SBX

SBX has always been my go-​to bookstore at Ohio State. I find that they usually have the most books in stock and have decent prices. Definitely try SBX first before buying anywhere else. They have a lot of Ohio State apparel and merchandise. They have Ohio State hoodies and crew sweatshirts for less than $ 20. I think the last one I bought was $ 18.
I would recommend SBX over other places on campus.

A solid three stars.
I usually go here within the first three days of an academic term if I’ve ended up on High Street after forgetting to visit the Central Classroom Building first, and I’m too lazy to proceed toward the South Campus Gateway. I’ll also go here if neither OSU Barnes & Noble has a specific book in stock. Frankly, I don’t think the prices here and at Barnes & Noble differ from each other significantly.
Also, I really like that, unlike at Buckeye Books and UBX, I can pick out my books by myself and not be forced to wait on staff to retrieve them for me. College Town, further north on High Street, allows this too.
Lastly, I wonder why SBX bought back my ~$ 80 film textbook for only $ 20. :-?

Student Book Exchange has some peculiarities, but overall, it’s a convenient way to pick up your books for class.
A couple things irk me. First, upon entrance to this bookstore they ask/​make you put your back up on a large silver rack that is usually unsupervised. Anyone could take backpacks and walk right out with books, laptops, etc. Does SBX insure against this potential theft?
While this initial worry could be mine and mine alone, I also can’t help feeling a rather cattle-​like customer experience when getting books here. There was one experience when a rushed clerk helped me «find my book» which ended up being the wrong book for my class. After a week of the wrong course work, homework problems, etc I managed to return and replace my book with SBX. The refund experience was a bit unsettling due to the challenging questions that had to be answered about the time of purchase, the quality of my book, and my course information. After all was said and done, they did give me a full refund.
It must be hard to provide books for thousands of students and maintain a fresh customer service and accuracy. Overall, I consider SBX an option for textbook purchases.

Lousy parking but that is true for most places on N High Street so it does not affect the rating. What does affect the rating is the limited hours this place is open for operation, their dated website, and overpriced merchandise. Still always prefer to order textbooks from amazon or chegg but SBX is not bad if you don’t like shopping online.

First of all, here are a few important points: most of my professors only order through SBX, so I haven’t had much of a choice in terms of where I buy my books at OSU (I’d def choose SBX over B&N though). Not only this, but I also like the *idea* of SBX as sort of an attempt at something more indie. Okay.
So, I’m done my coursework, but I still take Russian because I’m trying to get a Fulbright to do research in Petersburg this coming summer. Blah blah, regardless, the point is, at this stage in my edumacation, all I need is one bloody book — my Russian text book. It appears that the text book for two levels (about six sections?) of Russian language were not ordered at all, and all of us lovely language students are SOL. Not the end of the world, but I just called SBX to see if the book came in yet, and the response I got was typical of what happens when I have asked for help here in the past.
A grumpy older man acts like I’m asking the most annoying questions in the world and have put upon him, like Atlas, a heavy, heavy burden to bear. I asked: 1. Do you have my Russian text and 2. Do I need to reserve a copy for when they come in. He basically barked at me, sounded like he was rolling his eyes, and pretty much hung up on me.
Now, I have seen said gentleman in person; I am always pleasant, and have never asked anything outrageous. While the student workers are always nice, this man who holds the fate of my education in his hands is always a huge jerk with a bad attitude. This really sucks for those of us with mild social anxiety because if this is the only place your profs order books from, then you pretty much must subject yourself to his wrath. Not Cool.
Sigh. So I guess I’ll just wait a few more days, until homework number five or six or seven is due, to buy my Russian book. Grrr. *Shakes fist* You know what would REALLY be cool? A real book EXCHANGE with friendly people in charge of inventory, not an overpriced bookstore, with grumpy dudes heading operations, and touting itself as a «book exchange.» I wouldn’t care so much that my book isn’t here yet if I wasn’t harassed when I called to check.

I’m going to note that I was the one to add the hours to this listing. But I have to tell you, that they change a lot. These are the hours during the middle of each school quarter, so for most of the time. During the beginning and end of each quarter they have extended hours and are open on Sundays, but during breaks from school they reduce their hours or are closed altogether. So it really depends on what time of the year it is.
Those who use SBX are pretty much students. There isn’t really any need for it if you aren’t one, but you can certainly go in the front of the store where they sell regular leisure reading books and OSU memorabilia. They also provide a lot of student essentials, like pencils, bookbags, notebooks, etc.
I usually went to SBX if I had to buy a textbook. This was before the humongous Barnes & Noble was built. But SBX seemed to have pretty good prices. I preferred them to buy my books, but realize that nowhere on campus is really a good place to buy your books. I’d buy what I could online because it was much cheaper, but sometimes your professors would make personalized materials that you could only get on campus. That’s when I relied on SBX.
*SBX stands for Student Book Exchange
And that’s what they did, you’d buy the books from them, usually way more expensive than they needed to be, and then they’d buy them back from you at the end of the quarter for a fraction of the price you paid for them. Every student book store does this, so it’s not really SBX’s fault. Plus, I think they actually give you a pretty reasonable amount.
They have a guy that works at this window and he takes your books that you are selling back and flips through them to see if you wrote in it or anything, then somehow calculates a price in his head. It’s crazy. They must have some standard for figuring that out, but I don’t know what it is.
Since SBX is on High St. right in the middle of campus, there aren’t a lot of places to park. But there is street parking and there are a few nearby parking spaces, but they are metered. For students, it’s an easy walk from campus.
SBX always had the textbooks you needed, and they were categorized by subject in alphabetical order, then by class number, which made what you were looking for pretty easy to find. The staff here is usually made up of students, which were pretty friendly and I never had a bad experience here, aside from spending hundreds of dollars on required textbooks that I knew I would never read.
SBX is a great store, so I don’t want to see anything happen to it, but I also am against the whole requiring students to buy these ridiculously overpriced books. With computers, there’s no reason teachers can’t put required readings online or choose books that people can check out from the library. I understand maybe having to buy workbooks for math and language classes, but come on! But switching to computers might put places like SBX out of business, which would be sad. It’s kind of a staple of the OSU experience, and I would be sorry to see it go.

I will always be loyal to SBX. As someone who truly mourned the death of Long’s, I never want to see SBX fall to the same fate. I have not once set foot in faux Barne’s and Noble Long’s and SBX is the reason I have been able to achieve my own personal protest.
SBX has everything you need to be a student at OSU. Textbooks, apparel and poster selection featuring beers from around the world. It smells like books as you enter and leave your book bags and purses by the door. Walking to the textbook section down the long walkway was always the true start of my quarter. I never had a problem buying used books here, and if they don’t have your text in stock staff will give you an honest answer as to when they will.
For buybacks I have sold to the same man for over four years (I took my time getting my degree). I like how he will tell you to bring certain texts back next quarter or take the time to explain why you aren’t getting money for certain items. They are also pretty good about looking the other way if you are missing those easily lost, never used Cd’s that come with certain textbooks.
Keep SBX alive. Its just a few blocks down from mega-​Noble but is miles ahead in personality.

SBX was my go-​to book store on campus until the Barnes & Noble moved in at the Gateway. In SBX’s defense, the real appeal of B&N for me is that it is a heck of a lot closer to home for me. SBX is still a decent full-​service bookstore, with the added advantage of being able to walk up and pick out your own textbooks off the shelves, something B&N only allows when it’s off-​season on textbooks.
The non-​textbook book section of SBX is heavily weighted to the more «academic,» non-​fiction side of the publishing industry: fiction is a smallish section of mostly speculative fiction. I wouldn’t come here for book shopping, though, of a non-​text kind; the section is small so as to seem almost like an afterthought, because they ran out of Buckeye merchandise to fill out the salesroom.
All in all if I need to buy a pen and SBX is nearby or if I can’t find some urgent material at B&N, they’ll still get my custom. All in all I can’t imagine a reason to go out of one’s way to hit up this bookstore.