Adrian Rodriguez did not like the idea of his wallet taking a hit every semester because of his textbooks.
Like other students before him, he turned to selling his old textbooks from home to offset the loss faced when reselling them to the UNM Bookstore.
"At the bookstore, they'll only give you $20 or $30," he said of the bookstore's Buyback Program.
In bypassing the bookstore and selling directly to other students, he can get $20 more, he said.
Rodriguez said he noticed fliers around campus offering the sale of used textbooks, so he did the same with about 10 books, mostly old science class editions, he said.
"I'm expecting to make about $150," he said.
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Since he posted the flier Sunday, he said he has received about four calls. One resulted in the sale of a lower-level Biology textbook for $60.
For textbooks professors reuse, students can receive 50 percent of the retail value, said Carrie Mitchell, book division manager of the UNM Bookstore. Otherwise, the bookstore buys textbooks back for much less, often depending on the likelihood professors will reuse them, then ships them to used-book wholesalers.
Mitchell said there is a high level of risk involved in buying back textbooks that are not certain to be used again in the same class. New textbook editions are frequently published, and can tempt professors with more recent research and information.
"When somebody (sells textbooks) outside of their garage, that's a private enterprise. More power to them," she said. "That's what the United States stands for. It's just, I want students to get the right book."
UNM used to buy used textbooks from students in May only, she said, but now buys them year-round to avoid buying from used-book wholesalers.
