The Great College Textbook Racket
August 28, 2008
Racket, scam, gaffle, con... these are all words used at the beginning of every semester to describe the college textbook market. I'll be the first to admit: the whole system is bogus. First you have those professors who author their own textbooks, require students to purchase them for the class they are teaching, and then collect royalties. Then you have other professors who are simply getting kickbacks from book publishers if they require the publishers' books for their classes. Finally you have professors who just seem to pick the most expensive books on the market, without any regard to what their students can afford.
Let me make this clear: traditional laws of supply and demand do not apply to the college textbook market. In a market favorable to students; the students in a particular course would be allowed to collectively decide which textbook to use. They would take into account factors such as the cost of the book and its quality. They would not select books strictly based on the fact that their professor wrote it and they certainly would not get kickbacks from the publishers. The professors, in turn, would build their course around the book or books that the students select. But lets get real, this will never happen, because professors are considered the ultimate authority on the subjects they teach, and therefore are supposed to keep the best interest of their students in mind at all times, even though there are plenty of instances where this isn't the case.
It hurts me to hear that there are students who are spending $300, $500 or more on textbooks per semester. You don't have to do this to yourselves. I have five suggestions that will keep your college textbook bill to a bare minimum. Think it can't be done? In every semester I've been in college, except the first (when I was a naive little freshman) I have spent no more than $100 per semester on textbooks.
1. Don't Buy The Books - this is the most obvious and also the suggestion that most people tell me is crazy. You must buy the textbooks or you'll fail the class!.. they say. I'm willing to bet that if you go back through and look at all the books you've purchased for classes, there will be some that you literally never opened. Did you fail the class? If not, then could you have gotten by without buying the book? Some professors put a book on a "required" list and then on the first day of class tell you that you're only going to read a chapter or two out of it anyway. Some put books on the "required" list even though they're not going to test on it or lecture on it, but think it is a good supplemental book. I guess they have to do this since college book stores don't have an "optional books" section.
2. Never Ever Buy a New Book - if someone else already purchased a book, let them take the initial depreciation hit on it and don't give the author or publisher the benefit of the doubt by putting more copies into circulation. Used books are cheaper because they're usually a little worn in and a large supply of them on the market pushes down prices. Buy them online, buy them at bookswaps, or buy them from a student who took the course last semester; it doesn't really matter where you get it from. Don't get me wrong, I buy plenty of books new - but they are books I want to own for my personal collection - and to this day, a professor is yet to assign a book that I enjoy so much that I want it for my own personal library.
3. Two Words: Old Editions - what are the major differences between new editions and old editions? Sometimes the chapters are in a different order; sometimes there is a new forward or updated references to iPods and other technology; rarely is the content so different that you would be baffled by a test on the material. There is one instance when old editions don't work; and that is in the case of math, science, economics, or any class where the professor assigns problems from the end of the chapter. Personally, I think this is lazy teaching, but there is a way around this anyway, the next suggestion...
4. Exercise Your Right to Photocopy - if you are in a class with ten or more people; chances are that at least half of them (and probably a much higher percentage) got suckered into buying the newest edition of the book. Use their gullability to your advantage. Look through the syllabus and find out what is crucial from this book or edition, ask someone to borrow their copy until the next class, and then go to the library and photocopy your heart away. At 10 cents a copy, you can copy 100 pages and only spend 10 bucks. That is probably more than enough to cover all of the problem sets that a new edition has in it.
5. Check the Library - this doesn't always work for obscure anthologies or straight-up textbooks, because libraries don't purchase them and because too many students need them. However, there are instances where a professor will assign a New York Times bestseller to the reading list or a literature class will require a classic for reading. In this case, check the public library, they are likely to have these books available for your use at no cost.
That is it. The next time someone complains about spending triple digits on textbooks, you can lean back, grin, and think about all the extra debt you aren't taking on, or the meals you won't have to skip, so that your hard earned money can go to textbook publishers and the professors they pay off.
Let me make this clear: traditional laws of supply and demand do not apply to the college textbook market. In a market favorable to students; the students in a particular course would be allowed to collectively decide which textbook to use. They would take into account factors such as the cost of the book and its quality. They would not select books strictly based on the fact that their professor wrote it and they certainly would not get kickbacks from the publishers. The professors, in turn, would build their course around the book or books that the students select. But lets get real, this will never happen, because professors are considered the ultimate authority on the subjects they teach, and therefore are supposed to keep the best interest of their students in mind at all times, even though there are plenty of instances where this isn't the case.
It hurts me to hear that there are students who are spending $300, $500 or more on textbooks per semester. You don't have to do this to yourselves. I have five suggestions that will keep your college textbook bill to a bare minimum. Think it can't be done? In every semester I've been in college, except the first (when I was a naive little freshman) I have spent no more than $100 per semester on textbooks.
1. Don't Buy The Books - this is the most obvious and also the suggestion that most people tell me is crazy. You must buy the textbooks or you'll fail the class!.. they say. I'm willing to bet that if you go back through and look at all the books you've purchased for classes, there will be some that you literally never opened. Did you fail the class? If not, then could you have gotten by without buying the book? Some professors put a book on a "required" list and then on the first day of class tell you that you're only going to read a chapter or two out of it anyway. Some put books on the "required" list even though they're not going to test on it or lecture on it, but think it is a good supplemental book. I guess they have to do this since college book stores don't have an "optional books" section.
2. Never Ever Buy a New Book - if someone else already purchased a book, let them take the initial depreciation hit on it and don't give the author or publisher the benefit of the doubt by putting more copies into circulation. Used books are cheaper because they're usually a little worn in and a large supply of them on the market pushes down prices. Buy them online, buy them at bookswaps, or buy them from a student who took the course last semester; it doesn't really matter where you get it from. Don't get me wrong, I buy plenty of books new - but they are books I want to own for my personal collection - and to this day, a professor is yet to assign a book that I enjoy so much that I want it for my own personal library.
3. Two Words: Old Editions - what are the major differences between new editions and old editions? Sometimes the chapters are in a different order; sometimes there is a new forward or updated references to iPods and other technology; rarely is the content so different that you would be baffled by a test on the material. There is one instance when old editions don't work; and that is in the case of math, science, economics, or any class where the professor assigns problems from the end of the chapter. Personally, I think this is lazy teaching, but there is a way around this anyway, the next suggestion...
4. Exercise Your Right to Photocopy - if you are in a class with ten or more people; chances are that at least half of them (and probably a much higher percentage) got suckered into buying the newest edition of the book. Use their gullability to your advantage. Look through the syllabus and find out what is crucial from this book or edition, ask someone to borrow their copy until the next class, and then go to the library and photocopy your heart away. At 10 cents a copy, you can copy 100 pages and only spend 10 bucks. That is probably more than enough to cover all of the problem sets that a new edition has in it.
5. Check the Library - this doesn't always work for obscure anthologies or straight-up textbooks, because libraries don't purchase them and because too many students need them. However, there are instances where a professor will assign a New York Times bestseller to the reading list or a literature class will require a classic for reading. In this case, check the public library, they are likely to have these books available for your use at no cost.
That is it. The next time someone complains about spending triple digits on textbooks, you can lean back, grin, and think about all the extra debt you aren't taking on, or the meals you won't have to skip, so that your hard earned money can go to textbook publishers and the professors they pay off.
I went through college without buying more than five textbooks, and those were all bought used.
The trick I used was the campus library. At UCSC our libraries have a "reserves" section. Basically they take the books for various classes, usually multiple copies, and put them behind the desk. You can then go up to the desk and request it by call number and check it out for 2-24 hours. The books can't leave the library except overnight. Basically they're letting you use the textbooks for free and it wasn't hard often to ask a professor to put a copy or two up on reserve.
This worked great for me and there were a few hassles when someone else had the book out, but usually that just meant I had to find them in the library and do my homework with them, which was great anyway. Also, no lugging books back and forth.
Use your campus library!
goto amazon, you can get most any text book for at least 50% (or more!) off. Including the current edition.
I would also suggest looking at international editions - same content and usually about a quarter to a third of the cost with shipping.
Drew, great system. I wish my university had a similar system in place. Unfortunately, most books are tough to find at our campus library.
Anonymous, I agree, like I said: never ever buy a book new. When it comes to current editions, though, 50% of could still easily be $50 or more per book, which ads up quickly. Buying the old editions can mean savings of 90% or more.
Nathan, I will look into international editions, I wasn't aware there were such high potential savings.
I've managed to get A's in some courses without ever buying or even reading the text. Textbooks are definitely a scam, especially as far as Gen. Ed. courses are concerned. Google is free.