Textbooks can be ordered online and either held at the bookstore for pick up or shipped to your door via UPS.  In most cases, orders will be filled within 24-48 hours. Ordering is always quick and easy.  Once an order is placed, your textbooks are pulled from the textbook sales floor at NCSU Bookstores packaged and held for pickup. The store will hold completed textbook orders for up to 8 weeks, so no special trips are needed to pick up the books. Ordering early is the best way to assure a greater selection of used textbooks since on-line orders are pulled immediately upon receipt.

Click here to Get Booked Early - Deadline July 25, 2008


The Get Booked Early program is offered each Fall Semester. This program debuted in 1988 to help incoming freshmen avoid the long lines of "rush."  The response of both parents and students was so enthusiastic that the program has been expanded to include all students at NC State University.  When you complete and return the Get Booked Early order form with pre-payment, we will obtain your course information from the NCSU Registrar's Office, pull your books and supplies, prepare your receipt, box your order and hold it for you to pick up before the first day of classes.  There is no additional charge for Get Booked Early - you pay only for your books and supplies.  Any overpayment is refunded to you by check when you pick up your order.  Participating in the Get Booked Early program is not only smart, it's easy! 

You may sell your books back to the store at any time during the year. However, the best time to sell your books is at the end of the semester, and the reason is quite simple. As soon as the faculty tell us which books they will use during the upcoming semester, we will begin to pay ½ of the current new price for the books you bring in to sell to us. Once we reach the determined need for the semester, we begin paying the current price that a wholesale company will pay us for the book.

- You must present your student I.D. and the original cash register receipt.
- Refunds or exchanges will not be given on opened shrink-wrapped course packs.
- New textbooks presented for refund or exchange must be unmarked, unsoiled, and free of damage.
- Refunds or exchanges will not be given on P.E. books.

Refunds or exchanges will not be given on opened shrink-wrapped or sealed CD’s or diskettes. This includes textbooks accompanied by a CD or diskette. Textbook returns are processed through the Buyback/Customer Service desk located in the Textbook department on the lower level of the main bookstore.

Everyone knows that textbooks are expensive. In-coming freshman students may experience sticker-shock when they see how expensive some new textbooks are. NCSU Bookstores is a non-profit organization. All monies generated through the bookstore are returned to the University Need Based Scholarship Fund.

On average, a typical college student should expect to invest around $350.00 to $400.00 each semester for his or her textbooks. This cost is greatly offset by the availability of used textbooks which cost 25% less than new books and also by selling used textbooks back to the store at the end of the semester. Some disciplines may have significantly lower costs for textbooks, but others (such as Engineering and Computer Science) are much more technical in nature and therefore may cost a good deal more.

The following information has been compiled by the National Association of College Stores using financial data provided by the Association of American Publishers. These numbers are industry averages and do not represent a particular publisher or bookstore.

Where the New Textbook Dollar Goes

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Q: Who selects the textbooks and supplies for the courses?
Q: Why are textbooks so expensive?
Q: Can I sell back books that I have held on to from other semesters?
Q: Why do some books have no buyback value?
Q: Why are some books worth so much more than others?
Q: Can I sell my books back at the end of the semester?
Q: Why do you occasionally run out of textbooks at the beginning of the semester?
Q: How can I pay for my course materials?
Q: What are your locations and hours of operation?
Q: What is the University's policy on copyright?
Q: Where do profits go?

Q: Who selects the textbooks and supplies for the courses?

A: All textbooks and supplies are selected by the class instructor. These materials are requested and then ordered by NCSU Bookstores for both the main and Centennial campus locations. Each textbook is ordered to enhance and complement what the instructor presents in class.

Q: Why are textbooks so expensive?

A: Older textbooks were strictly "text" books. Today, however, photos and graphics on clay-based paper, teacher's aids, software, templates, and other multi media add-ons have increased the classic textbook's price to the bookstore. Also, for example, a chemistry text has a sales life of less than two years for the publisher. In order to recoup the initial research and development costs, the production costs, royalties and a bit of profit to satisfy stockholders and to begin new projects, the publisher must charge increasingly higher prices to cover those costs. Many esoteric works, in addition to the sales life, have a limited production. Costs tend not to decrease with sales decreases.

Q: Can I sell back books that I have held on to from other semesters?

A: Yes. Bring them to buyback, and we will check them. Sometimes the best prices for a book can be had by holding on to the book for a semester. For instance if a course is taught only in the fall, and you bring your book in at the end of the fall semester, your book will probably receive a lower buyback price and be sent out for national used book recycling. If you bring that same book back at the end of the spring semester, the bookstore may have an order for that title for fall, and could be buying the book at half price. However, some books will have no value if held onto for too long.

Q: Why do some books have no buyback value?

A: One of the most common reasons for a book to have no value is for the book to be an old edition. Once the scheduled publication of a new edition is announced the resale value of the current edition begins to drop. When the new edition is available, the old edition will no longer have any resale value. On average, new editions of texts are issued every three years. Course packs and custom publications are never bought back. Some textbooks and course packs contain copyrighted materials that has been obtained for one user only.

Q: Why are some books worth so much more than others?

A: You will receive the best price for a book if the book has been definitely assigned by the faculty for the upcoming semester. If a book has not yet been assigned by the faculty, it will only have a wholesale value. Once the book has been assigned, the bookstore will purchase the book at 50% of the new price of the book. The difference between wholesale value and retail value is whether we are buying the book to be used on this campus, or for a national wholesaler. All values are determined by need.

Q: Can I sell my books back to the bookstore at the end of the semester?

A: Yes. The best time to sell your books is at the end or the very beginning of the semester.

Q: Why do you occasionally run out of textbooks at the beginning of the semester?

A: We place our orders for textbooks on expected class enrollments two or more months before classes actually begin. Increases in enrollments by final registration often demand reorders, which we do as we see changes happen. Unfortunately, we are not always able to foresee all possible increases, and shortages do occur. Sometimes the books have been ordered but have not yet arrived for one of several reasons. Occasionally, students purchase texts in anticipation of enrolling, returning them when they are unable to enter a class. Also, certain textbooks are purchased by parents, faculty, or other students who find the particular book appealing independent of class need. If you should find a particular text is unavailable, please place a special order at the customer service desk. Every effort will be made to ensure the book arrives as quickly as possible.

Q: How can I pay for my course materials?

A: We accept Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express, All Campus, Check, and, of course, cash!
(Check cards with Visa or MasterCard emblem accepted.)

Q: What are your locations and hours of operation?

A: NCSU Bookstores main location is next door to Talley Student Center and Reynolds Coliseum. This location is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8-6, Tuesday 8-7, and Saturday 10-4. During the summer the main store is open Monday through Friday 8-5, and closed on Saturday.

NCSU Bookstores has two satellite locations. The first is located on North campus in the Atrium food court. This store offers supplies, apparel, and magazines. Hours for North campus are Monday through Friday 8-3:30pm. Summer hours vary.

Century Shop is located on Centennial campus in the Research III building. This store offers supplies, apparel, snacks, and textile course materials. Hours for Century Shop are Monday through Friday 8-4:30pm.

Q: What is the University's policy on copyright?

A: The University policy regarding copyright can be found HERE

Q: Where do profits go?

A: NCSU Bookstores is University-owned and totally self-supporting. It receives no tax money or subsidies. Profits are paid annually to the NCSU Academic Scholarship Fund.