Purging Textbooks at the End of the Semester

By L. Roberts on December 27, 2019

Congratulations! You’ve made it through another semester of college. (And maybe you had your doubts.) You’re home for the winter break, having sung your favorite songs on your ride home, “while thoughts of sugar plum fairies dance in your head.” You’re probably looking forward to spending time with your family, catching up with old, hometown friends, and getting a chance to relax after your final exams, papers, and projects. If you’re anything like me, you value this time at home with your loved ones. It gives you the chance to “reset” and get yourself ready for the spring semester.

However, the one thing you probably haven’t considered is what you’re going to do with all of those textbooks you used this semester. You know… all the ones you stayed up studying all night? The ones you highlighted in, put under your pillow, shared with your study group, and poured yourself into for months. For most of us, our textbooks will just sit on our bookshelves until we graduate, or move, or decide to jump on the “spring cleaning” bandwagon. You’re either going to let these textbooks sit on your bookshelf, or you’re going to look for a way to get rid of them — purge them, if you will. Regardless of what you decide, here are some options for you as we close out the semester and you stare at the pile of textbooks sitting on your bookshelf (or on the floor.. under your bed… or on your desk).

These days, it’s not too popular to keep textbooks… unless, of course, those textbooks are from classes with information that you’ll likely need in the future. For those of us who plan to attend graduate school, sometimes it’s a good idea to keep textbooks from undergrad — the ones that matter, at least. For others, there’s no use in keeping your “Biology 101″ textbook on your shelf — it’ll just collect dust and take up space. If you’ve taken classes that require textbooks you might need in the future, I suggest you keep them. You never know when it’ll come in handy to have that information.

If you’re not interested in keeping your textbooks after the semester is over (which is probably the case for your general education classes,) you have several options for getting rid of them. You could just throw them away. But to be honest, throwing away textbooks is throwing away money. Even textbooks that have little or no value can be donated, sold, or traded.

via Pexels.com

In fact, every year, there are around 640,000 tons of textbooks thrown away — like into a landfill. A bit ridiculous, right? Many people choose to just throw away their textbooks because they simply don’t know what else to do with them. At some point, everyone starts cleaning out their apartments/getting rid of the things they don’t need anymore. Oftentimes, this includes their textbooks from school. At this point, instead of finding an alternative, they simply throw their textbooks away, contributing to the overall landfill waste.

While textbooks aren’t the leading cause of landfills, and we should probably be concerned about recycling a number of things before we worry ourselves with throwing away textbooks, it’s definitely a place for us to start. If you find that you can’t sell, trade, or donate your textbooks, you should be open to recycling them instead of just throwing them in the trashcan. After all, we’re continuously making textbooks. Every year, we release new versions of textbooks, update information, and authors publish new curricula altogether. There are always new versions of textbooks coming out, so recycling your textbooks means you’re contributing to the idea that we use them to re-make updated versions for similar classes.

*Pro-tip: if you’re signed up for classes that require the latest (and greatest) version of a textbook, you can usually get away with an older version in order to save money on your textbooks. The page numbers and chapters might not be the same, but the information is usually close enough that you can survive a college class. Instead of spending an extra $100 on the latest version of the required textbook, see if you can find an older version in order to get you through the course.*

If you aren’t interested in throwing away or recycling your textbooks, your next option is to sell your textbooks. There are a few options when it comes to this. (Don’t get overwhelmed, just make sure you do your research and you’ll be fine.) There are companies that will come around, knocking on your dorm room door, offering to buy back your textbooks; but they’re going to offer you a lousy amount for them. Let’s say you paid $200 for a textbook. After one semester of use, these companies will typically offer you anywhere from $10-$30 for this textbook. Then, they’ll turn around and sell it for double that. Frustrating, isn’t it? The reason college students choose to get rid of their textbooks this way is that it’s simply convenient. While you might get a lousy amount of money out of it, it beats having to post your textbooks on social media, advertising a price, meeting up with the buyer, and making sure you aren’t getting scammed. If you’re looking for a fast and easy way to get rid of your textbooks, you might consider this route.

If you’d like to research some companies that offer this type of service to students, check out CampusBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Textbook Rush. There are apps you can download, scan the barcode of your textbooks, and get an estimate for the amount of money you could get paid. You’ll probably be disappointed with the amount of money the app offers you. So before you even embark on that journey, set your expectations pretty low. Tell yourself that even $5 back on a textbook is $5 more than you had beforehand.

via Canva.com

Deciding to sell your textbooks to one of these buy-back companies means a little bit of effort on your part. Not only do you have to get the ISBNs off the book and track down someone who can buy back your textbooks, but you might also want to try comparing prices. There’s nothing wrong with contacting several different companies and weighing your options. If you spent more than $100 on textbooks, you owe it to yourself to get the most back out of the textbooks you purchased. After all, these companies are going to sell your textbooks for much more than what they pay you for them.

For this reason, many people decide to sell their textbooks “privately.” Many students will post the textbooks they have for sale on social media pages. In fact, you might be able to find a Facebook group that’s specifically for buying and selling textbooks in your specific area, or specific to your university/college. You can also check around with incoming freshmen, underclassmen, or transfer students to see if they might need the textbooks you used this past semester. This is probably one of the most lucrative ways to purge your bookshelf of your textbooks.

Simply advertise the books you have available on your social media pages. You can also reach out to your previous professors and advertise that you have the course textbook for sale. You can reach out to Resident Assistants, the financial aid office, or even the office of academic support. For students who are having a hard time affording textbooks, buying them off of a student is one of the best ways for them to save money while simultaneously earning YOU money.

You might want to look into trading your textbooks. If you have more time to serve at your university in order to earn your degree, it’s likely that you’re going to need more textbooks in the near future. If this is the case, you should ask around about trading your textbooks for new ones. A bookstore or local shop might be willing to take your textbooks off your hands and give you a discount on the textbooks you’ll be needing in the future.

If you rented your textbooks for the semester, as your classes come to an end, you’ll have to start thinking about returning them. Hopefully, you haven’t made too many marks in the margins, highlighted too many vocabulary terms, or run through too many rainstorms with it in your backpack. Returning your textbook and getting a deposit back from your rental could be a way for you to both save money and get rid of your textbooks once you’re done with them.

If you’re against selling, returning, or throwing away your textbooks, you can always donate them. Look up the contact information for your local library and ask if they accept college textbooks. You could also look into donating them to the library on campus, specifically for the purpose of students checking it out for a few hours at a time to study. We all know how expensive textbooks can be — sometimes we end up spending another $1000 on just materials and study tools for the classes we are enrolled in. It’s kind of insane. More and more options are becoming available for online textbooks, but sometimes that’s just not the same as having it in your hands.

Don’t beat yourself up over the fact that you spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks at the beginning of the semester. After all, you did need the textbooks in order to be successful in your classes! So now that it’s the end of the semester and you’re trying to get rid of them, explore different ways of going about purging your bookshelf of all your undergraduate textbooks. My best advice is to try selling them to incoming underclassmen. Sometimes you can talk underclassmen into buying textbooks that they might not actually need for the class (we all know those types of courses). Remember when you were an underclassman? You wanted to make sure everything was in line. You bought a new planner, introduced yourself to all of your professors, and made sure to stay on top of your assignments. You wouldn’t have foregone buying the textbook, especially if an upperclassman offered it to you for a discounted price.

via Pexels.com

Since your semester is over, it’s time that you look through your old textbooks (maybe you still have some from previous semesters as well?), and decide if you want to keep them or get rid of them. Maybe you’re willing to donate some to the library for other students to use. Maybe you’re wanting to advertise them for sale on social media. Maybe you want to investigate selling them to one of the companies I mentioned. Regardless of what you do with your textbooks, you should decide to do something. Otherwise, when you graduate from college, you’re going to have an entire bookshelf full of textbooks you simply don’t need and won’t use for the remainder of your educational career.

As we begin the next semester, you should start considering the amount of time and money you spend on buying textbooks. If you’re a college student who walks to the bookstore on campus and buys every required book your classes list, you’re definitely in rare form. Maybe you’re considering foregoing textbooks altogether. But this might not be the smartest of choices for your long-term success.

In the future, you should consider getting an online subscription service instead of buying your textbooks. One of the easiest ways to do this is to purchase one subscription and have access to all the textbooks and study tools you’ll need for your classes. If you haven’t heard of Cengage Unlimited, you should definitely look into it. Not only will it save you all kinds of money on your textbooks, but you’ll be thankful that your textbooks are all located in one place. Plus, you won’t have to worry about purging your textbooks at the end of the semester. Your subscription will give you everything you need to be successful in college without the hassle of taking up room on your bookshelf.

Buying, selling, and trading textbooks can be such a hassle. As you progress through college, you’ll get better at figuring it all out. But in the meantime, consider getting rid of your textbooks from last semester by selling them, trading them, or recycling them instead of letting them collect dust on your bookshelf.

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