Broadway bookstore buys texts
After spending large sums of money on books each semester, buyback is a very exciting time for most college students.
However, professors sometimes decide that the $112 book they used one semester is not good enough for next semester. Oftentimes, students stand in book-buyback lines to find their textbook isn’t being bought back.
Students now have alternatives. B.D.S. Books on Broadway will buy used textbooks as long as they are the newest editions. For example, if there is a fifth edition of a book, the store won’t buy the fourth edition of that book.
“ You can stand in a long line and try to sell them back during buyback, or you can come here anytime,” Brand Stephensen, owner of B.D.S. Books, said.
The store will also buy, sell or trade fiction and nonfiction novels.
“ Why pay full price for a book when you can get one in fairly good condition for much less money?” Stephensen said.
The store can be perfect for avid readers because of the book-trading option. If a person is tired of an old book and they want a new one, they can just go to the store and trade.
“ There is more value in trading than selling. I can give you more value in books than money,” Stephensen said.
B.D.S. Books is surprisingly organized, despite its lack of computerized technology to keep track of inventory.
The books are organized in the fiction section by genre and alphabetical order. In the nonfiction section, the books are classified by subject.
“ For the most part, I know if I have it, or I know where to look,” Stephensen said. “I sing the alphabet song all day.”
Stephensen bought the bookstore from Duane Johnson in 2001, who owned the store since 1982.
“ It was here for almost 20 years, and it was a large pile of books. Somebody had to sort it out, and I bought it from Duane to sort it out,” Stephensen said.
The store is packed with newer books.
The newest Harry Potter book was on the shelf, and the store received the newest Stephen King book just days after its release into bookstores.
“ Sometimes a book comes in quite quickly, but usually it takes a while — however long it takes for people to not want it anymore,” Stephensen said.
The top fiction books are the ones that come in quickest. These books usually cost about half the cover price.
Classics, however, have more demand. The classics usually cost about one-third the cover price.
Collectable books, or books that are more difficult to find, will be more expensive.
“ Collectors will run the prices up for things. If you just want to read it and don’t want to collect it, it is unfortunate,” Stephenson said. “This is simply a supply-and-demand business. That is the toughest thing for people to understand.”
B.D.S. Books is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It is located at 506 Broadway N.