BookFool’s 100% Return Guarantee
It’s been a busy selling season here at BookFool.com. We strive to get all orders out the door in one business day or less, which means we’re usually shipping on Saturdays (and some Sundays) just to keep up with the demand. Students need their books and they need them fast!
(cc) Flickr user Plutor
A month ago, we took a hard look at our return policy and made a major change. In the past, anyone could make a return and receive a portion of their purchase price (often 100%) depending on the age of the order and whether we made a mistake or they did.
Well, this was confusing. Some even found it annoying.
We kept putting ourselves in the unfortunate position of having to ascertain who was at fault before every return, which seriously complicated our customer service efforts and more than doubled our load of emails. Of course we would always defer to customers who said that BookFool was at fault, but it still required more emails than it should have to resolve the situation.
So we simplified everything. Meet the Foolish Guarantee:
Within 30 days of purchase, if you return your book in the same condition as when we shipped it, we will refund 100% percent of your purchase price and reimburse you $3.99 for return shipping, for any reason! We only ask that you contact us for a Return Authorization before shipping anything back to us.
100% return guarantee + free return shipping. We want you to buy with confidence! What do you think?
A Foolish Welcome to our Tennessean Friends
Hello, Tennessean readers! We subscribe to the venerable daily ourselves, so we’re glad to have you stop by.
However, if they’re speaking with us, it’s clear their standards for sources have slipped! But seriously, we’re honored to be included in Jennifer’s article, especially if it helps students find another option for cheap textbooks. As I said there, “If we can’t give you the best price, we’ll show you who can.” This is a core tenet of our Mission and stems from our desire to put students first.
Jennifer and I had a discussion about textbook rentals as well. We Fools think textbook renting is an interesting idea that works for a certain kind of student. However, we still believe that most students will come out ahead by buying their books used and then selling them back at the end of the semester. Consider this example:
Let’s say Joaquin can buy his Chemistry textbook new at the bookstore for $100 and used online for $60-70. (These are pretty standard figures.) That book would rent for around $50, and Joaquin appears to save $10-20 on the book by renting.
However, there’s a really good chance Joaquin can sell that used textbook to us at the end of the semester for $50 or more. The used book that cost him $70 puts $50 back in his pocket, which means he effectively “rented” that used copy for only $20. And what if he really found a deal when he bought it and paid only $50 in the first place?!
It all comes down to a calculation like that. If the numbers make sense for renting a book, we say go for it.
We do not currently rent our textbooks, though we are watching the trend closely. If we could find a way to rent books that served students’ long-term needs, we would start renting them tomorrow!
About BookFool.com
We love what we do and don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re happy when students are happy. Read more About us. And why not sign up in the sidebar to receive occasional updates from the Fools?
For more information, consider some of our recent blog posts:
- HUMANKIND Thrift is Ready to Serve: The Rados are changing the world, one school uniform at a time!
- How to Find the Cheapest Textbooks, Vol. 1: A few thoughts from the cheapskate masters.
- 7 Tricks to Score the Job You Want: Part 1 (and Part 2). Advice from a Foolish perspective.
- Photographic Tour of United Record Pressing in Nashville: A Foolish field trip.
- The results of the 2009 Hot Tomato Haiku Contest: An East Nashville favorite.
- And finally…We’re hiring! Our first Customer Care Fool.
Thanks for stopping by! We hope to hear from you.
Summer Buybacks 2009
If you haven’t heard, BookFool.com is experimenting with Summer Buybacks this year to better serve our students who take summer classes. We couldn’t roll out to every past buyback location, but we’ve got Nashville pretty well covered, starting this Wednesday morning.
No matter where you attend — Vandy, Fisk, Lipscomb, TSU, Belmont, MTSU, Nashville State, Meharry, Bethel, Vol State, Cumberland, or even somewhere outside Nashville — give us a shot. If you didn’t get around to selling your books last semester and want another chance, don’t miss our Summer Buybacks.
Learn How to Sell Your Books to BookFool.com: We don’t burden you with rules and requirements. Be amused and enlightened by the video (also embedded below) made at one of our buyback locations this year. And if you’re a competitor, don’t miss the instant classic, How to Beat BookFool.com (the secret is in the prices).
