University students who sell back textbooks for strangers could unknowingly be committing a felony.
Eugene Police Department Officer Randy Ellis has been investigating about a dozen instances of stolen books sold back to the University Bookstore and Smith Family Bookstore over the past month. Ellis said the books are stolen from various bookstores or from students, adding that most of the suspects who have been apprehended are addicts who sell the stolen books to buy drugs.
He said that in most cases, someone asks a student to sell books to the University Bookstore using his or her student identification card. The perpetrator promises shared profits in exchange for the favor.
“A student will get his or herself in trouble by thinking they’re helping someone and earning some extra cash,” Ellis said.
University Bookstore General Manager Jim Williams said thefts and book selling occur too often and continue to get worse.
He said it isn’t a big problem for the University Bookstore, but he hopes to curb the crime before it gets out of control.
Smith Family Bookstore Manager Nancy Smith said this has been an increasing problem for her business as well.
She estimates that the bookstore reports a new suspected book stealer to EPD every week. She added that Smith Family Bookstore staff has to call other Eugene-area bookstores on a daily basis to inquire about missing books.
Ellis said the majority of stolen books are medical and science textbooks because they are generally worth more money when sold back.
He added that perpetrators usually approach students outside of bookstores. Fortunately, he said, several security officers within the University Bookstore have noticed and reported repeat offenders.
Stealing textbooks and selling them back hurts more people than just the bookstore, Ellis said,
because bookstores sometimes have to take drastic measures to recoup the loss in revenue.
“When textbooks get stolen, it forces the price of textbooks up,” Ellis said. “It hurts everybody.”
Ellis said a student caught selling a stolen book could be charged with the felony of selling stolen property if the student suspected the book was stolen .
“Most students want to help people,” Ellis said. “That’s why they give money to panhandlers. They trust people because they know they wouldn’t do that themselves.”
Ellis said students should watch out for this scam, especially because spring term book buy-back is approaching.
So far, the number of thefts and book selling instances have required the University Bookstore to pay more attention to customer behavior, and the staff may look into stronger measures to prevent theft, Williams said.
He added that if the problem continues to worsen, staff may have to consider closing the textbook area during non-book buying times and requiring staff assistance.
Smith said the staff at Smith Family Bookstore has not decided to make any changes to their security or methods, but the staff does use several methods to determine if someone is selling a stolen book.
She said one safety net they have is they require either a University student ID or an Oregon driver’s license to sell back a book. She also said the staff talks to the book seller to see if they can speak “a college-level sentence,” as well as inquiring about the class and instructor the book was for.
She added that if staff members are suspicious about someone selling a textbook, he or she may ask if the books belong to that person and explain that selling stolen books is a crime.
“(Smith Family Bookstore) and the University Bookstore are very fair to people who are honest,” Smith said.