College Textbook pricing: the biggest scam since duty-free shopping

[Loonman]

http://www.komotv.com/stories/29552.htm


I've been wondering for years how these publishers get away with it.

[NicoleM]

1. They get away with it

because people aren't in college for very long and they quit caring as soon as they get out.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. They could use openly licensed books

Texts that are free to copy and available in the Internet. Such things do exist.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. Link to interesting document on the subject:

http://www.syllabus.com/summer2003/pdf/T03.pdf

See also http://cnx.rice.edu/

Edit: typo

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. I don't think teachers will be much help

Teachers can be the authors of their own textbooks and there's a profit in it for them if they make the revisions that result in a new edition.

If you want to stop the practice, make teaching a well-paid profession and reduce class sizes so that there can be a better teacher student ratio. I don't think a teacher who has 78 students really gives a hoot about what it costs a student to take the class.

[Loonman]

6. College textbooks, college

Not High School.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. I am referring to college.

Do you think professors in college are thrilled about the growing number of students in their classes? I've talked to more than a few and they believe that quality is sacrificed because regents are more concerned about making profits through quantity. In addition, regents and presidents in the colleges are getting huge salary increases, while professors are getting very modest increases and larger class workloads.

How do they make up the revenue? Through royalties in their textbooks.

[HereSince1628]

9. Teachers aren't always allowed to use their books.

Its pretty common to NOT be allowed to use your own book if there is a profit involved. If you think gouging is a problem at a school you should approach the student government as well as the administration.
Books aren't cheap, especially books with colored pictures or colored ink.


From an instructors point of veiw not being allowed to use a book you wrote is odd since it would probably match your notes pretty damn well and save your students a lot of "instructor doesn't agree with this" sort of marks in the book.

It's fairly common for laboratory manuals to be produced by an instructor so that they match available resources...produced locally these are ususally sold at cost. Unfortunately campus bookstores are often owned and operated by an outside agent and they add 20-30% mark-ups as they would on anything else they sell.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Are you kidding? This is the land of Jeb Bush.

They squeeze the students for their milk and honey. That's the capitalistic way.

[terrisel]

5. Older editions are cheap on internet

I guess the problem is in knowing which textbooks have made substantial chages and which have made only minor changes.

[Lizz612]

8. The other thing that bugs me

When I sell my books back at the and of the semester (to try in vain to recoup some of my money), they pay me the same for my book, which I never marked in, never left in the rain, spilled Mountain Dew on, or broke the spine of, as the ass in front of me who did!!
And when I buy used to try and save some money, I always get the one thats highlighted to hell, and the highlighting isn't even useful because it was marked up by someone in California using the book in a totally different way.
</rant>

edit: Noun pronoun disagreement.

[thom1102]

10. Check this out...

I am on the 19 year plan for my BS, and this semester I have to take Quantum Mechanics. The professor chose a book, and I went to the bookstore to open my veins all over the counter to pay for them. The bookstore told me that they were only able to get 2 copies of the book, and the professor has been informed. So I tried online to get the book, and have so far been unable to find a copy. It appears that the publisher is no longer in business.

My professor asked who was able to get the book, and it seems that two of the 5 people in the class were unable to get a copy. AND MY PROFESSOR IS STILL PLANNING TO USE THE BOOK!

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a copy of B. Cameron Reed's Quantum Mechanics: A First Course, Wuerz Publishing?

[davsand]

11. Profs decide what book they use to teach a class.

As has been pointed out, there can be a profit motive to a new edition coming out every couple years, and the profs do pay attention to that. There are a few that stick with older texts--but they do it knowing they may have to change texts if it goes OP (Out of Print.)

Some stuff is available used once it has gone OP, but that is a crap shoot and most profs want to be sure students do have texts. I have seen it done that profs put copies on reserve at the library so that the text is available for students who can't get copies of textbooks, so I'd suggest asking the profs about that.

I dunno what the college book industry is like now, but I can tell you that the used book industry is dominated by a handful of companies across the nation. It used to be that Follett College Stores was huge in the market along with a couple three others. Those companies set the prices that get paid for your buy back texts.

Many college bookstores buy back based on the order for the next semester. The top dollar is paid for stuff used there at that campus the next semester. They then pay what is called "wholesale" price for the book, meaning it is lower and it will entail cleaning up the book and shipping it to the wholesaler for distribution to other campuses.

If a book is going OP, most bookstores will not buy it back unless they have an order for that same text and edition already in hand for that next semester. Even then, they buy back a percentage of the number needed for the next semester so they won't get left holding any surplus copies that are, essentially, useless.

I'd suggest going on-line and looking thru the used book dealers to see if you can track down a copy of the OP book that may be sitting in a warehouse someplace.

One other note, many of the college bookstores are "lease operations" meaning a college bookstore company runs that store even if it is THE college bookstore. (To give an example, the college bookstore at Baylor was a Follett store even if it was the Baylor University Bookstore.) If you are unhappy with the bookstore, you can lobby the student government or the university administration to change companies when the lease is up. It does happen, and it is a big deal when it does.

I left that industry about ten years ago--and I have no idea who has what market share now--but I'm willing to bet that Follett College Stores and Barnes and Noble are still pretty big players in that game.

Pax.

Laura

[DrWeird]

14. In many cases it's the department that makes the decision.

And there's huge pressure from the administration to pick the books that the pimps, I mean salesmen from the publishing companies are selling.

[UnAmericanJoe]

13. "I like to stop at the duty-free shop"

"I like to stop at the duty-free shop"