11. Bookstore Purchasing Procedures
I. General
A. The Colorado State University Bookstore serves students, University departments and the CSU community.
B. The Bookstore’s primary stock consists of text and reference books, general school supplies and office supplies which are provided on a competitive cost basis. In addition, specialty soft goods, novelties and sundries are provided as convenience items on a quality and brand demand basis rather than a lowest cost basis.
C. In addition to purchasing from vendors the Colorado State University Bookstore purchases used textbooks from students for resale.
D. The Colorado State University Bookstore also handles special orders from departments for specific books, magazines, etc.
E. The special types of operations outlined above require special purchasing procedures which are outlined in this instruction.
II. Policies
A. The Colorado State University Bookstore will operate as an auxiliary enterprise. It will primarily make available course materials, textbooks, school supplies, office supplies, CSU licensed products and sundries to Colorado State University students and the University community.
B. The Director of Procurement Services delegates authority to the Director of the Colorado State University Bookstore to authorize purchases and to use specific procedures outlined in this Section for the procurement of all items authorized for resale in the Colorado State University Bookstore subject to the following:
1. The Bookstore will not stock or handle special limited use items for departments; i.e., stationery or envelopes with a specific department letterhead.
2. The Bookstore will not sell office furniture to University departments.
3. The Bookstore will not sell capital equipment. Exceptions must be approved by Procurement Services.
C. Departments will be given a discount from regular shelf or catalog price.
D. Only Internal Orders (IO) or the Procurement Card (PCard) will be used to complete transactions between a University department and the Bookstore for all general use items.
E. Purchase of classroom books, electronic course materials and other course materials. The purchase of classroom books, electronic course materials and other course materials must be coordinated through the Bookstore.
F. Purchase of all other books. The purchase of all other books may either be purchased through the Bookstore by Internal Order (IO) or Procurement Card (PCard), or they may be ordered directly by the end-user with an Automatic Purchase Order (APO) or PCard. All purchases that exceed APO or PCard limits must be purchased by IO through the Bookstore.
III. Bookstore Purchasing Organization
The items purchased for the Bookstore are divided into four classifications with a specialist handling the purchasing requirements in each respective area. All authorized buyers are directly responsible to the Bookstore Director. The purchasing classifications are:
Textbooks/Course Materials
Trade and Reference books
Merchandise
School, Office and Art Supplies
IV. Procedures
A. Determination of requirements
1. Textbooks/Course Materials. Requirements for textbooks, course materials, workbooks and related books are furnished to the Bookstore by the respective faculty member or department. This is accomplished through the Bookstore’s website, or via email or direct contact with the CSU Bookstore’s Textbook Department.
Training for using the Bookstore’s Textbook website is set up through the Textbook Department with each department or individual faculty member. Upon receipt of the above requirement the responsible buyer checks the on-hand stock (new and used) and estimates the quantity of buy‑back books which will be received. Based on these factors, the responsible buyer determines the net requirements.
2. General supplies. Requirements for special course supplies are submitted by the respective faculty members using the Bookstore’s website, via email or direct contact with the appropriate Bookstore department. Requirements for all other general supplies are determined by visual inspection of stock levels, evaluation of sales and seasons, and review of previous purchases.
3. Special items. Requirements for certain special items such as greeting cards, tapes, etc., are determined by the appropriate Bookstore buyer based on sales of each specific item and established stock levels.
4. Special orders. Requirements for special orders are communicated via email or direct contact with the appropriate Bookstore buyer.
B. Vendor selection
1. Single vendor. In the case of all textbooks and course materials, reference books and certain related supplies only a single vendor or publisher supplies the item and no competitive bid is possible.
2. Competitive bids. Competitive bids shall be obtained on large purchases of common items whenever possible. If telephone bids are obtained, such bids should be documented as to date, vendor, and name of individual contacted, item, quantity and price.
3. Name brands. In retail sales, customers may demand name brands. In such cases competitive bids are generally not applicable.
4. Judgment and comparison. In the case of art, engineering and other special supplies various samples may be obtained and tested by store buyers or applicable potential customers. Selection is based on quality, price and customer preference.
5. Special services. Vendors may be selected based on value of special services offered such as furnishing display counters, servicing displays, accepting return of old, out of season or unsold goods, etc.
C. Purchase of textbooks and course materials. After requirements are determined as outlined in paragraph A. above, the requirements should be segregated by publisher and itemized on the Colorado State University Bookstore Purchase Order. The Purchase Orders shall be reviewed and approved by an authorized individual.
D. Purchase of special manuals and workbooks. In certain cases, manuals or workbooks are written by a Colorado State University professor for a specific class. These items are usually printed by Communications and Creative Services and made available to the Colorado State University Bookstore. The Colorado State University Bookstore will use an Internal Order (IO) for such purchases.
E. Purchase of general supplies, CSU licensed products and books other than textbooks.
1. Use of Purchase Order. If the use of a Purchase Order is applicable the individual responsible for the category of items as outlined above should list the items required on the Purchase Order and forward to the designated authorized individual for approval and distribution.
F. Book buy-back
1. Policy. The Bookstore will buy back from properly identified students any book in good condition for which the Bookstore anticipates requirement in the next semester. In addition, the Bookstore will provide the opportunity for customers to sell unneeded books to a national wholesaler with prices determined by national supply and demand.
2. Price. The student will be paid up to one half the current price of a new book if in good condition and the book is requested for use in the coming term. If the textbook is not being used at CSU, the price will be set by the national wholesaler according to national supply and demand.
3. Each “buyback transaction” will be recorded by the Bookstore’s POS system and will record appropriate and detailed information to include: Customer information, book information including ISBN, and price paid.
G. Receiving procedures
1. For product ordered on Purchase Orders. The product received will be recorded as received in the MBS Inventory Management System using the receiving worksheet generated from the purchase order to compare ordered vs. received. All discrepancies are noted, and the appropriate ordering department and Bookstore Accounting section will be notified.
2. For material not ordered on a Purchase Order. The invoice or statement will be used as the receiving document. When materials are received the invoice or statement should be checked with any discrepancies noted by the individual receiving the materials. The invoice or packing slip will be forwarded to the Bookstore accounting section.
H. Book returns procedures. Under certain conditions publishers and used book vendors will accept return of books for full credit refund. This is accomplished by preparing a returns chargeback listing all books being returned with invoice and pricing information. When required by the publisher or vendor a return authorization will also be prepared and sent. Once authorizations are received a copy of the chargeback and returns authorization is sent with the books to the publisher or vendor. The Bookstore also retains a copy of the chargeback and returns authorization and matches them with the credit issued by the vendor.
I. Procedure for vendor payment. The Bookstore accounting section will prepare the necessary Kuali Disbursement Voucher (DV) for payment. This DV is prepared after the invoice, PO and receiving information are compared and matched in the MBS Inventory Management System to verify only items received are approved for payment.