Textbook Affordability

Price Advocacy

Shop USask Bookstore will work with publishers to get the best pricing possible. Often the price of textbooks can be very high and so staff at the bookstore may contact a publisher to negotiate for lower pricing on a title. This custom pricing is then set for that current term and is uniquely offered to University of Saskatchewan students. We will also explore every option to provide the best options for students, such as substituting expensive hardcover editions for paperback, loose-leaf, and digital, or we will offer multiple options.  

Used Books

We source as many used books as possible. We work with used book wholesalers in the US to provide many options, and we also buy back used books from the community. We buy books back for up to 50% of their current retail price and normally sell them at 75% of their current retail price. Each term we build a list of titles that are in demand - you can check if your books are being bought back here.

Furthermore, as a service to our students, we also buy back used books on behalf of vendors. This buyback is ongoing throughout the year.

Open Educational Resources

Shop USask Bookstore fully supports the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) at the University of Saskatchewan. We take part in raising awareness, have an option for instructors to add OER to their book order, and include that information to a student's book list. For more information on OER, please click here.

Print on Demand

Our Print on Demand (POD) service allows students to order printed versions of Open Textbooks and select digital texts and course packs. Printed texts are sold at cost to cover printing charges.

Course Packages

Course packages can include a collection of various materials, such as journal articles, excerpts from books, or the instructor’s own work. We offer these materials in a digital format to keep costs low, but they are available for print on demand upon request. The cost of course packs are typically very minimal and depend largely upon page length and any copyright licences that may need to be purchased.

• Reach out to the USSU and your VP Academic Affairs 
• Have a conversation with your instructor about the value and impact of their chosen materials.
• Contact us to share feedback that we can pass onto the instructor. 
• Source used books from Shop USask Bookstore or other students using websites like Facebook and Kijiji.
• Check if the library has copies in its collection or on reserve.
• Look up courses here to see what books are listed before finalizing your class schedule.