There are 4 ways to search for a book: author, title, ISBN, keyword.

You will find the search engine in the center of the page under “Find Book”. Enter the appropriate information: author, title, ISBN, or keyword. Keywords can be used to find the subject or important words in your book, i.e. Book Title: Calculus III, some useful keywords would be: Calculus, Logarithms, Sine, and Cosine.

Note: You must use a space or period to separate abbreviated names in a search string. For example, to search for "J.K. Rowling" you can use "J K" or "J.K.", but not "JK".

If you are logged in, by default the search engine will search your particular school or state first. If you would like to expand your search, you may use the advanced search options on the top of the page to include other schools or states. You may also browse our full listing of books by clicking on “Browse All Books”.

If you are not satisfied with your results, you may use our affiliates search engine. This is found on the bottom of the search page. We search the top 20 online book stores for the cheapest prices around. This is a sure way to find the book you want at the best price.

You may also create a book watch that will notify you by email when the book you requested has been listed on Urshelf.

Urshelf will not charge you for buying a book on our website; however, you are in a legal binding contract with the seller if you are the highest winning bidder on a book. You must pay them according to their terms.

No, you cannot retract a bid that was made. We ask that you confirm each bid before you make it.

No, you cannot change the quantity that was bid on. We ask that you confirm each bid before you make it.

If another member places a higher bid, you will be notified through email and you may make another bid accordingly. It is also suggested that you set a Maximum Bid so that urShelf.com can automatically bid for you up to that Maximum Bid amount.

A Maximum Bid is the highest amount you are willing to pay for an item. You will be asked to set a maximum bid once you place your bid on a book and other members will not see your Maximum Bid Price. If a bid is placed by another member which is greater than your starting bid, but lower than your Maximum Bid Price, we will automatically place a bid for you at the next bid amount, continuing up to your Maximum Bid Price, as necessary.

A Reserve Price is a price set by the seller that is the minimum amount that they will accept for the book. For example, if a Reserve Price of $50 is set, that book will not sell unless someone bids above $50. In a Multiple Quantity Auction, only the bids above your Reserve Price will be accepted. The Reserve Price will disappear once the Current Price reaches the Reserve Price OR there is a Maximum Bid which will cause all items to be sold above the Reserve Price.

BuyNow is our Fixed Price Item style. A seller can have a BuyNow on an Auction Style Item so that a user has the option to buy the item now. Once a user bids on an auction with BuyNow, the BuyNow option will go away unless there is a Reserved Price, then the Reserve must be met before BuyNow will go away.

If a seller does not want to participate in the Auction Style Listing they can have a Fixed Price. A buyer can either decide to buy the item(s) at that price or not.

Bidding on book listings with quantities greater than 1 of an item can be somewhat confusing. Our site allows a seller to set a Reserve Price and have BuyNow, as well as a buyer setting a Maximum Bid Price.

BuyNow - A seller can have BuyNow on a Multiple Quantity Auction, but it will disappear once either someone bids higher then the Starting Price or IF there is a Reserve Price and enough bids have been made to meet the Reserve Price.

Reserve Price - In a Multiple Quantity Auction, only the bids above your Reserve Price will be accepted. The Reserve Price will disappear once the Current Price reaches the Reserve Price OR there is a Maximum Bid which will cause all items to be sold above the Reserve Price.

Example:

There is an auction with a Quantity of 5, a Reserve Price of $15 and a BuyNow of $20. Starting bid is $0.99.

First user bids for Quantity of 2 at $0.99 each. (Reserve Price and BuyNow are still there)

Second user bids for Quantity of 2 at $0.99 but sets a Maximum Bid for two at $17. (BuyNow will NOT go away, because the user bid on two of five items above the Reserve Price. The Reserve will still exist.)

Third user uses BuyNow for 2 items. (Now there are only 3 items available and BuyNow and Reserve still exist.)

Fourth user bids for Quantity of 2 at $16. Now the Reserve Price and BuyNow no longer exist.

Auction ends. Second user will get a Quantity of 2 at $16 and the Fourth user will get a Quantity of 1 at $16.