Breaking the bank for books
Buying textbooks cannot only create giant holes in students’ wallets, but finding them can also contribute to large amounts of stress – and things are not getting better.
Textbook prices have increased 41 percent over the last five years, according www.akademos.com. With tuition costs rising as well, many students are looking for any opportunity that will save them some money at the beginning of each semester.
“When buying books, I preferably buy used because it is a little bit cheaper that way,” said Marie Aitken, a senior majoring in interior design. “That’s important to me because I don’t have a lot of money after buying all the art supplies needed for my classes.”
Aitken is not alone. Most students prefer to buy used books. A marketing study done by www.screwthebookstores.com found that more than 92 percent of students at Cal Poly would eager to pass up the bookstore in the textbook buying process.
“I don’t see any benefit in buying new books because [used] is the same material and cheaper,” said USU freshman Jeff Whyte, a pre-med major. “Besides, with used, some material is already marked for you.”
Buying used textbooks from the Utah State University Bookstore is not always possible, especially if it is the first time the book is being used in a course. Used books also sell out faster and may be hard to get a hold of in the bookstore.
“For most of my textbooks, the bookstore only had new, which forced me to buy the ridiculously over-priced books,” Whyte said.
So, students are turning to other sources. One of the more popular ways among students to buy used textbooks is to use services offered online.
One of these sites is www.textbookX.com, a company of www.akedemos.com, which specializes providing academic resources. The theory behind the site is that “by reducing the process to its most straightforward components … we are able to give students the option of saving the most from their used books,” said Brian Jacobs, founder of www.akademos.com.
Online book exchanges allow students to find other students who have the book they want and buy it directly from them with little or no cost being taken from the price by the online exchange provider. Both the buyer and seller benefit. Many sites allow the seller to set their own price.
Already-established book dealers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble have also taken advantage of students’ needs for used textbooks and either buy books directly from students, or offer places where students can post the books they have for sale.
While these online sites may give students advantages such as avoiding lines, cheaper books, and fast delivery, there are also some risks attached.
Aitken, who has bought books on Amazon, said, “Buying online can be a good idea, but sometimes the books aren’t in as good of a condition as the site says they will be.”
Aitken said she knows first hand. One of the books she bought for an art class is missing a few chapters.
Still, many students are finding online book buying convenient and inexpensive. When it comes time to sell their books back, online sites are useful there as well. Students can often sell their books online for more than their university bookstore would offer them for it, but at a price that benefits other students.
Elsewhere on this page is information about some of the Web sites where you can find used textbooks. To make comparisons between the sites easier, the prices of two textbooks used here at USU in general education classes are provided. The first, “Biology: Guide to the Natural World,” used in Biology 1010, can be bought new at the bookstore for $67.35 and for $50.55 if bought used. The second, “Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric With Readings, concise ed.,” used in English 2010, is $38 new and $28.50.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu