Back to school books: online or in store?

As the school year begins, East Carolina University students will continue to order their textbooks. According to Bob Walker, the popular choice for students is to purchase their textbooks at Dowdy Student Stores.

Walker, the associate director for Dowdy Student Stores, said that the student store remains a popular choice overall when it comes to students ordering their textbooks for the semester. He said the online market for book buying has seemingly become popular for many students at ECU, but for some students, visiting an on-campus bookstore is still a go to.

Walker said there can be a disadvantage to buying books from other online sources such as Amazon and Chegg.

“We want to warn students to make sure they are getting what is really required by the instructor,” Walker said. “We have communication with the faculty members to make sure we are providing the right resources.”

Incoming freshman and business major, Dominique Jones, said buying books can be stressful and expensive, but she felt buying them at Dowdy was a better option.

“I went to buy them online, but I was confused about how it worked and how you paid for them so I decided to come here,” Jones said. “I am getting about three books for this semester and I don’t know how many for next semester, but my schedule is changing around so that can make getting books harder.”

Bryan Tuten, director of Dowdy Student Stores, said he believes most students are ordering their textbooks online. Tuten said he thinks a lot of students are ordering from different places, whether that be from Amazon, Chegg or other online competitors.

Nutrition major, Kaitlyn Martin, said she bought most of her books in the Dowdy bookstore after searching for them online.

“I ordered some books online, but the majority I ordered through the student store because it is the safer option,” Martin said. “I will probably always look online first because sometimes you can find them cheaper, but if not then I will come directly here.”

Dowdy Student Stores employee and junior accounting major, Taylor Chappell, said mostly freshman and students majoring in education order from the Dowdy bookstore, and they usually use the optional online process.

“For large orders it is usually easier to use the online process because it is more efficient, but if they need an access code or a clicker it is much faster for them to come into the store and pay for it,” Chappell said.

Chappell said there is more leeway for students who order books from Dowdy because if a book comes in late, Dowdy will send a message to that professor notifying them that the student does not have the book yet.

According to Tuten, Dowdy offers a textbook buyback program in order to help students get the best deals and save money.

“The textbook buyback program is where a student can sell back their books and we buy them back any day we are open, but the best time is at the end of the semester during exams where we are looking for inventory for the next semester,” Tuten said.

According to Tuten, Dowdy allows students to return books up to 10 days after the start of classes in case of a class change or other reasons.

Tuten said he believes Dowdy provides a more convenient return policy than most of its competitors.

“Some sites and stores may only give students three to five days from the day they bought the book,” Tuten said. “Our prices are competitive and we are right here on campus making it convenient, plus students know they get the right material.”

Tuten said Dowdy Student Stores will be moving into the new student center on 10th Street this Jan., which will create an even larger location advantage.

Chappell said the best part about buying from the Dowdy store is that the revenue goes directly back to the school.

“Dowdy is the only university run bookstore, so all of the money goes back to the school,” Chappell said. “When you buy from Dowdy, you are essentially giving back to your own campus.”