College Textbook Prices: Are you feeling the pain?
 

I know I am. Looks like I'm not the only one, either. What can we do about scams like this?



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...icescriticized

That's why I never felt guilty for the scam I pulled at Buffalo when I was a student there over 10 years ago.

The University Bookstore (Follett's, those of you familiar with the name are already cringing I know) contained the campus Post Office as well. So, one my roommates and I had our semester textbook list, we'd simply go to the Post Office counter, get a big box, then fill it with the textbooks we'd need, tape the box up, and mail it to our dorm room. For the price of postage (around $10) we had all our books for the semester, then sold them back at the end of the term. Yeah, we stole books and I'm not proud of it, but at the same time with the ridiculous profit Follett's makes off college students every year (sell a new textbook for $65, they buy it back for $15, then re-sell it used for $40) I never lost sleep over it.

-Mikey

Fortunately I was on full athletic scholarship at college so I didn't have to cringe when picking up $100+ text books. I always felt really bad for those who had to pay for them. It's a terrible system.

Many of my books sell for well over $100, with me getting maybe $20 in return. This semester I had 3 books that each cost $140, so I couldn't buy any of them.

Fucking Barnes and Noble.

At those prices, I don't think I can afford to be smart.

I used to regularly spend $400 a semester on books. As a foreign student with the weekly cap on the hours I could work, it hurt a lot.

What pissed me off most were those written by lecturers and set as mandatory for their class. The standard tactic to milk students was also to write the sememster's text book, then divide it into 3 volumes to charge 3x as much. Bastards.

I never shopped at the campus bookstore unless I was forced to. I either bought them from students or at worst from an offcampus store. But the prices are just stupid expensive now.

Well most universities are in the business of exploiting both faculty and students. The administrators make all the money, while most of the faculty make a pittance. Professors often try to make a little more pocket change by writing a textbook and making their students buy it. Then they make a few edited changes every couple years so that the used copies are obsolete and the students have to buy the new one again.

I'm a professor and I have my students buy my textbook, but I barely make any money off it because the paperback costs only $15 and I make $1.50 royalty per book. 10% is pretty standard, which is next to nothing. If I wanted to make more, I'd ask the publisher to charge more, then you guys would have to pay it because you have no choice.

It's really a scam. If you're a good teacher you have little need for textbooks at all, let alone a new edition every couple years.

But I wouldn't blame the professors, because they're just as exploited by the administration as the students. They have the advantage of being a little above the students on the totem pole, that's all. This little textbook scam is one of the few things they can do to make up for having to constantly beg for a decent wage.

The scam exists at all levels: both university bookstore and publisher. Since textbooks don't have cover prices, university bookstores can charge whatever they want; it's for this reason that most of them try to hog the faculty's textbook lists to themselves. If faculty give their textbook lists to other bookstores, competition sets in and the price the college bookstore can charge goes down. In my town, students set up a coop bookstore off-campus to break the university bookstore monopoly, and it did bring prices down for some books. Some professors will only send their booklists to the coop.

Yep it's a scam at all levels. No disagreement there. :|

Those who can be exploited, will.

It's the largest legal raketeering scam in the nation.

My first year at uni my hall don gave me some great advice that I used every year of uni. He said to go weekly to the student union, the caf and other lost and founds throughout the school and pick up lost text books, any of them that looked like current editions. Then at the end of the year you go to the school book store and return the books during book-buyback week.
Made some bang on money doing this, about 400-1000 a year. I would just go every now and then to the lost and found, root through the books and save them. Sometimes you would find books that you need for next semster or that friends needed and you could sell. hey i was poor and it was a great way to make an extra buck. not many books were ever claimed it seemed. Since my books were always so expensive I can't believe anyone would ever just leave them behind. I would always check to make sure i had my book on me everytime i left class or studying...etc.
As well, most schools keep a copy of all current text books in the library, you can for some classes go and just photocopy out the parts you need as the semster goes by. Did that for my non elective classes. Not buying a 120$ text book for a class that is not in my major and is one semster long. I also would go halfs with friends. You buy this book, I'll buy that book and share. sorry for the long post. just my ideas, some good, some bad.

This is why I don't buy books for my classes ;)
Seriously, I find a lot of classes, the "required books" aren't even required. I usually feel out the course for 2 weeks before buying the book. Only 2 courses I took this semester required books. I didn't buy either of the books, and doubt that I will.

Good Idea, on the 1/2 or the photocoping.
+ I sure wish my school had a post office in the bookstore! that is sure crazy :D

Fall semester I spent 600 on books, which is crazy. I went to sell back a book I bought for 80 and the campus store told me that they would not give me a penny. So I had a friend that works in the bookstore give me the employee discount. It wasnot so much of any employee discount as she only paid for 1 of my 4 books. I feel bad that I in essence stole but 60 is alot better than 600.

The fact that they lost out on that money makes we wonder if the reason why books are so pricy is because of people like me. Maybe bookstore charge so much to make up for the amount that is stolen. I dont know but its probally atleast adds a little to the price.

Buy things online- that's what I do, and I saved a TON this year. Bought my math book at half.com for around 40$ instead of 120$.

I just hate how the publishers update editions every few years, but all they do is change locations of questions and page numbers. The content is almost EXACTLY the same, but they can then stop publishing their old version with all the used copies, and force students to buy all new books all over again. GRRRRR

email your profs before the term starts. They hate it as much as you do. At least in my expernce they are really cool about getting me my book lists so i can show around for good prices.

Im a History Major. Most of my books are paper backs that will sell back for only a few cents. Most of the time its not wearth it to sell that stuff back. I have built up a big libarary of over the last 4 years.

Not only is half.com a great place to buy books, it is also a good place to sell them. You can enter the ISBN number and all the info for the book pops up without you having to manually enter it. When my stupid roommate who never paid her bills was evicted, I auctioned her textbooks and made some decent money. :thumbsup:

It's absolutely silly how much they can charge for books. I got a used book this semester for a whopping $2 dollars less than a new version of the title. :(

They do charge alot, and from what I've read, the money that's made doesn't actually
go to the author's of the books, basically to the publishers. But at the end of that
statement, it is true, professors CAN use different books and SHOULD use them.

In my History class, our professor made us buy 3 books, total price, 45 dollars.
One calculus class book. $120.

To my knowledge, there are 100s of books in just about all major subjects that
most colleges offer, while they aren't "textbooks," they do offer the exact same
coverage of topics, if not more in cases. I know the History books that our
teacher used were much more in depth than any textbook could give us.

Also, freakin buy your books online. My friend bought all of his books for under 100
dollars (which is VERY respectable, considering even mass-marketed hardcover books
are 25 dollars a piece these days.)

And besides, I've always had the philosophy that if you're professor spent 8 years
or more studying the subject he/she is teaching, why on earth should they have
to buy a book by someone else that also studied the exact same subject the exact
same number of years? They SHOULD know almost the exact same stuff, just teach
us all ready. For the most part I never even OPEN some of the books I buy.

Lastly, the biggest reason they are so expensive because these "textbooks" are only
used, except for a rare few, for at most, 2 years. Which is also ridiculous in 95%
of the subject areas taught at schools.

I finished my BS in May 2004 after putting up with those hellish textbook prices for 4 years, and I am convinced that the Mafia is somehow involved in the racket.

One of my least proud moments in life occured while purchasing textbooks. I had brought 3 books to the register (~$250) when the cashier failed to scan one of the books and the total was $80 in my favor. Stupidly, I still regret it to this day, I informed the clerk of her error and actually paid the astronomical price for a used text instead of 'stickin it to The Man'. D'oh!

Campus bookstores are always a rip-off. You're better off getting your books off half.com or ebay.

I ordered the majority of my books on Amazon's used book listings; only after I made sure I'd actually be SAVING money, after shipping and everything. My philosophy class had 10 required books and 1 optional, and thankfully, my two best friends are in the class with me, so we split the cost of those books. There were only 4 others I had to buy on my own.

the only way i can possibly justify purchasing a $100.00 textbook is if its full of knowledge essential to the field i'm going into, and it would be a useful edition to my own collection for referance.

I go to a private college that has books specifically published for themselves. There are very few books that I can actually find without a lot of hunting online. Even then its still pretty outrageous. I make sure I get my booklist early and start shopping around about 6 weeks before class starts, and I ask my friends to borrow books or buy books off them. Also I know a lot of kids on grants and scholarship that dont pay for books, so I pester them for books :)

My MACRO economics book was $135 off of Amazon.. USED.....university bookstore $207 new, $178 used. Micro Im looking at $125ish..

Campus bookstores suck shit. Some classes you have no choice but to buy the damn thing at full price because almost no one takes the course but it's required under your degree program and you can't find the book anywhere or you search so long for it you just get tired and say fuck it.

They can all suck my big fat dick. :mad:

The reason these bookstores are charging so much is to keep the store alive, considering that online resources are starting to suck up all of the business. People are too lazy to go to the bookstore, so Amazon.com thrives. I feel for the bookstores, which is why I purchase from them, also so I can actually get a look at the books I'm going to purchase. Unfortunately bookstores are on the downfall due to the modern technology wave. It's a sad thing.

The worst part is the buy-back. They buy used books at about 20% of the orignal cost, but sell used books at 90% the cost of a new book.

Our campus (since it's opening a LONG time ago) has always offered the textbook rental system, where you rent the textbooks you need for each class from the university for no charge at all. Until last semester when the FUCKING COMMITTEE DECIDED TO DO AWAY WITH IT!!!! DAMMIT!!!!!!!

sorry.


Anyway, the leader of the commitee to decide if we kept the rental system or put in a "buy your books" system is the MOTHERFUCKER THAT THINKS WE SHOULD BUY OUR OWN BOOKS TO BEGIN WITH!!!!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!!!!!


sorry again.


I only have one year left; hopefully they won't have the new system implemented by the time I graduate. One of the key factors and reputable characteristics of my school was the fact we had a textbook rental system. And now they are taking it away.

A textbook rental system is a genius way of handling the ludicrous prices of textbooks nowadays. Now that I'm out of the way of my pre-req classes, which had a number of big, expensive books, and into my History major, where the majority of the books are smaller and less expensive, my quarter costs for books have somewhat declined, but I'm still looking at 200-250 bucks a quarter. Using the return system at my University Bookstore I could have gotten 40 dollars for all my books last quarter, which were mostly used, and they cost me 200 dollars. Now if only they'd figure out a way to change this system into a textbook rental one, I'd be a happy camper :)

Just spent $345 for my grandsons books for the second semester at UTPA...but he's worth it..

For my Economic Statistics class, I had to buy $150 in books and a $125 piece of software. That was *one* class.

I usually buy my books on half.com and then resell them there when Im done. Saves a bit, but its still expensive.

It is ridiculous how expensive textbooks are. How are teachers expected to choose by price. If they pick books which aren't considered very good and don't have good reviews they aren't going to say, "Well were thinking about the student's pocketbook, and not their education. So we'll decide which books to buy by price.". That is a ridiculous argument made by the book companies. They could be more reasonable and act like they give a damn about students by making prices on the books reasonable. They are already making a killing. Literally speaking.

in my school's tuition, the books are included in the cost. then again, it's a pricate school, so it's still paying out the ass.

Don't ya guy's know that you should NEVER buy books from your schools??? They can be bought online. That's where I get MY books...I saved TONS of money. I don't have the two textbook searche links that I use but I discovered them thru Googling. Try it and I'll post the two links if I can find them in my many bookmarks that I have.

- Undercover_Man

Sometimes you dont have a choice. Lots of my classes require "special" editions of books that you can only get through the bookstore. Yet another way to extort more money from us :(

The 20% buy-back 90% resell stuff sounds unreal. At most colleges here (in Sweden) the student union runs a second-hand non-profit bookstore, and a lot of students buy and sell used books by notices on the institution billboards. Used books are at around 60% of the original price. At the bigger universities the student union even runs their own bookstores. One of the biggest bookstore chains in Sweden started out as a co-op between student unions.

Yep, I know. This month, I've made 145 dollars on my textbooks from last semester.

Ill third this recommendation. I made a couple hundred dollars off of last semesters textbooks--I would have gotten about $50 total from the student store.