The Textbook Loyalty Program is now set in stone. Starting this semester, students who buy their books from the BYU-Idaho Bookstore have the first opportunity to sell their books back at the end of the semester.
The purpose of the program is to reward customers who purchase their textbooks from the University Bookstore, according to www.byui.edu.
The Textbook Loyalty Policy was created a couple of years ago, but software to detect the books bought from the bookstore had not been developed yet.
When the software program to track the books from the I-cards was created plans to enact the program and the newly created software came together for this fall, said Doug Mason, manager of the BYU-I Bookstore.
“We wanted to come up with something to reward and protect students that were loyal to the bookstore,” Mason said.
At the beginning of the semester, students’ I-cards will be swiped to link their specific books to their I-card. At book buybacks, I-cards will be swiped to verify whether or not they purchased the book at the bookstore.
For bookstore buybacks, students who make purchases and decide to change classes and no longer need their books for the dropped class can return the book during a specified buyback period the first week of school.
Students who bring the book back during that time having no markings to make the book look used can receive full price for their book.
“I once bought a book from the bookstore and wanted to return it ten minutes later and the bookstore told me to wait until the days of buybacks. It was stupid, why can’t they return books whenever?” said Brittany Barnum, a sophomore from Wattawa, Wash.
Those who decide to keep their books for their classes through the semester can bring their books back during the first days of the buyback period.
“The bookstore tries to coordinate the buyback dates with the last day to add classes,” Mason said.
“If we had returns on textbooks the whole semester, it would be too hectic and there would be a rush of returns, we [the bookstore] could not have it.”
Books that will not be accepted back to the school are those that are out-of-date, water damaged, have torn or missing pages and are poorly taken care of, Mason said.
Those who purchase books somewhere else must wait until the last day of the buyback period to return their books. They will also receive less money than what the other students receive for their books.
Students that buy their books from the bookstore will receive 60 percent of the current retail price of the books that meets the buyback criteria. Students who did not will receive less than that.
“I think it is better for students [who bought textbooks in the bookstore] that they get the first opportunity to sell books back,” said Melissa Allred, a sophomore from Kenneth Square, Pa. “I agree with the policy, but I wish I could get more money back.”
HELPFUL LINKS