Why Early Adoption of Fall Course Materials by Faculty Matters
It’s textbook buyback and rental return season at the Bookstore in Taylor Hall (April 28 – May 10). Faculty play a vital role in ensuring this process benefits students as much as possible—especially through early adoption of course materials.
When the bookstore receives adoption information early from faculty members, it can offer buyback prices to students and better plan for textbook needs. Timely submissions also ensure greater access to affordable course materials and minimize the need for costly new editions.
When students return rentals or sell back textbooks to the campus bookstore, it helps:
Reduces the cost of textbooks by increasing our used book inventory for future courses; this minimizes the need for the Bookstore to purchase new books each term – which has a great impact on affordability, availability and sustainability
Provides credit to their debit card for books the student does not want to keep
Eliminates shipping costs that may be incurred with online buyback/return
In terms of buyback pricing, the price offered for books or other course materials varies by market demand and which textbooks the faculty have indicated they plan to use for Summer or Fall classes. The Bookstore generally offers one of three buyback prices:
Retail value: The book/course material will be used for a future class/we know at the time of buyback that we need that book for a future Wake class
Wholesale value: The book/course material is not currently known to be needed for a future class at Wake, but has national bluebook value.
Marketplace value: The book/course material is not currently known to be needed for a future class at Wake but has a value through marketplace channels, because global demand is great.
Books that are not eligible for buyback—due to condition, edition updates, or lack of future course use—are donated to Better World Books to support sustainability.
