The Text Book Racket

This semester, I only have one text book to purchase compared to the 10 I had to purchase last semester. However, that one text book I need within the next two weeks is pushing $100! My first thought was I’ll check online for deals. Of course, the version I need is the newest and there aren’t any used versions available. Older versions run as low as $10, which leads me to believe there is definitely a problem with mark up.

Today, when I went to return last semester’s books I received just under $19 for books I probably purchased for $30. When I asked about the current book I need, I was quoted $90. Searching online for a better price, the best price I found was $78. I’m sure that at the end of the semester, if I returned the same book that sells for almost $100, I would be lucky to receive $25.

My desperate search for a low cost text book led me to a site where you can rent text books. It’s called Chegg. For less than $50, I was able to rent the book for the entire semester, as long as I return it by the end of May. This may not be ideal for students who need multiple books.  I don’t think this would have worked out for me last semester because I was able to purchase many of my books used at a reduced price. However, this semester with only one expensive text book needed, I saved at least $25. And this is factoring in the money I would have gotten back after selling it back to the book store.

The conclusion to my text book research is publishers are running a racket. For text books that are just one edition older, the markdown is almost 75% off the current version’s retail price! Most students are already strapped with tuition hikes, basic living expenses, and now text book costs. Since many books aren’t worth hanging on to, even at the graduate level, publisher’s would be better off offering a rental program themselves, or reducing their mark up. Better yet, maybe a website needs to be created by publishers for students to swap their text books for next to nothing (this was an idea spawned by a comment my husband made).  I did come across a few similar sites (BookSwap.com and CampusBookSwap.com), however the book I was looking for wasn’t available. Another site searched multiple sites and Chegg was the least expensive.

As someone who only recently returned to school, I guess my memory is blurry on what I used to spend on books. Of course, that was almost 15 years ago and obviously prices have gone up!