2008 Woodie Awards
To buy or not to buy: SBU Bookstore pros and cons
Sean McCormack
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Forum
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I feel compelled to share with all students a way to save money at the beginning of the semester and make a little more at the end. As a returning student to a private institution where tuition alone is $19,500, according to the University's website, students must take precautions in order to keep as much of their money as they can.
Do not buy your textbooks from the SBU Bookstore unless you absolutely must, and under no circumstances should you sell them back to the bookstore for any reason. As proof of the amount of money that can be saved, I will do a comparison between buying all used books I need this semester for my classes from SBU's Bookstore and Amazon.com. I will also compare buying all new books from the respected outlets. Let us examine the cost breakdown:
All Books Bought On Amazon.com - USED - $292.21
All Books Bought At SBU - USED - $336.25
All Books Bought On Amazon.com - NEW - $433.26
All Books Bought At SBU - NEW - $445.50
While the amount of money saved by buying the books new from Amazon.com is only $12.24 in this case, I saved a substantial $44.04 by ordering all of my books used from Amazon.com. Before anyone starts jumping on the chance to claim that the money I saved will actually be spent on shipping the books, it should be noted that this is not the case at all. Amazon.com offers free shipping on all orders over $25 with a few basic requirements. Another argument that might be made is needing text books right away for classes.
The University bookstore's website has the booklists for each semester posted a week or two before each semester, and it is always possible to have a friend grab the information for you, if you know someone in Bolivar during that time. Likewise, most professors will tell you what books you will need if you call and ask.
No student should ever sell their books back to the University Bookstore. Under the new company that manages the SBU Bookstore, you do not get fair money back for your used textbooks at the end of the semester. A wiser option is to make a short trek to Springfield. There are a number of places there that will buy back your textbooks at a much better rate than the one offered by the University's bookstore. Another option, at least in general education classes, is to hang on to your textbooks and sell them at the start of next semester to classmates. Just undercut the University bookstore's used book price by $5-$10, and you should be able to find a buyer with little difficulty.
Do not buy your textbooks from the SBU Bookstore unless you absolutely must, and under no circumstances should you sell them back to the bookstore for any reason. As proof of the amount of money that can be saved, I will do a comparison between buying all used books I need this semester for my classes from SBU's Bookstore and Amazon.com. I will also compare buying all new books from the respected outlets. Let us examine the cost breakdown:
All Books Bought On Amazon.com - USED - $292.21
All Books Bought At SBU - USED - $336.25
All Books Bought On Amazon.com - NEW - $433.26
All Books Bought At SBU - NEW - $445.50
While the amount of money saved by buying the books new from Amazon.com is only $12.24 in this case, I saved a substantial $44.04 by ordering all of my books used from Amazon.com. Before anyone starts jumping on the chance to claim that the money I saved will actually be spent on shipping the books, it should be noted that this is not the case at all. Amazon.com offers free shipping on all orders over $25 with a few basic requirements. Another argument that might be made is needing text books right away for classes.
The University bookstore's website has the booklists for each semester posted a week or two before each semester, and it is always possible to have a friend grab the information for you, if you know someone in Bolivar during that time. Likewise, most professors will tell you what books you will need if you call and ask.
No student should ever sell their books back to the University Bookstore. Under the new company that manages the SBU Bookstore, you do not get fair money back for your used textbooks at the end of the semester. A wiser option is to make a short trek to Springfield. There are a number of places there that will buy back your textbooks at a much better rate than the one offered by the University's bookstore. Another option, at least in general education classes, is to hang on to your textbooks and sell them at the start of next semester to classmates. Just undercut the University bookstore's used book price by $5-$10, and you should be able to find a buyer with little difficulty.
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