SFSU Bookstore

I am an alum of SF STATE. I was in there today after the conference I was at in the Student Union, to take a look at the bookstore. The bookstore is nice after they remodeled it has wood floors and nice carpet unlike before where it was ugly office carpet and ugly tile. I was looking for a zip hooded sweatshirt that said SFSU or SF State in a dark grey color, I saw the design I liked in black. I went up to the cash register where all the employees were standing around talking, to ask if they had the sweatshirt in dark grey. I was expecting someone to help me by saying oh let me help you, instead the person asked another person if they have it and then just pointed to the other color they had. She said see there the light grey, that is the only other color that we have. She just pointed and not actually walking me over to the other rack. I was like oh ok some service, its not busy because it is the weekend and I don’t get customer service.
The bookstore is nice but that is all that they have going for them, that is how I felt. The bookstore is different now just clothes some books (other then textbooks) and computer stuff as well as stationary. Not like it was when I went to SFSU.

Irene rocks. A-​1 customer service.

Numerous staff who were formly part of Franciscan Shops has left the Efollette bookstore, one student with disabilities resigned and 3 others left. These were some of the best staff that Efollette could have hoped to have but the staff got sick of the BS and quit.

Back in my day, 2008 this building was so much different than how it is today. The bookstore was always an interesting place to get SFSU memorabilia, and books. I miss coming here as a student.

I am displeased. They are selling their own custom book for physics and biology, and you cant even get on amazon, half or somewhere else. Secondly its has been out of stock for a few days. They said it was being ordered but i do not see any on the shelf. I bought the wrong book for physics 121, i cant believe that they make you buy their own custom made book, it so expensive.

I’m a new grad student, I have previously had great experiences ordering my textbooks through my undergrad institution’s bookstore, I expected similar results with SFSU. I was wrong.
This summer I ordered all of my books online: used to be picked up in store. Most of them arrived within a reasonable time period but one of them took a full two weeks to arrive because, it turns out, they had to ship it from a different store in their group. That’s fine. But, unlike Amazon, they never told me, this book is coming from x location thus it will take longer to ship. I needed the book for the class immediately and thus ordered one online – which arrived very quickly and then returned the SFSU book.
Thus I was reticent to use the bookstore again this fall. But one of their online used books was cheaper than amazon so I gave it a shot, requesting that I pick it up in store. I ordered this book on August 13^th, two weeks go by, I’ve just had my first few classes, and I go online to see that my book is «in process» according to the website. I call them to figure out when I can expect it to arrive (again, they never gave me an estimated delivery date) only to find out that my book would never be coming in and that they had neglected to let me know. Now I have to reorder the book elsewhere and (because they neglected to keep me informed as soon as they knew they couldn’t fulfill my order) I now have to pay for expedited shipping.
In conclusion, I will never be shopping at the SFSU bookstore again.

Terrible !!!
I have placed orders three times in the last 6 months only to have them call me and say they are out of stock but they do have other higher priced items available.
Either they are totally incompetent, or just a scam. Either way, I will spend my money elsewhere ! Buyer beware !!

Upstairs, the cashiers are very friendly. I like it when they say «good luck on your exams» whenever I buy Scantrons.
Downstairs, it’s a whole different story, and «incompetent» is really the only word I can use to describe the downstairs staff.
It was the very first week of the semester (Spring Semester to be exact), a time when thousands of students are hitting the SFSU bookstore to pick up/​purchase overpriced textbooks. Out of all the times to close off the downstairs to do inventory, the staff chooses 12 noon; on the FIRST WEEK of the semester!!! I think I’ve seen pigeons on Market Street with more impressive logic than these people.
Because of the lack of common sense of these people, I, as well as other students, had to stand in a long line to individually tell each staff member what book we were looking for, so that the staff member could go out onto the floor to retrieve it for us.
Does that logic make sense to you? If it does, maybe you should work there too.

Please advise why in the freaking hell does it cost 22 dollars just to buy a ipad nano/​mini usb cable from you guys? its been outdated for some time now and you still want to charge more than a lunch combo from mcdonalds for it? i swear you guys make radio shack look cheap …

Ordered a sweatshirt online only to have my ordered canceled due to «unavailable size» when in fact they did have it because I checked in person myself. Went to talk to whoever was in charge of online orders and she just told me she could nothing and that I should just repurchase it for the full price. The only reason why I bought it was because of a mini sale they were having. I also sent several emails asking about my order but no reply. Horrible customer service. Rude lady. Was no help at all. First and last time i will be ordering from them.

Books are overpriced here… better off renting off Chegg or Amazon. The lines are super long during the beginning of the semester and also during the end. Mid semester is empty.

And as usual, this place sucks. This semester I had people down in the textbook room telling me they were «sold out» of books on the first day of classes. How are you sold out of books that the majority of us haven’t even had the opportunity to buy yet? Being sold out and just not having ordered them are two different things, and so far the books for two of my classes weren’t even available to buy, and I had to special order them just to ensure I’d actually get copies whenever they made it to the bookstore.
Unfortunately I had to drop the class that I had to order the books for, but couldn’t drop it until I spoke with the financial aid department to ensure it wouldn’t jeopardize my loans. Of course, I had to make an appointment and wait an entire week before I could drop it, so when I went to the bookstore to cancel my orders and get a refund, the girl behind the counter told me the last day for returns was on the third. After making my plight clear, as well as the fact that I wasn’t about to eat $ 73, she was nice enough to do the return for me.
But when I went to let the staff down in the textbook room know I didn’t need the books anymore and that I had already got my money back, the befuddled guy I spoke to asked me how I could’ve got my money back if I hadn’t yet picked up the books and didn’t physically give the girl back any books. Gee, you guys didn’t seem too confused about how to charge me for books you didn’t physically have, but it’s impossible to think I could get my money back for them, right? He asked his superior what he had to do, and the guy told him to find the paperwork for my orders and write «Returned» on them, and that I didn’t need to do anything else.
Obviously this guy couldn’t even handle that, because I still got a call today letting me know my books were ready to pick up, so I had to inform the woman that called that I already refunded and canceled my order and would no longer be needing them.
So glad this is my final semester before graduation.

I like how they have additional cash register terminals set up, it is a helpful approach. This is a good idea and it does help to maximize efficiency as well as keeping the lines short. The busiest times for them are during the beginning and end of each semester. That is textbook purchases, refunds, exchanges as well as buybacks.
Most of the staff here are very friendly though.
The other point I really must admit to is the price of textbooks. This is one thing I am sure some of us know. Textbooks are getting to be pricier than ever before — DOWNER.
This is a great place to turn to if you must need your textbooks for immediate usage. Purchasing the required textbook (s) for classes you registered for? Not sure where you should get them from? Price comparison is always a helpful start and a comparative advantage for the consumer. Calculating the price of textbooks before and after sales tax, shipping and handling is also helpful.
We as students now have the options to rent our textbooks and convert it to a purchase at anytime. This is a good marketing strategy and a money saving idea — PROPS.
A display of MacBook, iMac, iPad and iPod available for test use. Purchasing a new iOS or OS X device? You came to the right spot, this is the authorized campus store.
08/​11/​2014
FYI:
Their hours of operation are: Monday — Thursday 9 am — 5 pm and Friday 9 am — 4 pm. Bookstore Hours of Operation vary between semester and session courses.
Feel free to click on the link below to find out.

First off, SHANTE in customer service was the most helpful person I’ve ever met there! Even though she was pretty busy with non stop people, and i had some complications, she still helped me out to get my return refund
The 3 star rating is because i ordered my books online and they did not give me an electronic receipt that had any sort of bar code on them.

DANG this place is cheap!!! If you really need software, first be a student or Staff, and you’re set! Ask about the variety of software that you need and make sure you get your student or staff discount. You MUST show your ID to qualify. Also, be aware the the licensing is different for this type of software, meaning you can usually install it on one desktop and one laptop and that’s it. Otherwise, make use of your student fees or employment, and get it done!
Oh yeah, they sell books and other items too! : —)

WORST customer service ever. I ordered a book a week and a half ago using their online ordering system, and there was NO indication that the bookstore didn’t have it in stock when I ordered it. I called almost a week later to follow up, and they said they didn’t even have the book in stock and they had ordered it from another bookstore. I NEVER would have ordered it from them had I known they didn’t even have it in stock. They don’t want to share this information with you because they know people will go elsewhere to purchase the textbook if we knew the book wasn’t in stock at the time.
It was supposed to arrive by Wednesday of this week. It’s now Friday, and I still haven’t received an email that the book has arrived. I’ve called multiple times, and I either get put on hold and then directed to a voicemail box that is full, or talk to somebody who tells me «We still don’t have it. We’ll email you when it comes in.» School started almost two weeks ago and I need the book to complete assignments.
NEVER using this bookstore again.

Shop there only if you have an emergency, or can’t find cheaper on-​line, or if you want to buy the SFSU logo items and class rings. I suggest that students plan ahead.
Con: The bookstore has been sold to a private company Follett Higher Education Group aka U-​Corp effective July 1, 2012. Based on
this article, the new compnay was supposed to honor GATER AWARDS – not! Also, the day after the new company took over the non-​profit store, they decided to NOT HONOR the bonus GATER AWARDS that the students had acquired prior to the sale of the bookstore. These AWARD were to go towards future discounts on books. What a rip –ff and lack of good-​faith business practices. Students were encouraged to buy stuff (no computers) to add on to their bonus points and how these greedy corporate dogs won’t act in good faith.
Con: Beside the above new deal, the bookstore has always been overpriced, even with it was non-​profit. Everything is overpriced, and especially the books that the students need. One would think that a campus bookstore would offer the lowest prices for books, so that they can offer a convenience for the students (who pay a great deal in tuition). I have bought books on 50% off, Ebay, Amazon, and Alibris Uloop,
‚
and
and have saved an enormous about of money. Even the school’s used books are more expensive than some of the new books that one might find on Ebay, 50% off, Amazon et. al. If the books store could manage to keep their thief losses down they might be able to offer competitively priced books so student would not need to go online for their books.
Con: SFSU has a lot of Student shoplifting and organized book-​stealing rings which push the books costs up.
Pro: On-​campus, conveniently located in the student union, and is kept clean.

When your a student at SFSU, there is no other choice to get books than here. The books are inflated to the point I do not know how students can afford them anymore.
And when it comes to buying them back. They will give you ten cents on the dollar for the books, that’s if they even want them.

You will get ripped off like no other if you buy your textbooks from here. Go to Amazon, Chegg, or even look around the school for paper advertisements from former students who might be selling the book that you need at a bargain price.
Aside from textbooks, this place has pretty much everything from binder paper to t-​shirts to keyboards, you name it.
Also, with regard to textbooks, another reason to not buy them from here is because twice I was screwed over at the end of one my former semesters during the textbook buyback session. After standing in line forever, I was told that two of my books couldn’t even be bought back because «we don’t carry them anymore». So they, out of nowhere, decided to stop carrying some of the books that I had just bought at the beginning of the semester. Cool beans.
2 stars

Experience was okay. I never ordered /​purchased any books from here yet. All I know is that the place does have lot of stuff for sale. For quick stuff like paper, binders, and some utilities that you need for school, this might be the place. Get in and get out type thing.
But if your going to shop for books, I advise going online for better savings. I know all bookstores try to make some money off students when it comes to textbooks.
They also have nice section for apple products and computer stuff. Not like I will buy, but I will use the place for a quick internet search if I needed something before going to a class.