One of the many traditions that occur during the school year is the tedious purchasing of textbooks.
Price options for books come in all sizes: the cheap used paperback, the cringeworthy hardback purchase — hopefully still under $100 — and then the petrifying $400 textbook.
It can be a grueling process to find the required reading material, let alone at an affordable price.
During syllabus week, students are informed of two or three required textbooks “needed” to pass each course. Then there is often a list of about a dozen “recommended” textbooks suggested by the professor.
No one has time for that.
It makes me worry that if I don’t purchase every book from the “recommended” pile it will keep me from earning an ‘A’ in the class.
There is also the mandatory, latest edition textbooks. Online research reveals the previous edition is most often a couple hundred dollars less than the latest. This allows the student’s purchasing power to go up so they can save more money.
Despite the ability to save money with an older edition, a few professors will pressure students into buying the latest edition of a textbook. This is troubling since the older edition is almost always a replica of the latest with only minor adjustments.
Once students have a list of textbooks to purchase, they eventually meet the terrifying prices found online or at the book store. This is when students might want to substitute that expensive purchase by going to the library, purchasing the e-textbook, sharing a textbook with friends or buying the previous edition for much cheaper — though these are not always options.
This leaves students with less funds to pay for other needs.
Why don’t I see novels like the Harry Potter series rewritten and the storyline reformatted like textbooks? I understand that an educational book is a different critter than a novel. Newest editions update textbooks to keep up with the latest research, technology and terms. That is why these mandatory books are continuously updated, but there is something wrong with building profit on the mostly limited funds of college students.
I realize why publishing houses use the strategy of inflating textbook prices. This is partly due to torrent textbook downloading.
The disadvantage of downloading textbooks for free is that it leaves the publishing house market dry of revenue and so they try to limit the market value on these books.
Textbooks are like brand new cars. A buyer could go to the dealership and look at the latest 2017 car. However, taking that latest car model on a test drive alone brings its price down. That’s similar to how textbooks work and probably why the price is so high for latest editions.
But I think it is an abused system.
What is so great about today’s market is there are so many options that can help a student on a tight budget. The VandalStore is quick to give a student the needed textbook right then, and they will even compare prices to other online competitors because many people with the university care about their students.
Never forget that there are many hidden options out there to help students get through college. Students don’t always have to rely on buying the first edition of a textbook, but they should splurge on certain editions when needed. Be savy and use the internet, library and friends to make the tradition of purchasing textbooks each year less painful than it usually is for many students.
Catherine Keenan
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