said.

If professors turn in their order before buyback, the campus bookstore will be able to buy their books back for half of the original price. They will then be sold the following semester for 75 percent of the original cost. So where is the profit going?

“The money stays on campus because we are non-profit, while the owners of the other bookstores off-campus have the money going straight to their bank account,” Bartel said.

Bartel encourages students to talk to their professors and ask them to turn in their order prior to buyback.

“As of now, only 40 percent of orders have been placed, therefore many students are not getting as much as they should for their books,” Bartel said.

Comment on this story in the Features forum >>