University Store Pricing Policy

Textbooks: The University Store posts supplemental (purchased) course books online beginning June 21, 2010. Courses will be listed for each semester by the following dates: April 1 (summer and fall) and November 1 (winterim and spring). Book orders received from faculty or department staff after those dates will be listed as soon as possible.

The price of the books will be included in the online listing so that students have an idea of how much the books will cost for each course at the time of their enrollment. The University Store will list the current publisher’s list price in the Buyer's Guide at the time of their posting for new books.

However, the price of the books are subject to change since the online listing will be made weeks (sometimes months) in advance of the actual book purchases. While the change in price is often minor, the University Store recognizes that students would like to know the price as soon as possible. Therefore, we will establish a firm price for the books prior to the beginning of each semester using the publisher’s suggested list price. The final price for the semester will be listed by the following dates: May 15 (summer), August 15 (fall), December 15 (winterim), and January 15 (spring). No further changes to pricing will be made after that date without due need. In the rare case that a price changes after that date, the students will be informed of the reasoning.

Used textbooks: The University Store will make every effort to secure used textbooks when they are available through our distributors. In addition, the University Store will purchase used books from students during Buy Back. Used books will be sold at 75 percent of the list price.

Buy Back: The University Store may contract with a reputable used book wholesaler to conduct Buy Back. This service is provided in order to give students on-campus opportunities to sell books they no longer want. The University Store will pay students 50 percent of the current list price for textbooks that are (1) requested by a professor for a future semester at the time of buy back, (2) not already in sufficient stock, and (3) in re-sellable condition. In addition, the wholesaler with whom the University Store contract to conduct Buy Back may offer to purchase textbooks from students that the University Store is not buying back. The price that wholesalers pay students will vary in accordance to market demand. The University Store is not responsible for setting these prices and merely offers this service to students in the event that we are not buying the textbook back or have exceeded the number of copies of the textbook that we need. As always, students have the choice whether or not to sell their textbooks to the University Store or the wholesaler through this service.

General Books: The pricing of general (non-textbook) books will be no higher than the list price provided by the publisher. Price matching does not apply to general books. If you have a suggestion for a general book that you think the University Store should carry, please email it to Shelley Auer at sauer@uwsp.edu.