Frequently Asked Questions

Our textbooks area is located in the back of the UBC Bookstore. Go to one of our book list terminals and print off your alphabetical book list. Circle the items you would like to purchase and give the list to one of our helpful staff who will be happy to find your book(s) for you.

We're consistently looking for new options and ways to reduce the costs of textbooks to students.

1. RENTAL BOOKS - rental saves up to 55%. We were one of the first campuses in Canada to introduce rental books. This enables a student to rent used books at up to 55% OFF. This means that if a new book is $100, then a used rental book is $45. If you spend $1000 on new books, then you could rent them all for $450. Our aim is to rent the majority of books in-store that are over $25 (exceptions include custom course packages and ebooks). We are encouraging faculty/instructors to use books for several terms so that we are in a position to rent even more titles next term.

2. CHOICES. As well as rentals and new books, we offer three other choices of books to take into account differing budgets: used (which can save you up to 75% if you can sell them back), ebooks (up to 50% cheaper) and custom course packs.

3. CUSTOM COURSE PACKS: now on average 33% cheaper. Find out why.

4. SELL TEXTBOOKS BACK. We offer you the opportunity to sell your books back to us throughout the year. We try to buy back as many books as we can – if a book is being used for another term on campus you will get up to 50 per cent of the new cost; if the book is not being used the next term, but is still a current edition you will receive a wholesale price. Again, we are encouraging faculty to use books on campus for multiple terms so that we can buy back as many books as possible.

Please use this link for ISC Service Now for Workday questions

Helen.Mazzocchio@staples.com (Lower Mainland) and Alan.Homeniuk@staples.com (Okanagan) will still be available to assist with the special quote process for bulk PPE orders, furniture projects, and special-order items not on the Workday/EWAY catalogue.

Please use this link for ISC Service Now. 

Faculty regalia for the Fall graduation ceremonies may be rented in advance online from Thursday, October 5 to Tuesday, November 14 at 11:59 pm (PST) through the Faculty Rental Form.

The deadline to rent regalia online is Nov 14th for faculty members.

After the Nov 14th deadline, regalia can also be rented on-site on the day of the ceremony:

• Please arrive 45-60 minutes before the ceremony at the Robing Room.
• Acceptable payment methods include cash, credit card, debit card or Open Account Worktag (UBC Bookstore account) information.

Don't worry! You can also rent a gown and hood on the day of your ceremony at the gown pick up area for an additional fee. We have enough regalia of all sizes and colours to allow anyone who missed the deadline to attend. The cost for day-of rental is $75.00 and we will accept Credit or Debit (Visa, Mastercard, Visa Debit). Please arrive at the gown pick up area 1.5 hours before your ceremony start time to allow enough time to rent your gown on-site. There is no need to provide us with your information in advance once the online rental website has closed.

Vancouver Pickup Location: Buchanan Building Block B (1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1)

Okanagan Pickup Location: Upper Fitz Hall of the Commons Building (3297 University Way, Kelowna BC)

Detailed instructions on how to return online purchases is included in our return policy.

Canvas refers to materials that are integrated into your course site. If a course material includes “Canvas” in the name, this indicates that there is a digital component accessible within Canvas that is included with your purchase. Your instructor will give you more instructions in class.

Click here to read our return policy.

Your lovely professors/instructors choose your Required textbooks. Required textbooks contain the basis of the course and will be referred to frequently. Alternative textbooks are variations of the required textbook that deliver the same content but in a different format.

For example, your instructor may have selected an eBook and access code as the Required Textbook. However they are also giving you an alternate option of the physical package of the book, which contains the print version of your textbook and digital access code as a package. If you'd prefer having the physical book rather than an eBook, you can select the print package as an alternate option. Alternate options provide students options for purchasing the course materials that best fit their learning needs and their budgets. Important note: you only need to buy ONE of either the Required textbook or its alternates, as either option is acceptable for your course.

If you want to be a boss, you can also read the optional textbooks, which are for additional reading on a particular subject. Optional textbooks aren't required for your course, these are normally supplementary course materials that are recommended by your instructors.

Please email Customer Care at easyservice@staples.com with your PO #. There will be a period of fine tuning for the delivery process due to the new Workday address formatting.   Processes are in place for continuous improvement of the new delivery processes using the new Workday delivery address detail.

Each custom course pack has been handpicked and given hours of dedication to put together. As such (and to comply with Copyright law), we ask that you don’t photocopy, scan or reproduce these for use other than for yourself. Please and thank you.

Staples Business Advantage (SBA) is the commercial division of Staples providing a higher level of business solutions, like Workday integration to EWAY, custom reporting and customized delivery solutions, for large complex accounts like UBC. Staples retail and Staples.Ca are not part of the UBC agreement.

Some publishers place printing and time restrictions on eBooks. When this is the case, generally, the minimum is 180 days and the maximum is 360 days. For further information on your specific digital materials purchase, complete the form here and a Bookstore team member will assist you.

Please contact the UBC Integrated Services Centre with the Service Now link https://authentication.ubc.ca/idp/profile/SAML2/Redirect/SSO?execution=e3s1  They will update your Location ID, but you will also need to change your CWL Profile address detail to show correct room # and street #.