Textbooks: The Mercedes of Books
August 21st, 2006A new school year means another round of insanely overpriced textbook purchasing. I’m not buying textbooks; I’m purchasing them. This is in the same sense that one does not merely buy a Mercedes; one purchases a Mercedes. Textbooks are like the Mercedes of books. They cost more than most books even though they don’t really do anything more than other books do. They are in such high demand that people are willing to buy certified pre-owned textbooks and textbook dealerships are willing to take old textbooks as trade-ins against the price of new textbook purchases.
Used book sales generally don’t bring the publisher any profit, thus they discourage these sales with the following tactic. Textbook writers and publishers frequently jumble up material from previous editions, slap on a new forward and book cover and call it a new edition. Professors then frequently require the newest edition of the textbook and the market value of the older editions drops to less than ten percent of the original purchase price. Students then recoup little to none of the cost of books that they no longer want or need. New students must purchase brand new books at higher prices than used books. Why would professors do this though? Many professors are textbook writers or plan to be in the future. Some are given incentives by textbook publishers with the understanding that they will help out the publisher whenever a new edition is published.
More Professors are beginning to feel compassion for their students and are allowing them to use older editions of the required text. I have done this for a few classes with great success and huge financial savings. This proves the point that new editions are not usually required even when professors artificially make them so.
I have a class that requires a textbook costing ninety dollars used at the campus bookstore (textbook dealership). Used books are always a gamble, so I like to limit my risk by shopping around to get the best deal. The class requires the textbook beginning on Wednesday. The bookstore accepts returns for a couple weeks. I found the book for sale at half.com for forty dollars. On top of all of this the first chapter is available for free to download from the publisher. It’s a bit of a juggling act, but when money matters sometimes it pays to use your brain. Besides, aren’t critical thinking and problem solving among the skills college students are expected to develop.
If this whole textbook ordeal is just another test, I’d like to think that I am passing.
August 21st, 2006 at 3:44 pm
At Cal Poly this expensive textbook issue was a hot topic. It was so much so that a student took on the bookstores directly and created http://www.screwthebookstores.com for his senior project! It is a student to student book swapping service. Essentially its a craigslist-esque book classifieds created by the students to sell their used books directly to other students. Since the bookstore usually rips you off on the buyback price you can post your book for a couple bucks more than the bookstores will buyback for and everyone wins.
I thought this was a great idea. Unfortunately, its primary customer base are the central coast university students so going to pick up a book is not too feasible for a palomar student. BOO textbooks! I feel your pain.
August 21st, 2006 at 10:18 pm
you should make a great list of sites that give good prices for books.
August 21st, 2006 at 10:52 pm
This screwthebookstores.com sounds like a great idea. It really should expand out to include more schools. If you could get this going like Craigslist with different sites for different regions this could be a boon for students everywhere!
August 22nd, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Tell me about it! I am taking a class this semester and the paperback edition costs $50 bucks USED at the Palomar bookstore! I was not about to stand in line for 20 minutes with a 20 month old toddler pulling all the stuff off the shelves so I could pay too much for a book I will only need for 4 months. The used bookstore didn’t even carry it. I bought it online for a couple dollars cheaper. They wanted like $68 for it new. Ripoff…
August 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 pm
I can almost guarantee that students in math get it much worse than any other field. In the upper levels, nearly nothing is available second hand (we all keep our books as reference), the textbooks are teensy-weensy (more like brochures), are only available in very specific bookstores, and cost an arm and a leg. I once had to purchase a book that was less than 150 pages in length and cost $100.
Anyways, you can always do what all the asian kids at my school do. Run downtown to that shady store where they’ll photocopy the entire book for you, bind it, and charge you like ten bucks.
August 23rd, 2006 at 12:09 pm
I have already saved $120 dallors this semester. I hope to save $50-$100 more on my last book that I have to buy.