Every semester LSSU students approach the cash registers at the Campus Shoppe with armloads of textbooks. And many of them, after leaving the store, complain about the hefty price of their books to anyone who will listen. According to the National Association of College Stores, the wholesale price of college textbooks has gone up by 32.8% since 1998, while ordinary books have only increased by 18%. The same group found that students paid an average of $801-$904 on textbooks in the 2005-2006 academic year. These facts lead to some common questions:

Q. Why are the textbooks so expensive?

A. Amber McLean, manager of the Campus Shoppe, points out that: “Textbooks have always been expensive. But in high school students get them for free, and never realize how expensive they are.” Publishers of textbooks set the wholesale prices, and at this point there are only a handful of publishers, resulting in decreased competition. Also, the bookstore, functioning as a retailer, makes money on student purchases (called the gross margin), and the college gets a percentage as well. McLean recognizes that students want lower prices: “Students demand used books. Our first priority is to stock used books to save the students money.”

Q. Why don’t we get more money during Buy-back?

A. There are several factors that influence how much cash students receive. For example, if a student brings a book in and the professor has not decided whether or not they plan to use that book again the following semester, the student will receive less money than if the store knows that the professor is going to use that book. Generally a 50% return on the original purchase is the aim of the Shoppe. McLean says, in response to student complaints of low buy-back returns: “You can’t go back into Wal-Mart four months after you have purchased something and always expect a full refund.” But she also notes that the Campus Shoppe distributed $84,000 during Buy-back week this spring. 

Q. Why are the prices on Barnes & Noble’s website lower than the Campus Shoppe prices?

A. The policy of the Campus Shoppe states that operating as a storefront offers a level of convenience, efficiency, and reliability that an online retailer cannot offer. A storefront has expenses that an online retailer does not have. The policy states that BN.com has fewer guarantees, such as, what if a student’s class is cancelled, or they drop out? BN.com would not so readily give the student a full refund.

Q. Shouldn’t the ISBN numbers for the textbooks be listed on the Shoppe’s website?

A. Listing ISBN numbers on a college bookstore website is far from common practice. Surveying Adrian College, Eastern Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, North Central Michigan College, Central Michigan University, Wayne State University, Hope College, and Western Michigan University, only Northern Michigan University has the ISBN numbers listed on the bookstore’s website.  Rochelle Duffy, manager of the Adrian College bookstore says that: “Some schools do not even post the ISBN numbers on the bookshelves of the bookstore.” An easier way to get an ISBN number, at any of these schools, would be to get the title of the book and then find it in a retailer’s website, such as BN.com, where an ISBN number is readily given.

Hope College Textbook Manager, Mary Demik, describes the typical college bookstore as “A place to vent.” “With a bookstore,” she says, “there is a cashier right there that you can gripe to, whereas you just mail a check for tuition.” Students can vent and gripe as much as they want, but in the end the Campus Shoppe is, as McLean says, “All about having the right book, in the right place, at the right time.”

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