subject: Why Buying Your Books at the Campus Bookstore is a Bad Idea [print this page] When you first get to college and get your first book list, you may be tempted to run to the on-campus bookstore right away and pick them all up. You'll probably also be tempted to buy the books with the shiny new covers or, if you're really lucky, the shrink wrapped editions. This, though, is a fantastic way to blow a ton of money that need not be spent at all. Textbook pricing at college bookstores is impossibly high, even on the beat-up used books on the shelves below the new ones!
College bookstores actually don't make a huge profit on the books they sell. Books are simply expensive. Whenever you buy a new book, a huge percentage of your money is going to the publisher, who is probably going to put out a new edition every two years so that you have to keep buying new books. It's kind of annoying, but this is how it works.
The bookstore, though, does have to make something of a profit. This means that it will be forced to mark the prices up above wholesale just so that it can stay open and pay its employees. This is just how business works. If you buy books directly from students, though, you don't have to worry about this retail mark-up. You'll still spend what feels like a small fortune on books every semester, but you'll also save a lot of money, too.
Textbook pricing on used books is inherently better, of course. A bookstore will actually make a pretty big profit on a used book because no money has to go back to the publisher. This is why many bookstores will buy a used book back from a student for, like, $20, and then turn around and sell it for $75, just $25 below the new book price.
You can buy used books directly, though, to get the best textbook pricing. Sites that let you buy books directly from students who have just finished using them are best. It takes a little more time, and you don't get to peel off the shrink wrap. You do, though, get to save enough money to go out to dinner with friends a few times during the semester, which is a priceless opportunity. So, resist the urge to rush to the bookstore with your list for next semester, and instead spend some time getting better prices online.
Why Buying Your Books at the Campus Bookstore is a Bad Idea
By: Rosemary Stea
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