<p>Thank you futureholds. I'll tell my son to check out your resources.</p>
<p>I checked the USC Bookstore calendar (on their website), and as far as book buybacks go, it will be going on for the first two weeks of the spring semester (1/12-1/16, 1/20-1/23) from 9 AM to 6 PM, and on select subsequent Mondays. If you want to see for yourself, go to the USC Bookstore website, click on the "coursebooks" button, and it will be on the page as "Events & Information." You can't miss it.</p>
<p>And I agree with futureholds; the booklist is released too late. </p>
<p>Just a word of caution, though. There have been a couple of instances when I bought a book online within a week of classes starting, only to discover that the book is not needed even though it's required. In both of those cases, the professor decided to suddenly change the textbook on the first day of classes and assumed that every student could return the book to the bookstore (which I couldn't because I bought it online). After that, I learned that it's best to either 1) contact the professor beforehand (such as through e-mail) or 2) wait until the first week of classes to verify whether the booklist is correct. Of course, the first option offers no guarantee of a response from the professor, and the second option isn't much better if you need the book right away.</p>
<p>But yes, buying online tends to be much cheaper... with the exception perhaps being new textbook packages for which you need a brand new, unused component (in which case you HAVE to buy it at the bookstore).</p>
<p>does anybody have any information about digital textbooks? I have seen people with them and do not really know how to go about buying them. Is it through the publisher's website?</p>
<p>I usually wait the first week to see which ones I need to buy, order them online, then just buy the ones I need immediately from the USC bookstore, since you can return any books with full refund within the first two weeks. The books usually come within 2 weeks, so you can return them without hassle once you get them in the mail.</p>
<p>I know that it's a little off-topic, but what exactly is the bookstore's policy on buying back books? Can anyone share their experiences? I've never tried selling my books back before, so I basically have an enormous stack of books in my room that I would like to get rid of. Is minimal underlining/highlighting acceptable? Is it worth it to sell them back, or do you get like $5 back for a $120 textbook? Thanks! :)</p>
<p>I'd say 99% of the time it is not worth it to sell back to the bookstore. Try to find somebody taking the same course during a later semester to sell to. Otherwise, look into selling online at a place like amazon or half.</p>
<p>My booklist is now looking correct. I have the proper ISBN numbers, and my books look right.</p>
<p>I think the USC Bookstore buys back almost every textbook/book out there. However, you usually don't get back a whole lot, especially if a particular book is not needed for the following semester. At most, I believe you get back 50% (if the bookstore needs the book to sell for a future semester), but the majority of books get far less than that... probably around 10% to 30%. </p>
<p>I agree with 2+2=5; if somebody you know is going to take the same course, then sell your books to them. Another option (as 2+2=5 also pointed out), is to sell your books online. One thing to note is that if your book is an older edition (some textbooks are updated quite regularly through new editions every couple of years), then the market price of the book will dip significantly. For example, if you're trying to sell an 8th edition book, but the 9th edition is about to or already has come out, then you're going to fetch a much lower price than if the 8th edition was the newest edition. You can get an idea of how much you might get through selling online by looking up some of the prices on Half, Amazon, or other similar places. Some costs associated with selling online include having to buy padded envelopes, postage (I don't know about other places, but Half does reimburse... although it's not always 100%), and commission. </p>
<p>To Nikara: Yes, the booklist looks correct (although I know my booklist is incomplete).</p>