Several St. Thomas students recently received an email with the subject line “Drop by this week” from a vendor offering to purchase textbooks at a location across the street from campus. The email, which originates from an account not affiliated with the university, claims “Unlike the bookstore, we have no limit on quantities and our prices will stay consistent throughout the week! Our prices do not drop!”
UST Bookstores Director Tony Erickson said the claims in the email are inaccurate and that students are being offered prices far lower than what they would receive at the official UST Bookstores book buyback, which is taking place through May 24 on the lower level of Murray-Herrick Campus Center.
“On Monday most of our UST students received a mass email advertising a book buyback across the street from the chapel. This group is buying back books from our students at obscenely low prices,” Erickson said. “One student sold a book back for $8 and we would have paid $42 for it. Another student had a quote of $30 for his books and we paid him $267. Another was given a quote of $5 and received $36 from the bookstore.”
Erickson said that the buyer is likely purchasing books to sell to a wholesaler in order to make a profit off of unknowing students. He encourages students interested in selling their textbooks to first check with the UST Bookstores book buyback before getting quotes from a rogue book buyer.
Erickson also encourages students to protect themselves from book theft. The end of the semester is a time that book thefts increase substantially. Watch and mark your books so that you can identify them in case they are lost or stolen.
For more information contact the UST Bookstores.
