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Amazon Textbook Buyback or Cash for Textbooks – Your Best Option?

It is the time of year when lots of textbook companies are hoping to buy back textbooks to sell back in the fall.  As someone endeavoring to get the highest price for your textbooks should you attempt to get cash for textbooks or try the new Amazon Textbook Buyback program which only offers Amazon credit?

Cash for Textbooks or Amazon Textbook Credit?

Amazon has been heavily pushing their Amazon Prime program to college goers via their Amazon Student Savings program.  Amazon Student offers free two-day shipping on eligible products with a year of Amazon Prime shipping benefits and other special offers via email.  Amazon offers this program for free to students that provide their school, major, and .edu email address.

Amazon claims students can get back up to 70% back on their used textbooks, but haven’t recently gotten into some legal action with the National Association of College Stores over their claims.  The Amazon textbook buyback program has been getting good reviews here at RentScouter with the program building a great deal of popularity despite only offering credit.  However, since Amazon sells everything from diapers to gourmet food, people are generally pretty happy with getting credit when they sell back books instead of cash for textbooks.  Plus, Amazon’s buy back program offers a great deal more than most companies offering to buy back textbooks.

Let’s look at a couple examples of cash for textbooks versus Amazon textbook buyback credit:

9781416056171  Physical Examination and Health Assessment by Jarvis

Amazon is currently offering $71.10 in credit, while the next best textbook buyback price is $9.00 from BookByte.  The cheapest price for this textbook is currently $15.63 used on Amazon.

9780495800187  A Concise Introduction to Logic by Hurley

Amazon is currently offering $56.86 in credit, while the next best book buyback price is $7.84 from Moola4Books, while it can be purchased used on Amazon for $16.00.

9780321558145  Campbell Biology with MasteringBiology 9th Edition by Reece

Amazon is currently offering $95.00 in credit, while TextbookRus is offering $103.00 and it can be bought as a used textbook for $141.95.

As you can see, sometimes you can get more cash for textbooks than Amazon credit, but are textbook buyback companies and Amazon equal?

From our own textbook trade-in tests to Amazon they are very picky on condition and supplemental materials.  They will reject most books that contain any sort of marking or do not include a CD or DVD or even access code.  Meanwhile, most companies that buy back textbooks will certainly take books with a reasonable amount of marking or highlighting, though most will not take textbooks missing required CDs or DVDs.

How does Amazon offer so much credit instead of cash for textbooks?

Amazon’s textbook buyback program is run by NorAm International which ultimately becomes Nebraska Book Company (NBC) one of the largest wholesale textbook companies that supplies new and used textbooks to hundreds of college bookstores across the nation and textbook rental companies as well.  NBC can offer more for textbooks through Amazon only for school books it knows they can resell for a much higher price, or sell to a book rental company that will offer it as a textbook rental several times.  So while you are getting a good deal of Amazon credit for your textbook trade-in, whoever has to buy that textbook next is not getting a bargain.

That is why a used book might be selling used on Amazon for $15.00 and they are offering $70.00 in credit – because NorAm is offering Amazon more because the book can be resold at a higher price, or used as a textbook rental several times.  However, remember that Amazon often loses money on certain products to make money on others, and they know if they give you $70.00 in credit, they are making 15% back in the commission they charge on every item you purchase on Amazon.  They also know that by giving you Amazon credit they are helping to retain you as a future customer that will spend more and more money with them – for instance, buying new textbooks that they will make a pretty penny in commission.

Cash for Textbooks or Amazon Textbook Buyback – if you need the cash get the highest price, otherwise you probably make out best with Amazon credit unless you don’t order much from Amazon.

I had to re-read a recent article title and pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming.

Amazon has recently sued the National Association of College Stores (NACS) claiming the 3,100 member group supported a monopoly that takes advantage of college students when they buy or sell textbooks.

Amazon is suing someone claiming they are running a monopoly?

Hello kettle?

Amazon who is the constant guerrilla in a monopolistic price war with Barnes&Noble and Walmart for cheap books, low price tablets, or Apple over music download prices wants to complain about monopolistic practices?

Okay, Amazon is basically counter suing after the NACS sought a nonbinding advisory ruling from the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau that certain Amazon ads were misleading and unfounded.  Amazon quickly shut down this action via their legal department because the Better Business Bureau (BBB) cannot continue with inquiries that involve litigation.  What Amazon ads ruffled the feathers of the NACS?

Amazon routinely claims that one can buy textbooks online for cheap, promising new textbooks at up to 30% off list prices and up to 90% for used textbooks.  The NACS seems to be most upset with Amazon’s textbook buyback program where students are selling back textbooks not to the members of the NACS, but rather getting credit with Amazon’s textbook buyback program which is often offering up to 60% or more of the original list price.  While Amazon is only offering credit for textbook buyback, their prices are often much higher than any other company buying used books and paying cash.  However, Amazon sells everything from gourmet food to shoes these days, so Amazon credit is not necessarily a bad thing to offer college students especially since Amazon is pushing their Prime Membership upon the textbook online buying masses.

The great news here is that each side is only trying to protect their bottom line when they could be utilizing those hundred of thousands in lawyer fees to help reduce education costs, but hey, that is just crazy talk.

We listen to the buyback companies tell us about textbooks arrive poorly packaged all the time and how customers do not understand how their “like new condition” book arrived looking like mashed potatoes.

Poor textbook packaging can lead to various kinds of damage:

Broken Textbook Binding

1) Broken binding – especially with heavy books sliding around inside their shipping box

Liquid Damaged Textbook

2) Water or liquid damage – because the box is not properly sealed

Poor Buyback Packaging

3) Lost books – books sliding around during the “gentle” mailing process can cause blows out which results in lost books showing up at the Post Office auction in Atlanta, GA where truckloads of lost books are sold each month.  It is nice you guys are keeping the Post Office in business, but I think you would rather keep the cash in your college pocket?

So how can you properly package your books so that you get paid when selling your textbooks for cash?

1) First, double check the condition of your book.  If your bookstore refused to buy it, so to will a textbook sell back company – their condition standards are often tougher than your college bookstore.  Sure, they pay for the shipping and some people decide to give it a swing, but do not be pissed if they reject your book.  Also, if it smells worse than your roommate it will be rejected as well, or if the pages look like a Picasso, no matter how neat and clean your notes and highlighting look to you.

2) If you are sending any CDs make sure they are ideally inside a hard cover textbook to protect them during shipping.  Do not put any CDs or DVDs on top of the books after putting them inside your box as they will generally get crushed.

3) Do not use packing peanuts – they break down during shipping allowing your books to slide around which can cause all sorts of problems.  Plus, if you have ever unpacked something with backing peanuts after getting shipped – total mess and will not make your book inspector happy.

4) Use a sturdy box – sorry cereal, beer, or shoe boxes do not count.  Okay, okay I was a poor college student too and all I could find were cereal boxes I stole from the lounge.  Here is the tip on that – wrap them around your book like tight wrapping paper – at least twice.  Again, make sure there is no extra space between your books and the box edges.  If there is any space pack it with bubble wrap or other light packing material.  Do not use newspaper as the ink will rub off on the book, possibly causing it to be rejected.

5) Use a sturdy box – and do not stick one book in a huge box because it will get crushed during shipping, possibly split open, and your book will get lost even before it gets to the textbook buyback company.  Don’t get upset with them because you packaged the book you are hoping to get $80 bucks in a flimsy box with one piece of tape across the top.  I will try and get some pictures of poorly packaged textbooks, but some of the stuff I have seen makes me wonder how some of you got into college

6) Include your packing slip – there is a reason the buyback companies ask you to do this.  If your poorly packaged box breaks open, occasionally you might get a postal worker that is nice enough to notice the packing slip with your book after your shoe box gets thrown away.  If they are feeling benevolent that day your book might still get forwarded to the buyback address on the packing slip, if not guess what – no money for you.

7) Use more than one piece of tape.  Tape is cheap, losing your expensive textbook is not cheap or fun.  Those textbooks are like cash so make sure you treat them as such.

Finally, consider buying tracking and/or insurance – media mail is slow as molasses, but will generally arrive in 30 days.  However, if it gets lost or directed to parts unknown there is no tracking, and it will often be gone like the wind.

There you have it – eight simple steps about how to package textbooks for buyback.

Keep those things in mind and ideally your textbooks will never got lost or damaged in the mail again.