A recent rise in textbook prices is leaving students pointing fingers at who is to blame for the hike.
According to an August 2012 U.S. News article, textbook prices doubled in inflation from 1986-2004. Since July 2012, textbook prices increased 8.1 percent from the previous year.
Some students and OU faculty shared opinions about the rise in textbook prices for Spring Semester, including Tim McVey, a junior studying history, who called the prices “overbearing financially and stressful.”
“I’m spending $500 on books per semester and I have to do everything out on loans,” McVey said. “Something’s got to happen.”
In order to earn some money back after purchasing textbooks, some students resell their used books online.
A study conducted by bigwords.com found that buying then selling books instead of renting them saved students more than $1,000 per school year, or about 95 percent.
“Students save more money on buying used textbooks,” Jeff Sherwood, CEO of bigwords.com said. “We’re not targeting just Ohio University students with our website and study, we’re sharing this information with all students to help them find ways on saving money for textbooks.”
However, the amount of money a student receives on a buyback is combated by constant updates on new editions of textbooks as well as package deals, said Michael Fitterer, General manager and partner at College Bookstore Inc.
Aisha Tufail, a professor of sociology at OU, said she is not happy about textbook prices increasing but isn’t surprised by the rising costs.
“The cost raised so much and I can understand this is a business,” Tufail said.
“Between us, the publishers and the bookstores, it’s really a tug-of-war.”
Tufail said she advises students to order their textbooks online whenever possible, because they tend to “get a better price that way.”
Fitterer admits that some of the blame is placed on bookstores for the high prices. However, he said, the prices are not something the stores do to get more profit.
“We’re somewhat to blame with the buyback over the years, but our hands are kind of tied when it comes to this,” he said. “We have no say whatsoever about textbook pricing. We’ve been called the big bad wolf, when that’s not the case.”
One explanation for high prices that Fitterer addressed was communication with OU professors.
“Sometimes professors change their minds on what editions they want, but we need to go by what the registrar says,” he said. “That’s where we get the number of books for the students in the class.”
When professors do change their minds, the bookstore is unable to buy back the older editions of a certain textbook, which hurts the business and students in the process by denying them an opportunity to get money back, Fitterer said.
“I’m not blaming professors, university or anybody; it’s more of making people understand how things work,” he added.
Tufail, on the other hand, said bookstores are businesses, and rising costs are part of our economic system.
Every dollar spent on college textbooks covers different expenses such as freight expense, store operations, store income, personnel and textbook wholesale cost, according to a 2011 study by the National Association of College Stores.
Fitterer provided an example that a textbook that College Book Store orders has to be bought for the amount of students in the class.
“Say we had to buy 19 textbooks for a class that the professor requested, for every textbook we would have to pay the wholesale price set by publishers,” Fitterer said. “$150 per book equals $2,850 for just that order for that particular class.”
Within that scenario, the bookstore sets a price of about $200, according to a cost comparison sheet provided by College Book Store. In order to match the money owed to the publishers, the bookstore would need to sell at least 80 percent of its stock to make up for some of the expenses.
Fitterer said that if College Book Store sells less than 80 percent, the bookstore would end up about “$568 in the hole.”
Though there is differentiation in opinion, Fitterer said that he wanted students to know that different campus bookstores don’t institute high textbook prices solely to gain profit.
“We do care and we’re trying our best to make it work,” he said. “We talk with the professors and work with them. Our goal is to supply to the students with what the professors say they need to pass the class.”
hy135010@ohiou.edu
