Kraftees Collegetown is here to offer students a service and a lower cost on textbooks and other items.  There are many alternatives to purchasing your books at Kraftees or the Cornell Store that have arose throughout the years.  This section is in place to provide students information to keep in mind before purchasing your books through alternate means.

Select an option below or scroll down:

Buying your books at Kraftees vs. Online

Selling your books to Kraftees vs. Online

Buying Your Textbooks:

• Kraftees Collegetown stocks books for almost every course offered at Cornell University.  All a student needs to do is bring their Cornell class schedule or textbook print out to our store and we bring every book they need for the semester to them in one quick easy transaction, there is no wait for shipping and a student does not have to make multiple transactions.

Online a student would need to purchase each book individually from a seller, at times pay to have it shipped to them, then wait to receive it. There are times when orders arrive late and the student needs the book prior, and other times where books do not arrive at all.

• Kraftees also offers a return policy to students who purchase their textbooks from them.  This return policy does have it's limitations but typically gives a student a chance to go to class before deciding whether they would like to keep the text or not.

Online sites often offer no return policy, or they do not refund a students shipping charges nor the cost to ship it back to the seller.

• Kraftees works hard year round to contact Cornell professors and obtain their course information / textbook information for upcoming semesters.  By doing so we learn what editions and translations are required and also any special items such as an access code or other item that will be required for the course as well. So students will have the correct book for their course.

Online sites often send out International Editions, Old Editions, Teachers editions, and other modified texts  which are cheaper but are often different than the actual text.  While these texts may be cheaper to purchase initially neither Kraftees nor other stores will buy these books back at the end of the semester making the initial savings meaningless at times.

• Kraftees also distributes custom course packets that professors contract out with Gnomon Copy.

Online you will not be able to purchase these custom course packets.

• Kraftees can order special bundles and custom made textbooks for courses from publishers.  At times a professor will work with a publishing company to create special books or bundles for their course that are specific to the course that is taught at Cornell University.

Online these bundles or custom textbooks will not be available.

• Kraftees on certain occasions obtains special pricing on textbooks from the publisher. In these cases they give the sellers of Cornell University textbooks a discount to pass along to the students.

Online in these cases it will cost more to purchase the textbook.

Selling your textbooks:

• Kraftees will do it's best to buyback everyone of your books quickly, efficiently, and pay you in CASH $$$. We offer multiple locations to sell your books at the end of the semester and all have the same parameters.

Online to sell a book you must post it online, wait for a patron to purchase it, possibly pay the shipping charge, purchase a box to pack the book in, go to the post office or other shipment method to send the book out, and then wait to receive payment from the buyer.  You are also responsible if the books is lost in shipping.

Online sites often charge a fee or take a percentage of each sale.

• Kraftees works with the professors each semester to find out what books they will require in the future.  If a book is being used the following semester Kraftees will pay up to 50% off the new price of the textbook. (see textbook buyback information page for more info)
  

Online you may not be able to receive this much for the book even before the online site takes a commission from the sale.

• Kraftees will also buy custom Cornell University books back from students if the text will be used again.

Online you will not be able to sell the custom text.

• Kraftees buys back used textbooks from Cornell students in hopes to be able to sell them to Cornell students in the future.  The more books that are sold to us help us keep a large stock of used inventory to help fellow peers when purchasing books in the future

Online books are sold to anyone throughout the world, reducing books for fellow Cornellians.