An inside look on how buyback works:

During finals week at the end of each semester we host a book buyback. A buyback is where bookstores buy back books for cash from students. Students bring books to the window behind the store during the designated time and we will let you know how much each book is worth. The price given for each book is the best market price we can give at the time based on need and current quantity.

If your book is being used again for a class taught at Northwestern the following semester, we will give you anywhere from 0-75% back of what you paid for it. The price you receive all depends on the value of the book, how long it has been in print, as well as the supply and demand of the book. A book that has not been in print for very long is usually going to be worth more than a book that has been in print for many years.

If you believe a text is being used for the next semester and are wanting to sell it, we encourage you to confirm with your professor that they have provided the Campus Store with their textbooks adoptions for that semester; otherwise we will not know if it is needed.

If the textbook is not being used at Northwestern we still try to get you money for it! We try to sell it to a wholesaler, who usually gives anywhere between 10 – 40% for a textbook. This all depends on our wholesaler's supply and demand for each individual textbook.

Is the book an old edition? If the text is an old edition we will most likely not buy the text back from you, but there is still a chance that our wholesaler will. We will automatically check with our wholesaler to see if they will buy the book.

If the book is an old edition but a professor still wants to use the older edition then you are in luck! We will give you the best market price possible, provided that we have not met our buyback limit. It is good to remember that we do not guarantee we will buy all your texts back from you.

Oftentimes a class is taught every other semester or every other year, in which case we will buy the books back the semester before the class is taught again, granted that the professor uses the same book.

Buy your books from the Campus Store! Those that buy their books at the Campus Store are helping UNW as a whole. For more info on why buying from the UNW Campus Store is your best option click here.

Sell back early! We do not guarantee that your books will be bought back and we take limited quantities so to ensure the most money back possible, sell back early and come on the first day of buyback.

Encourage your professors to use books again. Please note that we do not buy back books that have not been officially adopted, so if the professor has not turned in his or her adoptions for the following semester we will not purchase those books back.

There is still hope if your text is not adopted for the next semester. We buy books back for two purchasers. If a professor adopts a book to be used again than we will buy the book back the semester before it is used, however if the book is not being used the next semester, or it will not be used again we will see if our wholesaler will buy the book. At that time you can decide if you would like to sell it to our wholesaler or keep it and sell it if the book is adopted again.

Please keep in mind that we cannot buy back books for the Campus Store that a professor did not adopt. We will however try to sell it to our wholesaler.

We do not guarantee that all your books will be bought back. Although we do our best to make sure you get money back when you sell your books, we cannot ensure that each textbook you bring back will deliver a great return.