El Camino’s book buyback program, if you can even call it that, is a big joke.

At first it may seem like the only option when trying to resell your books but it’s not. In fact, it is probably the worst option.

For starters, the Bookstore’s terms for buying back textbooks are impossible for students to know before purchasing books at the start of the semester.

According to the Bookstore’s information page on elcamino.edu, the terms for selling back a textbook are as follows: the book must be requested for the next semester, there can be no moisture damage to the book, there can’t be any new pending additions for that book and finally the Bookstore will buy it back if they need extra stock.

The only conditions on that list that students can control would be preventing damage to a book. When students purchase books, the Bookstore should give them a warning or at the least a prediction on what books could be sold back at the end of the semester.

Another fault in the buyback program would be the Bookstore not buying back used books, even if they are in good condition. Because textbook prices are so high, many students can’t afford to buy new ones, so they have no choice but to buy one used from the Bookstore.

The most interesting part of the Bookstore’s book buyback would be how much students actually get back for their books.

According to the Bookstore’s web page, they will pay up to 50 percent of the original price of the book if it can in fact be taken back. Sure, 50 percent sounds nice but in reality it says up to 50% so that could mean 10 to 20 percent of the original price.

Instead of wasting time hoping that the Bookstore will buyback your book at the end of the semester, it’s better to resell it yourself. This way students take back the power and they determine what they get for their books.

Selling a book on your own is more work but at least you know what you’re getting. Sure, the process of putting up fliers around campus asking people to call you about buying a book is a little weird, but the pay off will be worth it.

At the end of the day the Bookstore is a business and we have to remember that their goal is to make money not give money away.

So knowing that, if you can’t resell your textbook on your own use it as a coffee table book or recycle it because you would probably get more money by doing that than if you sold to the Bookstore.