Why Are College Textbooks so Expensive?

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Why Are College Textbooks so Expensive?

By JLP | April 25, 2006

There was a small article in today’s Wall Street Journal about how Costly Textbooks Draw Scrutiny of Lawmakers ($). Yes, textbooks are expensive. But, there was one practice that always irritated me to no end:

1. I buy a $75 textbook for a class.

2. I take care of the textbook so that I can sell it back at the end of the semester.

3. The semester is over. I take the textbook back to the bookstore, wait in line for 30 minutes and then get told that they don’t need any more of this particular textbook but they will take it off my hands for $5. Scam! Big-time scam. They were banking on the fact that I wouldn’t want the textbook, buy it back from me for $5 and then turn around and sell it “used” for $45.

Keep in mind that this was back in the day before the internet really took off. So, the bookstores basically had an on-campus monopoly. I’m curious: what do college students do now? Are there any good textbook exchanges or cheap places to buy books? Let me know so I can share them with my readers.

Topics: Books |

Comments to “Why Are College Textbooks so Expensive?”

Amanda Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 11:17 am

I tell you, this has aggravated me to no end. I spent $300 on textbooks for my Financial Accounting class - grad school - and got virtually no money back at the end of the quarter because they decided to switch to a new volume!

Kim Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 11:27 am

I started buying and selling all of my old textbooks on half.com. Lots of students also use Amazon Marketplace.

Inchoate Random Abstractions Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 11:30 am

My friends and I sell our used textbooks on half.com or amazon.com marketplace. You can also list them on textbookx.com (note the unusual spelling). Although I’ve never tried it, I’ve heard others say that it’s a decent site.

I bought my last textbook through amazon.com marketplace for $40 less than it was listed anywhere else online. And it was a brand new hardcover. My classmates bought the paperback version from the campus bookstore for more than the online price for the hardback version! Total scam.

Big Cajun Man Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 11:31 am

Why is it so hard to find the used book store on campus? Why do I have to have the LATEST version of the “Ideas of Object Oriented Programming”?

Publish or perish is not just about professors publishing research papers, there is GOLD in them thar text books!

–C8j

Vladimir Stojanovski Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 11:32 am

I saw a breakdown once, many moons ago, of where the money goes. The authors get almost nothing. Basically, the logic goes, if I recall correctly, since there are so relatively few copies printed, these high-quality publications must sell for an exorbitant amount to make up for all the cost incurred in the writing, publishing, distributing, and retailing the book.

JLP, since you recently wrote about how much you hate to complain without providing alternative solutions … the only thing that comes to mind is, maybe we can try to force the publishers/retailers to simplify the distribution process? If the book passes through fewer hands, maybe it will cost a bit less.

Miserly Bastard Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 11:48 am

I dont actually know how much money authors receive, however in law school, my experience was that many professors used the textbooks they wrote. New editions means old editions are obsolete, so it is a forced “upgrade” cycle.

Frugal Homemaker Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 11:51 am

I always bought my books for cheap off Half.com or Amazon.com. Later, I would sell it back to the bookstore (that five bucks is not so bad if you only paid 8!) or would sell it on Half or Amazon.

Then I got smart and started taking my books out of the library. Harder, but possible, and free!

Unknown Professor Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 1:18 pm

I’m by no means an expert in this area. However, I have talked with colleagues on occasion. So let me respond to a couple of the commenters.

JLP was correct - the pricing scheme is due to the fact that textbook sales were a “local monopoly” in the pre-internet days. Bookstores could repurchase books in bulk and even trade them between themselves. With no outside options, the students had little sellijng power. Now, with the web (and sites like those mentioned), prices get driven down closer to their costs.

Vladimir: I doubt that “we” could do much to pressure distributors. Remember ECON 101- prices are not driven by costs (whether of production or distribution), but by the interaction of supply and demand. As online alternatives become more well known, prices will of necessity drop to compete.

MB: the typical royalty for textbooks is probably between from 12-25% (at least based on conversations I’ve had with colleagues. For most faculty (at least in law opr business), a textbook is not a real money maker. For a few (i.e. if you have the leading text in a required core course), it can run into the mid to high 6 figures.

Brian Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 2:52 pm

Toward the end of my college career I just stopped buying text books all together… you learn after a while that most classes didn’t really use them (tests were based of in-class lecture material) and if they were required (usually for assignments) I’d be sure to join a study group with others that did have them.

Swintah Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 3:37 pm

I do what Brian does - I quit buying texts. There either unnecessary, on reserve at the library, or easy to borrow. Thie semester I saed over 400 dollars. BTW, I’m a Personal Finance Major - and I enjoy the blog.

Cecilia Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 8:48 pm

There was a class I took that had 3 “required” books and 15 “recommended” books; it came to a grand total of ~$600. Ouch. What we did was a “mini-library” — the three of us each bought one of the required books and two of the recommended books. The rest, if actually needed, we figured we could obtain through swapping or borrowing from the campus library. It worked out beautifully. Not only did we save money, but we learned more from studying together.

The downside to relying on the library is that the books are always checked out. Some required texts were checked out even before the semester started!

MoneyDummy Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 10:11 pm

I’ve always loved the textbook story my father told me. This was, of course, YEARS ago and there was no Amazon, Internet, or anything.

Like us, he hated getting messed over by the buy-a-used-book-for five-cents-and-sell-it-for-25.00 scheme, so he sauntered into the bookstore one day, opened up the cover of one of the sales versions of a textbook he owned, and slid a card in. The card said, “Want to buy this book for 15.00 less than you can get it here? Call . . . ”

I’ve always thought that was a great story.

Making Our Way Says:
April 27th, 2006 at 10:32 am

I’ve had the pleasure of taking classes pre-amazon.com / pre-half.com and more recently.
It’s amazing how different things are.
I have to admit I usually save my texts for future reference, so I focussed on buying cheaper - usually used books.
Even in the old days there were used bookstores off campus that offered good discounts. You did have to look around for them.
I agree that the library copies were seldom available.
Today I go to http://www.abebooks.com to find cheap used books. It’s a metasearch of the various used bookstores. For the class I’m currently taking it worked well. Amazon is also helpful, but I think it’s a bit more expensive than abebooks.com.

Here’s an article I wrote in March on the cheapest ways to buy books:
http://makingourway.blogspot.com/2006/03/cheapest-way-to-buy-books-on-line-or.html.

Have a wonderful Thursday,
makingourway

Jessica Says:
March 26th, 2008 at 10:23 am

I will select some online bookstore for buy textbooks. E.g. Cocomartini.com

Big discounts and all textbooks are Brand new. I save more then $300.

Then, I no need to worry about how to sell back. Good!

Jeff Says:
March 26th, 2008 at 9:34 pm

I have purchased books from many different sites but I use a textbook price comparison site like campusbooks.com to see which site I should use. It is free.

To save myself time at the end of the semester I use the buyback tool on the site to see what the book is worth before I head to the buyback counter. That way when they offer me nothing I know I have other options.

Andy Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 7:17 am

thanks Jessica, I buy 2 textbooks from Cocomartini.com online bookstore. Save me $200. Thank you very much.

YoYo

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Why Are College Textbooks so Expensive?