Olivia Delucchi

Owen Burns and Karam Moukarem

Like many students, freshman Angelina Hurtado spends hundreds of dollars on books each school year. What she and many others at Diablo Valley College didn’t know is that she could resell those books, earning back some of the money she spent on them. 

In fact, seven out of eight DVC students interviewed for this article were completely unaware of the buyback program that allows them to receive reimbursement through the school’s Online BuyBack site. 

“Honestly I didn’t even know that was a thing, but I’m glad I know now,” said Hurtado, 18.

“It’s also nice that I can get some of my money back,” she added. “I thought I was just going to have to give it away for free.” 

The buyback program is especially vital for the many students who are struggling financially. Another freshman, Olivia Flamino, explained the program would help her significantly and put her at ease knowing she can sell back her used textbooks. 

“As someone who doesn’t have much financial support, it doesn’t help that I have to buy [the book] and keep it,” said Flamino, 18, so “it’s good to know that there’s a buyback system.” 

DVC’s former book buyback program only allowed students to resell books they had purchased from the campus bookstore. Now, after eliminating their old in-person system due to COVID-19, the DVC bookstore has partnered with MBS Textbook Exchange, the country’s largest used college textbook wholesaler, to enable students to resell any books bought from retail sites like Amazon, eBay, or elsewhere. 

Many students said they would have already sold their textbooks if they knew the program existed. 

“They don’t tell you in the bookstores or anything,” Flamino added. “I feel like that would be the best place to [advertise this program].” The lack of students being properly informed is causing some general confusion, according to students. 

“No one told me at the counter that I could sell it back. I actually thought they got rid of that [system],” said Morgan Garcia, 20, a second-year student at DVC. 

Since the previous program’s closure, students have expressed that the new system has been poorly publicized. They also explained that if more students knew about this program, it would benefit them as well as ensure that textbooks can be recycled and used by multiple students, not just one.  

Without knowledge of their other options, some students are taking matters into their own hands and purchasing textbooks through sites that do publicize returns and buybacks. Students purchasing textbooks elsewhere could mean fewer sales for the DVC bookstore. 

“That’s the reason I bought my book on Amazon instead of the bookstore,” said Garcia, “because I knew I could sell it.” 

According to some students, a helpful solution could be for professors to inform students when they assign required textbooks for a class that they’ll be able to resell them after the semester.  

“If they’re requiring you to buy a book, they should let you know you can sell it, too,” said Madelynn Laventure, 21. “They should prioritize that.”

But other students think teachers already have enough on their plates, and it’s the responsibility of the bookstore to better inform students about their buyback options.

“So much of class time is already devoted to learning about other DVC programs that I think the teachers do enough of informing people,” said 18-year-old freshman Neal Chaudhary. “So I think it is up to the bookstore to inform students [about] this program.”

“I think if more students knew about it, they would definitely take advantage of it,” Chaudhary added. “It’s just a matter of getting it out there.”