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Last Updated: 02/25/2005
The Rockbridge Report is produced
under the supervision of the Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications
at Washington and Lee University.
Reporting supervisors: Prof. Doug Cumming
Technical supervisor: |
New legislation helps students
get better deals on books By Leah Kershaw Local college students are frustrated with the high prices and low resale value of their textbooks. Mindful of the tight budgets of many college students, the Virginia House of Representatives has passed a bill to help students get the better deals on textbooks. House Bill 1726 requires public colleges and universities to provide students with textbook lists well before classes start so that students can compare prices between various book vendors to find the lowest prices. The bill also prohibits professors from accepting any type of monetary payment from a publisher as an incentive to order one of their textbooks. Washington and Lee bookstore co-manager Bill Becker said that he always consults several vendors to find the lowest textbook prices. He said that the W&L bookstore makes very little profit, if any, from the sale of textbooks. Graph: Comparing prices W&L still uses a “brick-and-mortar” store to sell textbooks to its students. Bill Becker said that operating costs for the store and the high shipping costs of textbooks greatly reduce any profit that would be made from textbook sales. He said his goal is to bring the most reasonable price to students. W&L students are bothered by the high price of textbooks. Junior Amaya Moure, a sociology and anthropology major, said that she spends $350 a semester on books. She said that textbooks are overpriced and that it seems wasteful to buy a book and then have the professor assign only one chapter. Moure estimated that her professors assign only a small section of her textbooks. “In general, most professors don’t seem to be concerned with the cost of textbooks,” she said. Tyler Dickovick, a politics professor at W&L, said he is mindful of textbook prices. “I remember what it’s like to be a student,” he said. Consequently, Dickovick said that he tries to keep the books for his classes at a reasonable price, usually under $150 a semester. Dickovick said that he has never been offered a monetary incentive from a publishing company to purchase a textbook. However, he also said that he does receive textbooks to review that he can later return if he decides not to order them. In an effort to reduce textbook prices, Bill Becker said that he is trying to increase the number of used textbooks that he can offer to students every year. A used textbook costs 25 percent less than a new book. But Moure said that she does not sell her used books because she doesn’t think that the buying prices offered by the used book buyers are high enough. Maureen Becker, co-manager of the W&L bookstore, said that the prices offered to students for their used books are based on a sliding scale of five to 50 percent of the new book price depending on the condition and demand of the book. She said that the used books are then re-sold for up to 75 percent of their original value. SVU has been using an online textbook supply company for six years. John McKenzie, manager of the school store at SVU, said that the school switched to an online service because the store was an expense to the school. “Having a bookstore is manpower intensive,” he said. E-campus, the school’s textbook site, competes with Amazon and Barnes & Noble to offer the lowest prices to students. But McKenzie admits that online textbook services are not flawless. “Books do not always get to the students in time for classes and students who register late or switch classes have to do without books for a few days,” he said. “New students who are not aware of SVU’s online textbook service are also at a disadvantage.” In an effort to reduce these problems, McKenzie said that he stocks 10 percent of the books for all class offerings in the school store for students that have problems with their textbook orders. “Textbook lists for classes are provided two months before the start of a new term to provide students with ample time to order their books,” he said. “However, even with the on-line service, about 20 percent of students buy their textbooks from other sources.” McKenzie said that the school encourages students to buy their textbooks from E-campus because the school can hold the company accountable for orders if they are not correct or timely. He also said that E-campus voluntarily upgrades shipping for all orders that have not arrived by the first day of classes. In addition, the school makes a five percent profit from all E-campus textbook sales. “The market for textbooks is very competitive and professors are under constant pressure from publishers to order new editions for their classes,” said McKenzie. “A publisher profits once from a book and that’s when it is sold new. Used book dealers profit from all future transactions. At SVU, professors are cost-conscious and only buy new editions that have a significant difference.” Colleges don't benefit from the high cost of textbooks, campus bookstore officials say. “Textbooks are not a profit center for W&L,” said Maureen Becker.
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