Hi There & Welcome to my Book Blog. My Name is Dylan Nirvana, Musician/Artist/Bookguy. My "day job" is as a buyer for College Bookstores, supplying Used Books to Students.
As you may know, Reselling unwanted Textbooks sent to you by publishers Saves Students Money because they become Used Books in College Bookstores. What may be new to some people, and a bit counterintuitive, is that the "Free Copy" labels on the Promotional Copies are put there by the Publishers themselves. Weird? All the "Do not resell" exhortations (along with detailed explanations about how immoral it is to resell a book - ultimately into the Used Book section of the Bookstore) are there to try to entice professors to faithfully keep all their gazillions of Editions piling up on their shelves, thus depriving cheapskate Students the undeserved opportunity of buying a Used Copy.
Not only does that strike, well almost anybody, as being outright self-serving; I mean, of course it would be better for PUBLISHERS if there where less and less Used Books in Bookstores, but just not so good for STUDENTS.
There is another level of irony here: the Federal Government REQUIRES publishers to print on or with Promotional Text that they are "Free and Not for Sale" to prevent them for using them as leverage to get a lucrative book adoption. Apparently back in the day, they used to CHARGE for them!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
You Can Help Students Lower Their Book Costs: Resell!
Resold Textbooks become Used Books in College Bookstores. Just like the Student Buyback, the Book Buyback for Professors puts Used Books back in the Bookstore right where Students need them. It would be great if eBay or Amazon could supply all the Used Books that Students need.
It would be wonderful if Textbook Publishers would lower their prices. But that is fantasy. The reality is, your Students are paying exorbitant prices for their books, and the availability of Used Books at the time of purchase is critical. The only solution is Used Books.
So please, if you have received Instructors Editions or Desk Copies that you do not want from publishers, consider Reselling / Recycling them back into the system. Whatever the publishers send to you for promotional purposes yours to sell as you please without obligation*. I pay you Cash just like the Bookstore does when Students sell their books back. Why not Help Students and Recycle Your Books? Call or Text me: 917-582-9369 or email books@dylannirvana.com *according to federal law and postal code 91-375, any item including Textbooks sent for promotional purposes belongs solely to the recipient and may be resold without any obligation to the sender or institution.
It would be wonderful if Textbook Publishers would lower their prices. But that is fantasy. The reality is, your Students are paying exorbitant prices for their books, and the availability of Used Books at the time of purchase is critical. The only solution is Used Books.
So please, if you have received Instructors Editions or Desk Copies that you do not want from publishers, consider Reselling / Recycling them back into the system. Whatever the publishers send to you for promotional purposes yours to sell as you please without obligation*. I pay you Cash just like the Bookstore does when Students sell their books back. Why not Help Students and Recycle Your Books? Call or Text me: 917-582-9369 or email books@dylannirvana.com *according to federal law and postal code 91-375, any item including Textbooks sent for promotional purposes belongs solely to the recipient and may be resold without any obligation to the sender or institution.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
New York/Florida
Ok, I am back at the Blog again. For some reason, I just did not post over the past two years. Why? I moved to Florida. Then I moved back to New York. Now, I am in both places! Just not at the same time. In any case, I am back, buying books as usual. Supplying the Bookstores with Used Books. So, if you need some space on your shelves, I can buy back almost any current edition. Instructors Copies, Desk Copies, you name it - so long as it is in the current edition. Just give me a call or email. Thanks so much!
And Happy New 2012!
Dylan
And Happy New 2012!
Dylan
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Welcome and Thank You for Recycling!
Thank you for choosing to help students save money with Recycled Books. By reselling your books into this Faculty Buyback Program, you are provide badly needed discounted and used textbooks for students at your bookstore and all bookstores around the country. Using the Recycled Books service is an intelligent alternative to letting unwanted textbooks go out of date on your shelves. I pay you the wholesale prices and the students save the money. Now that's Green! You can do whatever you want with the money. Keep it (its yours!) or donate it to a charity or that departmental pizza party at the end of the semester.
But the important thing is knowing that you are the ONLY SOURCE of used textbooks in the bookstore, other than what the students sell back themselves. You are providing an important and valuable resource at a time when costs are spiraling out of control. Education and even critical thinking is under fire. Lets keep books affordable for students.
On this blog you will see discussion about keeping your bookshelf up-to-date, not getting scammed by publishers marketing out-of-date texts for adoption and a whole lot more about the university and college life.
Call or Email me for a convenient appointment.
Dylan Nirvana
musician/artist/bookguy
917-582-9369
Email dylan@dylannirvana.com
Challenges to Recycling
Challenges to Recycling: The option to buy used textbooks is under fire. And it is the multi-billion dollar textbook publishing industry that is pocketing your students money.
New textbooks are just too expensive! Here is an alternative to letting your unwanted promotional texts go out of date on your shelves: Recycle! The Faculty Buyback Program is the sole supply of used textbooks to your bookstore besides whatever the students sell back themselves. Used books save students money and that’s Green!
A challenging aspect of our business is the recent attempt by some administrators to try to discourage the selling of comp copies. Certainly, the very wealthy publishers would benefit fabulously by any restrictions exerted on the used market. Imagine if Ford or Honda tried to restrict the sale of used cars saying it was immoral. People wouldn’t stand for it. But the students don’t get to choose how to spend their own money. They are a captive market required to purchase these materials for their classes. Some students spend over $1000 per semester. Its bad enough that the publishers charge often 3 to 4 times over normal market value (like if you bought books at Barnes & Noble). But limiting the supply of used copies is tantamount to forcing students to buy only new books, providing the publishers with the most profit.
Textbook publishing is the MOST profitable of any print publishing in the world. Like ITP Thompson, Pearson is a multi-billion (yes, with a “B”) dollar company. Yet, that apparently is not enough. Some legislators and administrators are saying it is “unethical” to resell your books. That is just what the publishers say! Hey, $5 per gallon gas is great for Exxon (who just pocketed the most profit of any company in the history of the human race), but is it good for you? Is “new only” good for your students and their parents?
Just to clarify, according to United States Postal Code, any books you receive belong to YOU, not the school or any other entity. They are yours to do with whatever you see fit including resale. This is the law. And it is supported by legal opinion* across the county. Solicitous merchandise is required by law to say “not-for-sale” on it: so they can’t turn around and charge YOU for it! Is this about ethics or PROFIT?
The bookstore is licensed by wholesalers Follett or MBS (Barnes & Noble) who contract Faculty Book Buyers to get these books back into the system. Every book with a yellow USED sticker comes from either a student selling his or her book back, or a Book Buyer (like yours truly) working for the Faculty Buyback Program of that wholesaler. All books I buy go directly back to the bookstore and provide more desperately needed USED BOOKS.
Help keep textbooks affordable for students: Please recycle your unwanted books on a regular basis. Contact me for a convenient appointment.
Thank you!
Dylan at Recycled Books
917-582-9369
Email dylan@dylannirvana.com
*United States Postal Reorganization Act P.L. 91-375 Section 3009, Mailing of unordered merchandise; Alabama state ethics commission; Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling; Complimentarily Yours: Free Examination Copies and Textbook Prices – James E Foster, Andrew W. Horowitz – Vanderbilt University, Elsevier Press.
New textbooks are just too expensive! Here is an alternative to letting your unwanted promotional texts go out of date on your shelves: Recycle! The Faculty Buyback Program is the sole supply of used textbooks to your bookstore besides whatever the students sell back themselves. Used books save students money and that’s Green!
A challenging aspect of our business is the recent attempt by some administrators to try to discourage the selling of comp copies. Certainly, the very wealthy publishers would benefit fabulously by any restrictions exerted on the used market. Imagine if Ford or Honda tried to restrict the sale of used cars saying it was immoral. People wouldn’t stand for it. But the students don’t get to choose how to spend their own money. They are a captive market required to purchase these materials for their classes. Some students spend over $1000 per semester. Its bad enough that the publishers charge often 3 to 4 times over normal market value (like if you bought books at Barnes & Noble). But limiting the supply of used copies is tantamount to forcing students to buy only new books, providing the publishers with the most profit.
Textbook publishing is the MOST profitable of any print publishing in the world. Like ITP Thompson, Pearson is a multi-billion (yes, with a “B”) dollar company. Yet, that apparently is not enough. Some legislators and administrators are saying it is “unethical” to resell your books. That is just what the publishers say! Hey, $5 per gallon gas is great for Exxon (who just pocketed the most profit of any company in the history of the human race), but is it good for you? Is “new only” good for your students and their parents?
Just to clarify, according to United States Postal Code, any books you receive belong to YOU, not the school or any other entity. They are yours to do with whatever you see fit including resale. This is the law. And it is supported by legal opinion* across the county. Solicitous merchandise is required by law to say “not-for-sale” on it: so they can’t turn around and charge YOU for it! Is this about ethics or PROFIT?
The bookstore is licensed by wholesalers Follett or MBS (Barnes & Noble) who contract Faculty Book Buyers to get these books back into the system. Every book with a yellow USED sticker comes from either a student selling his or her book back, or a Book Buyer (like yours truly) working for the Faculty Buyback Program of that wholesaler. All books I buy go directly back to the bookstore and provide more desperately needed USED BOOKS.
Help keep textbooks affordable for students: Please recycle your unwanted books on a regular basis. Contact me for a convenient appointment.
Thank you!
Dylan at Recycled Books
917-582-9369
Email dylan@dylannirvana.com
*United States Postal Reorganization Act P.L. 91-375 Section 3009, Mailing of unordered merchandise; Alabama state ethics commission; Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling; Complimentarily Yours: Free Examination Copies and Textbook Prices – James E Foster, Andrew W. Horowitz – Vanderbilt University, Elsevier Press.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Publishers Have an Unfair Advantage
Today a professor said to me, "you know, we around here don't really like your profession". I asked him why. He said that by asking him to sell his books, he is betraying a trust the publishers put on him by the publishers.
"You don't HAVE to sell them. My job is just to ask. They are yours. You CAN say no." We laughed.
I certainly wasn't trying to coerce him. He went on however to say he thought it was wrong to sell something that he received as a gift. At that point I had to stop him. Gifts are free. Promo copies are not. The students pay the price.
The books I buy go into the books store as used books. If you feel an ethical obligation to the publishers not to contribute to the used textbook market, that is fine. I guess it depends where your allegiances lie, to the publishers or to the students. The way I parse that out is simple. My allegiance is to the students. I think they pay too much for new books. I put my money where my mouth is and work to increase the supply of used books. The publishers I view, to use an antiquated term, are profiteering: over charging the students, manipulating the market by artificially shortening the lifespan of textbooks. I think the publishers exercise an unfair advantage.
"You don't HAVE to sell them. My job is just to ask. They are yours. You CAN say no." We laughed.
I certainly wasn't trying to coerce him. He went on however to say he thought it was wrong to sell something that he received as a gift. At that point I had to stop him. Gifts are free. Promo copies are not. The students pay the price.
The books I buy go into the books store as used books. If you feel an ethical obligation to the publishers not to contribute to the used textbook market, that is fine. I guess it depends where your allegiances lie, to the publishers or to the students. The way I parse that out is simple. My allegiance is to the students. I think they pay too much for new books. I put my money where my mouth is and work to increase the supply of used books. The publishers I view, to use an antiquated term, are profiteering: over charging the students, manipulating the market by artificially shortening the lifespan of textbooks. I think the publishers exercise an unfair advantage.
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