Dear First-Year Students,
We know you’re excited about your first days on campus, and also may have questions about how to get settled in. One important aspect will be the purchase of the textbooks you need for your classes this semester. Once you’ve registered for classes at Orientation, you’ll have time to visit the Bookstore on Sunday and Monday to buy the books you need for the classes on your schedule.
The Occidental College Bookstore is conveniently located in the Johnson Student Center on the first floor. The Bookstore is non-profit; so when you purchase from the Oxy Bookstore and sell your books back there, you are helping your fellow students by keeping used books on campus and helping to keep textbook prices down.
If you’d like to buy your books online before Orientation for your CSP course, or any classes you’ve already been pre-registered into via a placement exam, you can do so online and the books will be ready for pick up when you get to campus, with no shipping costs. To do this, visit the Oxy Bookstore website. Click on "Buy/Rent Textbooks”, and then shop for your books. If you prefer digital textbooks, some titles are also available in digital format, in-store and/or on our digital book website, Redshelf. In some rare cases a book may be sold out; if this happens, let our Bookstore staff know by e-mailing bperez@oxy.edu, and we can check on the back-order status for you.
One of the many perks of buying from the Oxy Bookstore is that we provide all course materials, plus an online price comparison tool with online sellers so you can make informed buying decisions. The Bookstore also always directs students to the correct version of textbooks for your courses. Should a faculty member change the textbook or a course get canceled, these materials are always returnable/refundable, but only if purchased from the Oxy Bookstore. Another benefit is the easy resell process during finals week when the Oxy Bookstore hosts a textbook buyback. Any books adopted by the professor for the following semester will be bought back for up to 50% of the price paid. Please be aware that the Oxy Bookstore does not go door-to-door buying books and any company attempting to purchase in the residence halls is not authorized by the College. More information about the Oxy Bookstore policies, including rental, return, and refunds, can be found here.
There are several ways to pay for your bookstore purchases including cash, check, debit/credit card, Voucher or Bengal Bucks; the Voucher and Bengal Bucks programs are described at the bottom of this email, below the signature line.
In addition to books, come by to see all the Bookstore has to offer, including lots of Oxy Gear to fully outfit your wardrobe, as well as various sundries and toiletry items, gifts, and a wide variety of snacks!
Look forward to seeing you and your families in the store soon. Io Triumphe!
Donna Huebner
Bookstore Manager
HOW DO YOU PAY FOR TEXTBOOKS?
The Occidental College Bookstore accepts cash, check, debit/credit card, Voucher or Bengal Bucks.
When you purchase on the Oxy Bookstore site or in-store you may choose to use your Student Account Voucher. This allows you to quickly and easily charge purchases to your student account to pay later. The Voucher is available through Sept. 30. Your student account is only charged for the amount of money you spend in the Bookstore. The maximum you can spend is $600. You need your Oxy ID to access your Voucher.
If you need to purchase items in the Bookstore after Sept. 30 and want to charge to your Student Account, or, if your books exceed $600, there is another fund called Bengal Bucks.
Bengal Bucks must be loaded to your account by adding funds prior to use. You may deposit funds in the Bookstore using cash, check, debit/credit card. You may also go to myOxy and choose to add money to Bengal Bucks and have the money charged to your student account. Please allow 48 hours for funds to appear in your Bengal Bucks account. Don't forget to follow up and check that the funds have been added. You can check your balance on the "GET" app. Bengal Bucks do not expire, and roll over from semester to semester. When you leave school you may ask for leftover funds to be returned to your student account.
NOTE: First-Year students should use voucher funds first; Bengal Bucks deposits will not be accepted until late August.
You may charge any items in the Bookstore to your Voucher or Bengal Bucks.