The savvy Concordia student’s guide to shopping for textbooks
Old or new? Printed or digital? Check out Concordia's many textbook options. | Photo by Stefan Guntermann
So, you’re registered for courses and ready to get your term started. What's next? Buying your books. You have several convenient options available.
Click online and collect your books instore or click and ship to your front door. Until January 20, free shipping is offered to residents of Quebec and Ontario with no minimum purchase.
Alternatively, check out your Student Booklist on your mobile device and drop by one of the Campus Book Stops.
There are two Book Stops to choose from: one on the tunnel level of the J.W. McConnell Building (LB) on the Sir George Williams Campus and another on Loyola Campus in Room CJ-1.422 of the Communication Studies and Journalism Building (CJ).
Coursepacks
When you get your booklist, look closely at the available formats of your textbooks and other course material. There could be coursepacks, which are printed in hard copy, and eCoursepacks, which can save you 50 per cent off the price of the printed version. More than 85 per cent of titles are now available in digital format.
Textbook options
Buy it used and save up to 25%
You can save up to 25 per cent off the original cost when you buy used textbooks. Plus, you can sell it back when you're done. The price depends on a number of factors, including if the book was bought new, and if the book is in demand here at Concordia or elsewhere.
Rent your textbooks and save up to 60%
Some textbooks can be rented, though the number of titles is limited. If your textbook is available for rent, it will appear in your booklist and textbook options. You can rent your textbook in stores or online and get it shipped directly to you, and at the end of the term you simply bring it back to one of the Book Stops. The end-of-term due date for rented textbooks will be on your receipt.
Buy an eBook and save up to 50%
Buy the digital version of your textbook and save up to 50 per cent. Check your book list for availability.
Get some cash: sell your used books
Why not take advantage of the Buyback? You might consider checking the Buyback price online before dragging your books to school.
How is the buyback price determined?
1. Home price: If the book is going to be used again in an upcoming Concordia course, and if copies are still required for the upcoming term, you will be paid up to 50 per cent of the current price (new) in cash.
2. Away price: If the book is being bought by another campus book stop in Canada, you will receive 30 per cent of the current book price (with much of the price difference going toward shipping books across the country).
3. Wholesale price: The last possible buyers are book wholesalers operating out of the U.S. Unlike the academics, bids are set according to the estimated demand for each title.
If demand for the book does not exist at any campus Book Stop, it is ineligible for buyback. But you can still post it on the Used Book Classifieds web page also offered by the Book Stop.
Having trouble viewing or printing your Student Booklist? Contact support@concordiastores.ca.
