How Does CollegeTextBookExchange Work?

CollegeTextBookExchange helps students buy and sell used textbooks.  The seller posts his/her book on the website, and the buyer contacts the seller via e-mail or phone. They meet at a public place.  The buyer inspects the book and makes sure it's the correct book for his/her class, and then pays the seller in cash.

How much does it cost?

Nothing.  This is a free service. 

I'm having trouble editing my posting.  How do I edit my posting?

You have to be logged in your account to edit your posting/book.  First, log into your account.  Next click on the button on the left labeled, "My Account,"  Next you'll see all the books you have posted.  Click on the "edit" button to the right of your book.  You can now edit the condition, the course category, the amount you're selling your book, and the description.  You cannot edit the title, author, ISBN number, edition, etc.  This information is received and downloaded from the server.  If your book is not in the server, you'll have to enter this information in manually.

You used to have a confirmation e-mail.  Why don't you anymore?

After the overwhelming consensus, students have told us how much of a pain it is to confirm their e-mail.  For some reason, it got picked up in their spam accounts, it didn't get sent, or they had other trouble confirming once they found their confirmation e-mail.  Because of this, we have done away with confirmation e-mails.  It is now easier to register and sell your book. 

Where are you located, and Where will you be shipping the books from?

CollegeTextBookExchange does not ship any books.  It just gets people together to get the best available price for the particular textbook you are interested in. There are three ways you could get the particular book you are interested in:

1 - Find the textbook that has been posted on the bookexchange.  Contact the seller via phone or e-mail.  Meet on campus (or another public area) to inspect the book to assure it is in the specified condition and correct textbook, and exchange cash for the textbook.

2 - You can also order your books through the school's bookstore website. The link on the homepage is the link your school's official bookstore.  If you buy from them, they will either ship it to you from their warehouse or you will pick them up at the on-campus bookstore.

3 - If you find you book cheaper used on Amazon, you can buy it from them. If you buy from Amazon new, they will ship it to you from their warehouse, or if you buy it used from Amazon, an individual will ship it to you directly.

I got an error.  How Come?

These things can happen.  We will try and fix the error ASAP.  Please send us the error and what you were doing (browsing, posting your book), we'll try to fix it as soon as we can.

How come I can't see my Contact Information when I'm looking at my own book?

Well, if you're signed in and browsing for books and you select your own book, you can't see your information. (You can see the price and the author, but not your contact information).  There is a reason for this, but we won't bore you with technicalities.  If you really want to see what your Contact Information looks like, log off your account, and then search for your book.  It should then be available. 

I want to edit my book's ISBN #, but I can't, why?

Yea, you can't edit your ISBN number when it's already imputed.  You'll have to delete your current posting and post again with the correct ISBN number. 

How do I know what books I need?

Go to the your Bookstore's website. This link is on the homepage.  Follow the instructions listed on the homepage to find the books your need. Now, search for the books and find your books for less!  Please note that some bookstore are very against websites like this so they do not list their books online.  For such cases, you would have to go to the bookstore, find out which books you need (write them down), and then come to the bookexchange and find your books that way.

How do I change the price of the book I'm selling?

Login to your account. Click on the "Account" icon on the top right hand side of your screen. Find the book you want to change -> to the right of the book there is a link that says, "Edit." Click that -> now change the price and hit submit.

My book isn't listed online, where can I go?

The Bookstore can sometimes takes some time to get the online database updated for the next semester.  Be patient or you can call them to inquire about the books you need.

I sold my book.  Now what do I do?

CollegeTextBookExchange's mission has been fulfilled.  Now delete your book and enjoy the extra $.

Ummm...how do I delete my book?

Login to your account. Click on the "Account" icon on the top right hand side of your screen. Find the book you want to delete -> to the right of the book there is a link that says, "delete." Click that -> and your book has been deleted.

Hey!  How come you deleted my book?

One of two reasons.  First, you're book has been listed for longer than 60 days in which we delete the book, or we have manually deleted your book.

Sorry, but there are some guidelines to make sure there's not a lot of "junk" on the website.  You must input an ISBN #(if one's available, but almost ALL books have an ISBN #), have a title, and a price. Just having a course isn't going to work. Hey! We're not asking much here!

Do you handle the transactions?

No, CollegeTextBookExchange does not handle the money or any part of the transactions.  It's just here to get people together to exchange their books.

Can I ship my book to the seller?

CollegeTextBookExchange does not recommend shipping the books.  It's supposed to be a local transaction where the seller/buyer can meet face-to-face to assure a legitimate transaction.  However, you can do what you'd like. CollegeTextBookExchange does not take any responsibility for deals gone awry.

How does the book come up automatically when I type in the ISBN #?

CollegeTextBookExchange is linked to Amazon.com where it can retrieve all the necessary information to assure you are getting a fair price for your book.

The book is cheaper on Amazon.com, can I buy it from them?

You sure can.  Just click on the link below where it says, "You can buy it new from Amazon for X amount"  Just order, and the seller or Amazon will ship it to you directly. 

You can also search Amazon's database if you can't find the textbook you're looking for.  Click on the link titled, "Can't find what you're looking for?"  This will search and return a number of books fitting your description.

Why won't the book picture and information come up when I type in the ISBN number?

Either one of two reasons are possible.  First, the book is not in the Amazon.com database or 2 - you have entered the ISBN # incorrectly.  Do not enter dashes and be sure you have correctly entered the ISBN #.