By Nadine Moedt (The Cascade)– Email
Print Edition: September 11, 2013
“Hey.”
I look up from my seat on the Tim Horton’s patio. A shady-looking fellow student stands in front of me, hands in his pockets, glancing around anxiously.
“You buying?”
I’m sure everyone has seen them. The campus is overrun; shady dealings, an exchange of goods for cash done on the run between classes. Brief encounters between strangers.
Yes, it’s that time of year: time to bring out your used text books, erase your various pencil markings, hope that another edition hasn’t been put out yet and put them up for sale. It’s Books2go season.
It’s a brief time; thrifty students scour the listings on books2go in hopes of a deal whilst selling their own texts for far less than they paid for them. It’s a fierce business, too. One must undercut competitors, check email often, and be on campus to sell at any time to be successful.
But a bit of fair competition should not be enough to throw basic sales etiquette away entirely. Books2go people aren’t Craigslist people, after all. Ever since a potential buyer from Craigslist stole my bed frame, I’ve lost faith in Craigslist people. We’re all students and we’re all in this together.
So, some basic manners are in order.
Firstly, if you email someone regarding a book but buy it elsewhere before they respond, let them know! Don’t leave them hanging.
Don’t tear down other people’s hard copies. That’s just plain sleazy.
If you arrange to meet with someone to buy, you have entered an agreement with that person. There is trust there. Don’t back out at the last second because someone has responded with a lower price.
Don’t sell first-time buyers an old edition if you know it’s not what they need. You’re better than that. Make sure they know what edition they’re buying.
Lastly: buyers, don’t show up for a text book and then start haggling. It’s awkward for both of you, and will invariably leave a bad taste in your mouth.
With that in mind, here are some tips from a veteran buyer and seller on how to be a success on Books2go.
To start: know what classes are in session and know what text the instructor is asking students to buy. This is simple enough. Check the course listings, find the courses you have texts for, and then go to the bookstore website and check which titles the instructor is asking for. Something you can do to supplement your posting is to put up posters around the school. What works well is locating the class you’re selling to and posting right outside the door or in the hall leading up to it. Advertise your price and the bookstore price side by side.
When posting your books, don’t undercut competitors too much. This only drives down the price. Five dollars less than the lowest price is more than enough to attract buyers. It’s also a good idea not to post your text until a few weeks before classes begin; that way your text will be at the top of the list, and no one will have undercut you further. Buyers think that recent posts mean that you will be easier to contact – and often this is the case with older books as sellers may have graduated or simply forgotten to remove their posting after a sale.
Be the first person to respond to an inquiry about a textbook. So, check your email often before classes start and in the first week. Better yet, give your phone number and get interested people to text you for a quick reply. To make a sale, you have to be available.
More often than not, used textbook transactions are a pain. Meeting with buyers and sellers is always difficult to arrange, and finding the right book and edition for your class and keeping on top of your listings takes some energy. In the end though, don’t we all secretly love the thrill of the chase?
