It’s that time again — the time when we have to drag ourselves to the University Bookstore and offer up our first born as payment for a semester’s worth of books.
The average student plans on spending $100 per class on books, but often it costs more. With the ever-increasing cost of books, places such as Beat the Bookstore seem more and more attractive.
University Bookstore alternatives generally offer cheaper books and better buy-back rates, but at a cost.
As anyone that has been to Beat the Bookstore can attest, it isn’t exactly student-friendly. If you are lucky enough to be able to catch the store during its limited hours, you can’t be sure that it will have what you need.
Limited staff usually means the staff has more important things to do than help you navigate the aisles, and its buy-back policy leaves much to be desired. The store does offer more money than the U Bookstore for textbook buy-back, which lasts all year long at Beat the Bookstore, but it has made it inconvenient. While the U Bookstore offers immediate cash for books, Beat the Bookstore offers store credit, which you can cash out after 30 days.
From personal experience, don’t depend on it. When I tried to do this, a staff member promised to mail a check in 30 days — which to this day, I have never received.
If you have the time to spare, Beat the Bookstore is a bargain, but be prepared to tackle it alone. Whether you choose to shop there or not, you will have to visit the U Bookstore to get what Beat the Bookstore doesn’t carry.
Like it or not, books are expensive, but don’t blame the U Bookstore. It is doing everything it can to be student-friendly.
Aside from the ample, knowledgeable staff, the U Bookstore is making every possible effort to benefit students. Run as a non-profit business, the U Bookstore returns any profit to the students through lower student fees and university upgrades. The U Bookstore recently used additional funds to pay for the renovations done at Kingsbury Hall. The U Bookstore is even working on a series of programs to lower the cost of books. In the future, a total semester’s worth of books could cost less than $100.
Currently, the U Bookstore offers discounts through a series of offers. Online-accessible books, or E-Books, when available, give a 60 percent discount; “Bucky-bucks” give a dollar discount per book at the register; and an additional 5 percent discount is offered for purchases made with a U card.
Other projects in the works include a guaranteed buy-back program, book rentals and tax-free textbooks.
For additional convenience, the U Bookstore’s website offers online ordering for pickup or delivery to a satellite campus at no cost.
Convenient locations and student-friendly policies, all in all, make the U Bookstore a better deal to students than its competitors.
Buying textbooks shouldn’t hurt. Minimize the pain by shopping early and supporting your school. The U Bookstore might cost a couple dollars more, but it’s worth it.
