Editing Textbook (section)

===Used textbook market===
Once a textbook is purchased from a retailer for the first time, there are several ways a student can sell his/her textbooks back at the end of the semester or later. Students can sell to 1) the college/university bookstore; 2) fellow students; 3) numerous online websites; or 4) a student swap service.

====Campus buyback====
As for buyback on a specific campus, faculty decisions largely determine how much a student receives. If a professor chooses to use the same book the following semester, even if it is a custom text, designed specifically for an individual instructor, bookstores often buy the book back. The GAO report found that, generally, if a book is in good condition and will be used on the campus again the next term, bookstores will pay students 50 percent of the original price paid. If the bookstore has not received a faculty order for the book at the end of the term and the edition is still current, they may offer students the wholesale price of the book, which could range from 5 to 35 percent of the new retail price, according to the GAO report.<ref name=GAO/>

When students resell their textbooks during campus "buyback" periods, these textbooks are often sold into the national used textbook distribution chain.  If a textbook is not going to be used on campus for the next semester of courses then many times the college bookstore will sell that book to a national used book company.  The used book company then resells the book to another college bookstore.  Finally, that book is sold as used to a student at another college at a price that is typically 75% of the new book price. At each step, a markup is applied to the book to enable the respective companies to continue to operate.

====Student to student sales====
Students can also sell or trade textbooks among themselves. After completing a course, sellers will often seek out members of the next enrolling class, people who are likely to be interested in purchasing the required books. This may be done by posting flyers to advertise the sale of the books or simply soliciting individuals who are shopping in the college bookstore for the same titles. Many larger schools have independent websites set up for the purpose of facilitating such trade. These often operate much like digital classified ads, enabling students to list their items for sale and browse for those they wish to acquire. Also, at the [[US Air Force Academy]], it is possible to e-mail entire specific classes, allowing for an extensive network of textbook sales to exist.

====Student online marketplaces====
Online marketplaces are one of the two major types of online websites students can use to sell used textbooks. Online marketplaces may have an [[Online auction business model|online auction]] format or may allow the student to list their books for a fixed price. In either case, the student must create the listing for each book themselves and wait for a buyer to order, making the use of marketplaces a more passive way of selling used textbooks. Unlike campus buyback and online book, students are unlikely to sell all their books to one buyer using online marketplaces, and will likely have to send out multiple books individually.

====Online book buyers====
Online book buyers buy textbooks, and sometimes other types of books, with the aim of reselling them for a profit. Like online marketplaces, online book buyers operate year-round, giving students the opportunity to sell their books even when campus "buyback" periods are not in effect. Online book buyers, who are often online book sellers as well, will sometimes disclaim whether or not a book can be sold back prior to purchase. Students enter the [[International Standard Book Number|ISBN]] numbers of the books they wish to sell and receive a price quote or offer. These online book buyers often offer "free shipping" (which in actuality is built into the offer for the book), and allow students to sell multiple books to the same source. Because online book buyers are buying books for resale, the prices they offer may be lower than students can get on online marketplaces. However, their prices are competitive, and they tend to focus on the convenience of their service. Some even claim that buying used textbooks online and selling them to online book buyers has a lower total cost than even textbook rental services.

====Textbook exchanges====
In response to escalating textbook prices, limited competition, and to provide a more efficient system to connect buyers and sellers together, online textbook exchanges were developed. Most of today's sites handle buyer and seller payments, and usually deduct a small commission only after the sale is completed.

According to textbook author [[Henry L. Roediger III|Henry L. Roediger]] (and Wadsworth Publishing Company senior editor Vicki Knight), the used textbook market is illegitimate, and entirely to blame for the rising costs of textbooks.  As methods of "dealing with this problem", he recommends making previous editions of textbooks obsolete, binding the textbook with other materials, and passing laws to prevent the sale of used books.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Henry L. Roediger, III |date=January 2005 |title=Why Are Textbooks So Expensive? |url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-are-textbooks-so-expensive |url-status=live |magazine=Observer |publisher=Association for Psychological Science |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317041203/https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-are-textbooks-so-expensive |archive-date=17 March 2018 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> The concept is not unlike the limited licensing approach for computer software, which places rigid restrictions on resale and reproduction.  The intent is to make users understand that the content of any textbook is the intellectual property of the author and/or the publisher, and that as such, subject to copyright. Obviously, this idea is completely opposed to the millennia-old tradition of the sale of [[used book]]s, and would make that entire industry illegal.

==== E-textbooks ====
{{see also|Digital textbook}}
Another alternative to save money and obtaining the materials you are required are e-textbooks. The article "E books rewrite the rules of education" states that, alternately to spending a lot of money on textbooks, you can purchase an e-textbook at a small amount of the cost. With the growth of digital applications for iPhone, and gadgets like the Amazon kindle, e-textbooks are not an innovation, but have been "gaining momentum".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mullan |first=Eileen |date=4 May 2009 |title=Ebooks Rewrite the Rules of Education |url=http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/News/News-Feature/Ebooks-Rewrite-the--Rules-of-Education-53676.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317231848/http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/News/News-Feature/Ebooks-Rewrite-the--Rules-of-Education-53676.htm |archive-date=17 March 2018 |website=EContent Magazine}}</ref> According to the article " Are textbooks obsolete?", publishers and editorials are concerned about the issue of expensive textbooks. "The expense of textbooks is a concern for students, and e-textbooks, address the face of the issue, Williams says " As publishers we understand the high cost of these materials, and the electronic format permit us diminish the general expense of our content to the market".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Are textbooks obsolete? An education in the impact of electronic textbooks |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=RELEVANCE&docType=Cover+story&tabID=T003&prodId=CDB&searchId=R8&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=BasicSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=3&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=pcc&docId=GALE%7CA223373889&contentSet=GALE%7CA223373889 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=go.galegroup.com}}</ref> E-textbook applications facilitate similar experiences to physical textbooks by allowing the user to highlight and take notes in-page. These applications also extend textbook learning by providing quick definitions, reading the text aloud, and search functionality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reckelhoff |first=Benjamin |date=16 February 2021 |title=Vitalsource Bookshelf App capabilities for etextbooks |url=https://www.vitalsource.com/bookshelf-features |website=VitalSource Bookshelf}}</ref>