Why does it cost more for a store to buy used books?
• The demand for used books significantly exceeds the supply. Stores spend a great deal of time and energy trying to get faculty requests before exams begin because the best source for used books are students on the campus who already use those books. About 50% of the used books sold in a typical college store are purchased from students. • In addition to the expense of creating a buyback list, and running a used book buyback on campus, most stores search extensively for used books from used book companies. Stores looking for a particular book may contact several of these companies four or five times each during the order cycle. Each inquiry takes time and costs money. • Another reason the cost of the used book business is higher than selling new books is that unsold books bought from students have to be sold at a loss on the used book market or even destroyed.
