The Green Frugal

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In a Cash4Books team meeting, we reviewed ways that we felt set us apart as a company.  Ways that add value to the process of selling your used books, and ways that differentiate us.  Here is the list we arrived at:

1. No Paypal fees are charged to customers selling their books. Normally PayPal charges 2.9% plus $0.30 to receive money.  However, Cash4Books will pay the fee, so our customers get 100% of the money quoted to them!
2. Checks are issued every weekday.  Every morning, 5 days a week, checks are printed, stuffed and mailed with TLC to Cash4Books customers.
3. Paypal payments are issued within 1 business day of books getting processed.
4. We immediately communicate to our customers exactly why we have rejected an item if it is not accepted.
5. We take pictures of books and boxes, and post to the customer’s account.  If, for example, the Post Office damages a package in the mail to our warehouse (we hate to see this happen, but it does once in a while).
6. Customers have an account where they can sign in and review the status of a shipment at any time.
7. No Partial deductions for customers’ books. We pay what is quoted or we don’t accept at all.  See our condition requirements.
8. We email our customers as soon as possible if part of a shipment is missing.
9. We price match against legitimate competitors that carry a grade of A or B with the Better Business Bureau.
10. We reissue checks to customers for FREE after a reasonable waiting period.  This happens when “my dog ate my check”, or  when “my check went through the washing machine”.  Or, sometimes checks just get lost for no known reason at all!
11. Books are processed within 1 business day after receiving them.
12. We offer to return books for free to 1st time customers if there is a problem with the condition (our risk-free guarantee).
13. Our customers get a live person when they call (5 days a week). Our awesome Customer Care Team is standing by: 1-877-243-5935.
14. We will mail label requests. No printer?  Not a problem.  We will snail mail pre-paid shipping labels to the customer’s address.
15. We process Cash4Books walk in transactions at McKenzie Books, Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon without an appointment, and we even add a credit since we didn’t have to pay the shipping.
16. We have a FedEx option for shipping high dollar books.  Some higher dollar shipments of books will automatically qualify for FedEx.
17. No hassle returns.  Occasionally some books are not accepted after we review their condition and compare with our condition requirements.  These books can be returned within 30 days upon request.
18. A very low minimum order is required.  We don’t use high minimums because we want our customers to try us out and know that we are legit.  Just send us a book or two.  If you like the process, then sell your whole library! Sell, sell, sell!

Here is the great team that makes all these things happen:

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As we get closer to the new school year, a lot of college students out there are making big decisions about their fall schedules, including whether or not to take online classes.

As an online instructor for a community college, I’ve noticed some common pitfalls and challenges for the first time online college student. In order to help with the transition to the online learning environment, here are six tips for students taking online classes.

Tip #1: Manage Your Time

Tick, tock, tick, tock ... Photo credit: RBerteig, Flickr.com.

To be a successful online college student, you need to be able to work independently. For example, are you the type of student who can read a chapter in your textbook and complete a homework assignment without any direct instruction in a face-to-face classroom? Are you able to plan your time to work on your online class without someone looking over your shoulder?

If you currently have trouble planning time for your homework for face-to-face classes, chances are you will have trouble planning your “class time” in the online environment. If you need a lot of structure, the online classroom is probably not the right choice for you.

Tip #2: Order Your Textbooks Early

Order your textbooks as soon as possible. It’s very tempting to search high and low for the cheapest textbook online. However, any value you get from a super-low price isn’t worth being behind the first week while you wait for your textbook to arrive in the mail. In many online classes, the textbook is especially important as there is not any class time for the instructor to personally deliver any content to you.

Every term I hear long sob stories from students who are waiting for the textbooks to arrive, sometimes in the second or third week of the class. Believe me, online instructors have no sympathy for this.

If you don’t purchase from the school’s bookstore, only order from a reputable vendor (a vendor with lots of sales and lots of happy customers), and order in plenty of time to be ready on the first day of school.

Tip #3: Don’t Freak Out!

Resist the urge to hit the button. Photo credit: star5112, Flickr.com.

It can be scary and anxiety-producing being a first time online college student. Generally speaking, however, there is never a reason to completely freak out. By freaking out, I mean sending the instructor multiple panicky emails, calling the department secretary in tears, or desperately searching for the instructor’s office on campus (chances are the online instructor won’t be there).

If you find yourself freaking out about something, first take a deep breath. Next, give your instructor 24 hours to answer your email. If something is really urgent, most online programs have help-lines that you can call (sometimes these are open 24 hours). These help-lines are especially useful if you are having any kind of technical problem with the online classroom.

Tip #4: Follow the Online Rules of Etiquette

Online classrooms have certain expectations for etiquette and behavior. Hopefully, these guidelines are posted somewhere in the introductory materials for the class. One of the most important rules for first time online college students is to write on discussion forums with correct spelling and punctuation.

Online classes have social, interactive components, but this is not an informal setting like Facebook. An online classroom is a formal, business-like atmosphere. In addition to using correct spelling and punctuation in discussion forums, remember to do the same with emails to your instructor. Always begin your email with a greeting and use the same care you would use if you were writing a homework assignment.

In addition, be respectful of your peers. If you find yourself getting upset about something in an online discussion, don’t post your response until you are calm and able to read your post objectively. The worst thing you can do is distinguish yourself in the class by attacking a classmate or posting an angry or highly emotional response.

Tip #5: Start Out Without the Right Technology or Computer Skills

You should probably know how to use one of these before you start an online class. Photo credit: izzymunchted, Flickr.com.

Most online programs give students a clear set of technical requirements in order to use the online classroom. You can most often find this on the school’s website.

But more importantly, do you have the right computer skills? Are you comfortable using a computer? Do you regularly visit social networking sites? Shop online? Use online banking? Contribute to a blog? When you decide to go to a movie, do you still call the theater for show times, or do you buy your tickets in advance on fandango? To succeed in an online classroom, it’s imperative that you’re comfortable navigating through the online environment. Taking an online class doesn’t require a deep technical knowledge of computers, but it does require being comfortable with the online basics.

In addition to software requirements and skills, you should only take an online class if you have a reliable internet connection. Every now and then, a student will disappear for a week or two, only to reappear with a story about not being able to afford the high speed internet bill. Unfortunately, most online instructors will not be sympathetic with this plight.

Tip #6: Visit Frequently

To succeed in an online classroom, you need to visit the classroom frequently, at least as much as you would go to a face-to-face classroom, but probably more. Sometimes, students think they only need to check in every week–not true. The best approach is to be as active in the classroom as possible, contributing to discussions, following the instructor’s announcements, and keeping track of the deadlines. My recommendation is to visit every day!

Online classes are actually a lot of fun–just make sure you actually have enough time to devote to them. Don’t take an online class because you don’t have time to go to school. Online classes provide a lot of flexibility, but they are still very time consuming.

Hopefully these six tips help you make the right choices for your fall schedule. Good luck with your studies this fall!

- Professor Chad

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Keeping chickens is fast becoming one of the best ways to ensure organic, fresh food “delivered” daily to your home. The cost of keeping chickens is relatively low compared to other pets that don’t give back in the form of food and they provide hilarious entertainment for you, your family and your neighbors! My family decided chickens were a must-have to start our small urban farm so we decided to build our own coop. Little did I know how easy it would be…

happy chickens in a safe enclosure

1. When you embark on a journey like this, its important to make sure you can keep chickens in your area. This is going to depend on state, county and city laws as well as, if you rent, landlord permission. Most counties will not let you own roosters, so make sure to check the specifics. There are also usually laws regarding where you place your coop on your property.  Double and triple check!

2. You should draw up some plans. Do you want a mobile chicken coop – called a tractor – or one that is a permanent home? How many chickens do you plan on keeping and how big do you want the coop to be? What do you want to use for building materials? There are a lot of websites that have free plans for you to browse. One of the best is Backyard Chickens. They have a plethora of information about coops and chickens. For our own coop, we found a truck canopy at Goodwill for $30 that we used as the “base” (the roof) and built onto that. You could even search for “unique chicken coop images” and see all the different things others have made coops out of.

3. Next, build! Easy, right? We found some 2 X 4s and plywood and then screwed a wooden frame into the truck canopy so it was over six feet off the ground. Then, using the plywood, we built the actual henhouse under the canopy. The henhouse refers to the place where the chickens sleep at night and lay their eggs. We filled in any cracks with a foam insulate and covered the floor with a piece of linoleum for further draft protection and easy cleaning.

4. With the walls completed, we moved on to the safety of our chickens. The frame we set the canopy on is mostly 4 X 4s, very easy to staple gun chicken wire to. Make sure the chicken wire is taut and secure. Raccoons and other animals are very strong and tricky, and they want your chickens!

coop before decoration? or leave it old school.

5. Finally… decorate! The chickens probably don’t care what it looks like, but you do! Paint, glitter, macaroni art that coop up! Ok, maybe not macaroni… But I definitely want to see pictures of your masterpieces!

If you gather all the materials beforehand, you can kick out a quality chicken coop in one weekend. Don’t forget to have fun!

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At Cash4Books and McKenzie Books our core values define and guide our company. They influence the way we do business and the way we conduct ourselves every day.

Recently we decided to update the wording of our core values to reflect the way they influence our actions on a day to day basis. To accomplish this, we tapped into the power of verbs and brought together a team to look at our definitions without changing the ‘core’ of each value. The result is a more action-oriented description of what lies at the center of our culture.

For some of these values, this meant changing the single descriptive word, while for others it involved dropping a suffix and overhauling the definition. Because of the ‘core’ nature of these values, the basic idea of each remained constant. Now we have a list of values that characterize the actions we take every day.

Without further ado, here are the Cash4Books and McKenzie Books redefined, exciting, action-packed core values!

Be Honest
Conduct ourselves with integrity, honesty and fairness. Open communication and uncompromising service is the cornerstone of our company.

Commit to Excellence
Strive to be the best and aspire to the highest level of excellence in our service. Empower our employees to contribute and excel.

Improve Continuously
Embrace change, drive innovation and promote excellence. Encourage bold and creative thinking.

Celebrate!
Create a fun and productive work environment by rewarding and recognizing each other for our hard work and contributions.

Make a Difference
Engage passionately to provide support with our time, talent and treasure. In this way, we contribute to the sustainability of our organization, communities and the world around us.

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As an Oregon State University student from 1999 – 2003, I must admit that I didn’t know much about how to save money in college.  I wasted a LOT of money on my college textbooks.  For example, I initially just assumed that I needed to buy all my books from the college bookstore.  Wow, was I wrong! But, you don’t have to make the same mistakes that I did, and waste all of the money that I did!  Here are some great tips to lower the cost of college textbooks:

1. Once you register for classes, your college should give you a list of ISBNs for the books required for your classes.  Get your ISBN list as soon as possible to start shopping. The longer you wait until the start of the semester/term, the higher the prices will be.
2. Buy used. There is a lot of hype right now around textbook rentals and e-books.  But, as the example at the bottom of this post shows, it is almost always better to buy used and then sell it back at the optimal time of year (see #7).
3. Only buy used textbooks from sellers with great feedback. Look for sellers in the online marketplaces with at least 95% positive feedback, but preferably 98-99% positive.  The seller should also have at least 500 feedback ratings over the past year, to ensure they are reputable.
4. Buy from a company or seller in your state, or in a nearby state.  Most used textbook sellers will use standard “media mail” to ship your book.  That can take 14-21 days when shipping from the east coast to the west coast, for example.  Buy from your state, or a nearby state, to minimize this risk and receive your books in 4-6 days versus 2-3 weeks.
5. Buy from sellers that take the time to describe the textbook’s condition in detail.  You may need to know if the textbook comes with a CD or DVD, for example.  Not all sellers will indicate this, except the great ones like MKZbooks.com. Okay, as the owner of McKenzie Books, I might be a bit biased but seriously the quality and detail of a book’s description is indicative of the quality and care of the seller.
6. Ask your professor if it is OK to use the old edition of the textbook.  Many times it is, and if you can use the old edition, this can save you a HUGE amount of money!  When you register for classes, many colleges will provide the email address of the professor.  Send an email–it doesn’t hurt to ask!
7. Sell your textbooks back in August or January to a reputable buyback company.  The reason you want to wait until August or January is because that is when the highest demand to BUY textbooks will be.  And, where there is high demand, there is high buyback prices for you to sell!

We here at Cash4Books.net always aim to please our customers with our textbook buyback service. We offer free FedEx shipping on most textbook buybacks, no PayPal fees, no minimums, a convenient and free iPhone App, lightening fast payment processing, and excellent customer service (a live person will actually answer the phone, unlike other companies).  You can also sell your other used books back to Cash4Books at the same time you sell your textbooks!

To expand on #2, above: In a recent study that I performed, the textbook Psychology by David G. Myers (ISBN 9781429215978), was on average $79.46 to buy used, $73.14 as an e-book and only $58.49 to rent. However, selling back the book for an average of $45.61 meant that the total cost of ownership was only $33.85 for those students who bought and resold the book. That’s a whopping $24.64 cheaper than renting, and $39.29 cheaper than the e-book.