As the semester draws to a close, many students look to sell textbooks.

Local businesses like Copy Service, 1005 W. Lincoln Highway, Village Commons Book Store, 901 Lucinda Ave., and the NIU Book Store, 340 Carroll Ave. offer new and used textbooks to college students year round. With many students choosing to sell their books online, some businesses have had to innovate.

VCB Textbook Manager Bob Farrah said he has seen a sharp decline in textbook buyback sales over the last three years. He attributes this to competition from on-line textbook sales like Chegg.com and Amazon.com, a rise in cost and yearly new additions.

“When I started 30 years ago, a book would stay in edition for three years. Now you’re lucky if it stays for 12 months,” Farrah said. “I have 2011’s that they’ve already announced a new addition for.”

To combat this, the VCB started a textbook rental program in the Fall 2010 semester. Farrah estimates 25 percent of the used books the VCB will receive this year will be rentals.

“It’s been very popular,” Farrah said. “You essentially get the buy-back price up front.”

Bigwords.com is a textbook price comparison site. CEO Jeff Sherwood said about 1 million college students visit the site each term. Bigwords.com offers comparison pricing for buying and selling textbooks across 25 web sites, including Amazon.com, Half.com and Barnes and Noble.

“[Twenty five] may seem small, but we’re very selective about the merchants,” Sherwood said.

Sherwood said he started the business 10 years ago to help students find the best deals in a competitive market place.

Matt Johnson, senior communication major and Copy Service employee, said the advantage to selling books at Copy Service is stability in price.

“Prices at other book stores fluctuate based on if the course is being offered at NIU,” Johnson said. “We sell the majority of the books we buy back on Amazon.com, which is nation-wide.”

Farrah said the VCB is convenient because of its location.

“You can comparison shop and sell it online, but with the posting of it, the mailing it out and all that, often times you can do just as well at the book store,” Farrah said.

Buyback hours at the University Book Store are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday through Dec. 8. Calls to the NIU Book Store were not returned as of press time.