Football ticket vouchers available at textbook buyback

By Ravneet Padda

Students looking to sell books at the bookstore have a new option when it comes to spending buyback money—a voucher for 2004 football season tickets.

The voucher, which costs the same as buying the ticket directly from the ticket office, will warrant a coupon from Wendy’s and KFC and an entry into a drawing for up to $300 in free books, if redeemed before June 4. Christopher Malcolm, a history graduate student said the offer was not attractive at all.

A food coupon is no incentive to buy the voucher from the bookstore, he said.

“ This would work more as a promotion for Wendy’s” Malcolm said.

Lupe Martinez, a business major, said she preferred buying clothes for her sorority party to spending money from the sale of her textbooks on football tickets.

Susan Bartel, textbook manager at the Kennel bookstore, said 982 books were sold by 4 p.m. yesterday, but no vouchers were bought.

“ It is the first day today and we are hoping for a better response,” said Ron Durham, director of the bookstore.

The athletics department thought buyback would be a good way to advertise for the football season, said Durham, who suggested adding the food coupon drawing to the voucher.

Approximately 25,000 books are bought back from students every semester and sold at 75 percent of the retail price, said Jack Gartner, assistant manager of the bookstore.

Books that are not listed by professors as requirements for next semester are bought back for 10 percent of the retail price and sent to book companies that pay 15 to 20 percent commission to the bookstore, Gartner said.

Usually half the professors indicate the books for next semester before buyback, but this time the number is less, probably due to uncertainty about classes because of budget cuts, Bartel said.

Gartner talked about another problem that made buyback unprofitable.

“ One of the biggest factors preventing buyback is the editions cycle,” he said, referring to the trend in the books industry to update books often.

“ When I was a student from 1973 to 1977, the editions changed every six years, now they change every two years,” he added.

Briana Jessen, a student majoring in agricultural business, expressed dissatisfaction with buyback rates.

“ The buyback prices are not so great… but sometimes I don’t want to look at the book again, so I get rid of it,” said Jessen, who said she receives $10 to $80 a semester from selling her books.