Textbooks:Student FAQs

Who selects the textbooks we sell?

Course materials we sell are chosen by your instructors and are selected by what information best fits their teaching needs. Instructors choose texts that will compliment, amplify, expand and enrich what they will present in their class. The value of the text is in the usefulness of the product in teaching the course, whether as a main text, a resource, extra reading for overview and/or comparison, or required readings.

Why should I purchase my textbooks?

Textbooks and course materials serve as "tools of the trade" to inform and guide students toward subject matter mastery and classroom success. Textbooks provide you with a 24-hour-a-day resource that gives you access to the knowledge, insights and experience of authors who are subject matter experts and outstanding teachers. Textbooks are thoughtfully written and carefully developed to distill large amounts of often complex information in an organized format that is logical, readable and appealing.

What determines textbook prices?

There are many factors that affect the price of a textbook. These factors include author royalties, publisher costs, marketing, publisher and author taxes, and bookstore expenses. Each bookstore determines the price of books they are selling. Publishers charge a set price to all stores for any quantity of books. There are no discounts for volume, no discounts for particular stores. The University Bookstore System has determined that it will operate on a set margin for all textbooks at the industry standard, which is 25%. With this 25% of the retail price (retail price is the cost to the student) we pay all the expenses of acquiring and selling the textbooks including rent, salaries, wages, benefits, equipment, furniture, systems, supplies, phones, etc.--just like any other business.

Which are better, new or used textbooks?

This is a matter of preference. Most used textbooks are priced at approximately 75% of the new textbook price. These books are less expensive but may contain writing, highlighting or other marks that some students don't want in their books. New textbooks do not contain any markings and are preferred when you plan to keep a book for future reference.

Will you buy back all of my books at the end of the semester?

The bookstore will buy back a quantity of books from the students if that text is being used again the following semester. Since we are the clearinghouse for textbooks at Howard University and are required to have all texts required and recommended by the instructors, we rarely fill our requested quantities for buyback. If these quantities are not filled, we then order used books from used book distributors, for which we have many sources. When we have maximized our efforts to obtain used books, we purchase new books from publishers. If the text is not being used or if we have fulfilled our quantity requirements, we will offer you a wholesale price that is being offered by a textbook wholesaler. These books are then boxed and sent to these companies. If a new edition of a book has been released, we are sometimes still able to send these books to the wholesalers or we will buy it back from you if the instructor chooses to use the old edition again. The bookstore does not know when a new edition of a textbook will be released; that decision is made by the publisher when it feels the information in a particular book needs to be updated.

How much will you give me for a textbook that I sell back?

We buy all books having resale value.  In addition, books on retail list may receive up to 50% of the purchased price when we buy books back from students for use on our campus.  Because of this, and because we consistently buy only good quality books, many students bring their books to us for buyback. We buy a huge volume of our used textbooks each December and May. Buyback prices are not based on whether you purchase a new or used book for we have no way of monitoring this.  If you don't see your book on the retail list, please ask your professor, we may not have received an adoption.  Photo I.D. is required.

Where the new textbook dollar goes*...