Student-to-student book sales
Some Saddleback College students are forgoing campus bookstores in favor of buying and selling used course materials in student-to-student transactions, a money saving endeavor for both parties. Flyers hang around campus, often increasing in frequency before and towards the end of a semester, advertising new and used books at discounted prices from what the Saddleback Bookstore offers.
These transactions, which often take place on campus according to numerous flyers, have also seen increasing frequency online and through websites such as Amazon.com. With the average textbook cost for students per semester at about $600, according to USNews.com, excluding a third party seller has become a more and more attractive offer to some. Students can save a buck on next semester’s textbook costs while independent student sellers can make up their last semester expenses.
A student who buys a new textbook and uses it for one semester can resell to the campus bookstore, however the resale value, based on the bookstore’s need of the text, is often less than a third of what was originally paid. Nearer to the beginning of finals week, best-case scenario resales offer 50 percent of the original value, according to the Saddleback Bookstore.
