Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – the UBC Bookstore will buy your books back from you! Students can sell their used textbooks back in-store during our textbook buyback period at the beginning/end of each term. Our next buyback period for the Winter 2023/24 term is from December 4th - January 13th.

How do I find out if my book is being bought back? How much will I get for my book?
You can check if we're currently accepting a particular book as well as the sellback price by entering the ISBN on our Buyback Search page. We recommend checking the sellback price online prior to bringing in your books to avoid any disappointment!

If your textbook is being used for a UBC course this term, you will be offered up to 50% of the new retail price for your book. We also work with a wholesale partner to allow us to take back a larger selection of books beyond what is currently being bought back for UBC. If your book is bought by our wholesale partner, you will receive the value established by them for the North American marketplace.

What course materials can I sell back?
Whether or not we are able to buy a textbook back is determined by current demand for it as well as the condition of the book. We can only accept textbooks in good, reusable, legible condition, with no water damage, stains, or torn/missing covers or pages. Normal wear with some markings/notes and highlighting is okay, provided that it is not excessive and none of the print is obscured. We are unfortunately unable to accept loose-leaf textbooks or books that come packaged with a required access code or online component as these cannot be resold.

Are there any items you don't accept?
While we'd love to give each and every used book some new life, unfortunately not every item can be resold and there are a number of reasons a book might not be eligible for buyback.

Firstly, we commend you on your organizational skills! There are many reasons why your textbook is not available on your first day: the publisher may be out of stock or impacted by shipping delays, your department or professor may have submitted a late request for your book, enrolment may have increased or classes added. These are just some of the most common reasons. When there is a delay, we make every effort to get the books to the store as quickly as possible.

If you are currently outside of BC and are planning on being on Campus for your first day of class, we strongly advise that you select the option to pick up your books in-store, rather than having them shipped to you out of province. This will ensure you receive your books are quickly as possible. Order your course materials here.

Workday has pre-assigned Approvers. Please confirm with your department finance manager if you are permitted to order supplies and copy paper on Workday and if you have an Approver.

You can contact SBA Customer Care at easyservice@staples.com

To order items that are not on the Workday supplies catalogue, you can use the Workday special requisition process. Please refer to the Workday instructions for ordering non-catalogue items.   Your ISC support team can assist with the training. Please use this link for ISC Service Now.

Job Aids have been created to guide you through the use of Workday and ordering office supplies. Please refer to this link to the ISC Service Now.

We wish we had more, too! The number of used textbooks we offer is determined by how many textbooks are being reused for each course and are returned to us each term. After a brief hiatus, we are pleased to announce that our used textbook purchase and resale program will be returning for the 2023 fall term. Please check back later for more details!

Order history is not available through Workday. Users with a previous EWAY ID can still access your EWAY order history to find item numbers.  New users can email SBA Customer Care at easyservice@staples.com for assistance with item# to add to cart.

There are a few reasons why you received this declined order notification: 

-          Your billing address does not match your credit card’s address. Your billing address must match exactly what is shown on your credit card statement

-          The address you’ve entered is incorrect and/or our system doesn’t recognize the address

-          The credit card has been reported stolen or lost

-          The credit card limit has been reached

-          Also note, our website cannot process debit cards (VISA or M/C debit)

Finally, this can sometimes be a system issue on our end that will resolve itself within 24 hours. Please check all of the factors above first. If after 24 hours you are still having problems with your online order, please contact us using the link below and we will do everything we can to assist you.

Please contact us by email.

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.

We accept both Visa and Mastercard credit cards and UBC Bookstore Gift Cards for online orders. We cannot accept American Express or debit cards for online orders.

Faculty gowns can be rented online via the Grad Gown Rentals page by submitting the Faculty Gown Rental Form for your campus.

Yes, all individuals participating in the graduation ceremonies at the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses are required to wear academic regalia. This includes graduating students, faculty, administration and invited guests who will be seated on stage as well as volunteers. Academic regalia includes a gown, hood and headwear appropriate to the degree being granted. The mortarboard hats for bachelors and masters students are optional, but a gown and hood must be worn by all students wishing to attend. Any form of attire (formal, uniform, business, traditional, or casual) may be worn underneath the gown, but footwear must always be worn.
For more information, please see the UBC Graduation website: UBC Academic Regalia Guidelines
If you have any questions, please contact ceremonies.graduation@ubc.ca (Vancouver campus) or okanagan.ceremonies@ubc.ca (Okanagan campus).

There are a few common reasons why you may be encountering an error message at checkout. 

If you are ordering from an international location (other than the US) and you need your order shipped to you: Our address form has line-character limits. if you have a long address, try adding the second optional Address Line to space out your address onto two lines. In the Postal Code panel, enter 000000 (six zeros) instead of your actual postal code (don’t worry, your parcel will still find you).

If you are ordering for pick-up in store: to collect your purchase in store, please complete your billing address first. Once this has been added, please select the option for picking up in store. Your shipping address will automatically match your billing address, but this does not mean your items will be shipped to you if you have selected to pick up in store.

Ensure you are using an accepted method of payment: our ecommerce site accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards and UBC Bookstore gift cards only. We do not currently accept Visa or Mastercard debit, American Express, WeChat or AliPay.

Check carefully to ensure your billing information is correct: your billing address must match exactly what is shown on your credit card statement. 

If you are still having problems placing your online order, please submit a support request using this webform and we will do everything we can to assist you.

Please use this link for ISC Service Now.