At Superior Text, we’re committed to providing the best quality books at the lowest price possible, and our commitment to value extends to our used book sales. Between doodling students and a book’s life in a bookbag carelessly tossed from the bus to a school desk, we know that textbooks can take a beating in a school year. Fortunately, damaged school books don’t need to mean an entirely new set each year. Our refurbishing process allows you to keep more money in your curriculum budget – and help the environment by buying used!
Each of the textbooks we refurbish undergoes a rigorous, 13-point inspection before we ship it to a customer. Take a look at all 13 steps below and see what a difference each step makes to the quality and life of a book!
Step 1: Assess the Book’s Front Cover
We look for any damage or wear to fix and clean dirt, grime, and sticker residue.
- We use environmentally-friendly chemical cleaners to fully and neatly remove any dirt, grime, or sticker residue.
- We apply long lasting book repair glue to carefully reseal and repair any book damage.
- High-quality acrylic paints are carefully applied to neatly restore the color in faded portions of the cover.
- Every sticker is completely removed from the cover, rendering the surface of the book clean, smooth, and unobstructed.
- Any film that has torn is resealed and reinforced with durable clear polypropylene book repair tape.
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Step 2: Assess the Book’s Back Cover
Like with the front cover, we look for and fix any damage or wear and clean dirt, grime, and sticker residue.
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Step 3: Assess the Book’s Cover Corners and Edges
We address any damage or wear we see on the book’s corners and edges.
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Step 4: Assess the Book’s Cover Spine
We fix any wear on the book’s spine or any damage that is compromising the life of the book.
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Step 5: Assess the Book’s Binding
If necessary, we reinforce the binding’s strength and integrity for more years of use.
- If the spine is detached from the text, we reseal and strengthen it with long-lasting book repair glue.
- Any internal spine splitting is neatly repaired and reinforced by specialized book repair tape calibrated to maximize the book’s longevity.
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Step 6: Assess the Book’s Front Inside Cover
We look for and remove any graffiti and make sure the name plate is clean.
- Professional-quality internal property record adhesives are applied to renew the front inside cover.
- Any marks or imperfection in the front or back inside covers are completely removed or fully repaired with professional-level book adhesive material.
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Step 7: Assess the Book’s Back Inside Cover
Like with the front inside cover, we remove any graffiti on the back inside cover. Any marks or imperfection in the front or back inside covers are completely removed or fully repaired with professional-level book adhesive material.
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Now that we’ve addressed the structure of the book, we take a closer look at its text and address any damage:
Step 8: Assess the Text for Water Damage
Books with excessive water damage will need to be recycled. We flip through the text, checking both the top and bottom of the text separately to ensure the quality of the text for every book.Water Damage:
Step 9: Check the ISBN
ISBN:
Step 10: Check for Missing Pages
Missing Pages:
Step 11: Assess the Text for Torn Pages
Torn Pages:
Step 12: Assess the Text for Excessive Writing or Highlighting
Like with water damage, books that have excessive writing or highlighting will need to be recycled.
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In our final step, we look at the page edges.
Step 13: Assess the Page Edges for Graffiti.
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After 13 steps, it’s a wrap! We carefully package and ship rebound books to customers for a longer lifetime of use.