Head-to-Head: Working to lower book prices
Bookstore works to keep prices as low as possible
By Lauren Sandberg
IVCC Bookstore Manager
I would like to commend Matt Simko for his article on the
complex issue of textbook pricing. He discusses three issues close to the heart
of every IVCC student: pricing, used books and bundles.
The Government Accountability Office did a study this year
and found that “the increasing costs publishers incur to develop supplements
(such as CD-ROMs, websites and other instructional materials) best explain price
increases in recent years.” The publisher sets a price for the textbook and the
Bookstore adds a 21 percent margin to that cost. According to Matt’s article,
the average gross margin among campus bookstores has been steady at 22.4 percent
since 1998. I also poll other Illinois community colleges periodically and find
that their gross margins range from 20 to 25 percent.
It costs you less to buy all the pieces together in a bundle
than if you were to buy them separately. The discount works against you at
buyback. If the bundle contains a ‘consumable’ – a book you’ll write in so it
won’t be of use to the next student – or a pin code – which is void once a
student uses it, then those items have to be replaced with new items in a used
bundle. In a number of instances it has proven cheaper for students to purchase
a new bundle than a combination of used and new components. Publishers and
textbook authors don’t like used books. They don’t think it’s fair to have their
product resold multiple times while they are only paid once. Therefore, they
find ways to make used products more expensive – and less attractive.
During buyback, the Bookstore pays 50 percent of the new
price if the book is going to be used during the next semester. The used book
company that does the buyback purchases any other books. We can’t buy back all
books because we have no place to store hundreds of books that won’t be used
each semester, we could buy books that will have no value six months later due
to edition changes and after purchasing a book, the instructor may decide to
change.
The IVCC Bookstore serves students by trying to make as many
used books available as possible, working with instructors to expand our buyback
list, working with the Deans to make sure that our concerns for the welfare of
students are front and center and keeping our margins low.
Be assured we will always be looking for more.
Head to Head: Instructors should use required textbooks