Emily Mikusa waited Monday as the cashier at DuBois Bookstore on South Lincoln Street scanned each book she had brought to sell.

As the computer beeped, recognizing bar codes, the cashier told the sophomore advertising major how much the store would give her for each book.

“That’s what I expected,” Mikusa said about the $59 she left DuBois with after selling three books.

Mikusa was one of the last customers on the first day of DuBois’s “Bonus Book Buyback,” which will last through finals. Students can win prizes, including gift cards, apparel and all required books free for the Spring 2007 semester. Complete details of the offer can be found on the store’s Web site at www.duboisbook.com.

The University Bookstore also began its buyback campaign Monday, though University Bookstore Director Michael Marquardt pointed out that the store will buy books back at any time. New this semester is the option of putting the buyback money on a University Bookstore gift card and getting an extra 10 percent added to it.

Just before Mikusa, Rachel Barnes, junior middle childhood education major, also sold three books back to DuBois.

The buyback netted her about $90. She said she even made a $10 profit on a book she had originally bought online.

She said buying online and selling back to the bookstores is usually the best combination for getting the most money.

Mikusa also prefers to sell back to the bookstore, even if she could get more money online.

“I don’t have enough patience to sell stuff online,” she said.

Mikusa was selling her books back before finals. Barnes doesn’t have many finals, but said she will wait to sell the books for the classes in which she does have a test.

Marquardt said typically students sell the books back after finals, but it can be beneficial to bring them in sooner.

“The earlier you get your books in here, the better price you can get for them,” he said.

Hal DuBois, manager of DuBois Bookstore, said the prices his store will offer students are determined by the need for the book next semester. Many books are bought back at more than 50 percent of the new sale price.

“I’d rather buy them from a customer-student than on the national market,” he said.

Most students selling their books can expect to get 33 to 40 percent of what they spent, he said.

Even after quotas are met for next semester, DuBois said his store will continue to buy some titles to sell back to distributors.

Marquardt said the University Bookstore will typically pay 50 percent of the new book price for books being used next semester, while books not being used will be purchased at wholesale price.

The University Bookstore will conduct buybacks at their location in the Student Center as well as temporary locations in Tri-Towers and Eastway next week. The two special locations will operate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. all next week.

DuBois Bookstore will be buying back books at the Lincoln Street location, with six buyback stations, and the Main Street Express location, where there will be two.

DuBois said with the extra staff during buybacks, he didn’t expect waits to be longer than 10 minutes, but he said it’s “always better early and late in the day.”

Contact student finance reporter Tyrel Linkhorn at [email protected].