Frequently Asked Questions

• At the UBC Bookstore we ensure that all UBC branded items adhere strictly to UBC’s branding guidelines. This means that you can be confident that your custom items are on brand and are representing UBC.
• We are proud of our Living Our Values statement, and all of our clothing items are sourced from Fair Labour Association (FLA) compliant vendors. This means you can rest assured that your imprinted clothing was made ethically and followed environmentally responsible practices.
• In addition to our No Sweat Policy, we support local and make every effort to work with local and Canadian vendors wherever possible.
• Finally, a portion of all the UBC Bookstore’s proceeds go back into the university, which means that your purchase helps to support your local UBC community.

To order items that are not on the Workday supplies catalogue, you can use the Workday special requisition process. Please refer to the Workday instructions for ordering non-catalogue items.   Your ISC support team can assist with the training. Please use this link for ISC Service Now.

You can find it at: https://bookstore.ubc.ca/digital-course-materials/

We're consistently looking for new options and ways to reduce the costs of textbooks to students.

1. RENTAL BOOKS - rental saves up to 55%. We were one of the first campuses in Canada to introduce rental books. This enables a student to rent used books at up to 55% OFF. This means that if a new book is $100, then a used rental book is $45. If you spend $1000 on new books, then you could rent them all for $450. Our aim is to rent the majority of books in-store that are over $25 (exceptions include custom course packages and ebooks). We are encouraging faculty/instructors to use books for several terms so that we are in a position to rent even more titles next term.

2. CHOICES. As well as rentals and new books, we offer three other choices of books to take into account differing budgets: used (which can save you up to 75% if you can sell them back), ebooks (up to 50% cheaper) and custom course packs.

3. CUSTOM COURSE PACKS: now on average 33% cheaper. Find out why.

4. SELL TEXTBOOKS BACK. We offer you the opportunity to sell your books back to us throughout the year. We try to buy back as many books as we can – if a book is being used for another term on campus you will get up to 50 per cent of the new cost; if the book is not being used the next term, but is still a current edition you will receive a wholesale price. Again, we are encouraging faculty to use books on campus for multiple terms so that we can buy back as many books as possible.

Firstly, we commend you on your organizational skills! There are many reasons why your textbook is not available on your first day: the publisher may be out of stock or impacted by shipping delays, your department or professor may have submitted a late request for your book, enrolment may have increased or classes added. These are just some of the most common reasons. When there is a delay, we make every effort to get the books to the store as quickly as possible.

If you are currently outside of BC and are planning on being on Campus for your first day of class, we strongly advise that you select the option to pick up your books in-store, rather than having them shipped to you out of province. This will ensure you receive your books are quickly as possible.

We wish we had more, too! Unfortunately, our used textbook purchase and resale program is currently on hold. Please check our website for future updates.

Yes. All digital materials that are classified in our system as "ETEXT + ACCESS CODE" include the ebook as well as the publishers digital homework aids.

Please use this link for ISC Service Now. 

You can print out your personalized textbook list in-store. Or search for your required course materials for each course online.

We accept both Visa and Mastercard credit cards and UBC Bookstore Gift Cards for online orders. We cannot accept American Express or debit cards for online orders.

No, for security reasons, orders will not be delivered to residential addresses. Only special exceptions will be permitted as determined and approved by Workday approvers.

Detailed instructions on how to return online purchases is included in our return policy.

Please send us an email at gown.rentals@ubc.ca.

No, Workday does not require a credit card. Workday will post all charges using your Workday “Worktag #/FDM#.

You MUST have your own receipt with your own receipt codes in order to access the materials. In order to avoid encountering issues accessing your course materials, please do not purchase with your friends on the same receipt.