The cash registers in the University textbook store have been ringing loudly these past few days as students pull out their wallets to purchase books for the new semester.
With the average student spending $300 on books per semester, however, many students are questioning the high prices of new textbooks, as well as the policies governing the resale of used books.
"In general, I think [textbook prices] are pretty inflated," said Trinity junior Brian Arakelian. "Sometimes [you pay] over $400 or $500, which is pretty outrageous."
Those involved in the pricing of new textbooks--from the manager of the University's textbook store to publishing executives--say that a variety of factors justify the high costs.
"When freshmen come in, they have sticker shock," said Mary Norton, manager of the Textbook Store. "I can understand that."
Norton explained that the prices that students pay for their new texts are determined principally by publishing companies. She added that the increasing costs which students are encountering are due to publishers' decisions, not those made by the store.
Officials at various publishing companies do not deny increasing prices, maintaining that such increases are due to both changing forces in the marketplace and the demands of students and professors.
"There have been price increases over [the] past decade or so," said Andrew Giangola, vice president of communications for Simon & Schuster, a New York publishing company. Giangola said that textbooks cost more today due to increasing production costs, not publishers' desires to increase profits. Profits have actually declined in the past few years, he said.
Giangola said that because students and professors are demanding more complex and up-to-date texts with more color, teachers' aids and supplemental computer software, costs are being driven up. Giangola said his company has even tried to market black and white texts to keep costs down, but professors did not order them. Paper costs have also been increasing, resulting in higher costs for students.
While Giangola said that professors' demands have had a large role in driving up costs, many University faculty members say that they do consider student budgets when choosing texts. Angela O'Rand, associate professor of sociology, said that while she tries to choose less expensive paperbacks, many faculty "face a publishing industry that wants to keep its textbooks in hardback form."
Giangola, however, said he disagrees with O'Rand, citing an increased presence of paperbacks in the textbook market.
"The trend towards paperbacks may help ease the strain on student pocketbooks," he said. Five years ago, only 5 to 10 percent of textbook sales were paperbacks, Giangola said, but paperback sales today account for about a third of the market.
Paul Gronke, assistant professor of political science, said that while price is not the most important consideration in selecting books, he has passed over texts because they were too expensive. He said that he has discussed pricing with editors and publishers and suggested ways to produce less expensive texts.
Beside these faculty and student demands, stores' and publishers' operational costs also justify textbook pricing, said John Remington, a campus-marketing specialist for Addison-Wesley Publishing. For every dollar that students spend on books, 7.6 cents go towards publishers' incomes, and 3.9 cents go towards stores' pretax income, according to data supplied by the Association of American Publishers and the National Association of College Stores. The remainder of every dollar goes towards costs such as the author's income, marketing costs and taxes. Wilkerson added that the University's store does not make a profit, but rather uses its income to pay for its own costs such as labor (see graphic).
Remington said that the growing used-book market is also forcing publishers to increase textbook prices in order to remain in business.
"The costs borne by the publisher have not changed, but [the publisher is] selling less books," he said. "It's not hard to see why prices go up."
Although used books provide a cheaper alternative in purchasing textbooks, students said they were concerned with these lower prices.
"What bothers me is the racket with used books," said Trinity senior Nathan Larson, referring to the discrepancy between what students receive when returning used books and the price at which these books are sold.
If a student returns a book that will be reused at the University, Norton said, that student will usually receive 50 percent of the price of a new book. The bookstore will, in turn, resell the used book for 75 percent of the original price, an industry standard. The difference between what students receive and what they pay for used books mainly covers labor costs, she added.
The payment which students receive for books not being reused, however, is controlled by the University's textbook wholesaler, Nebraska Book Company. Wholesalers determine their resale rates from the national demand for a text, said Greg Anderson of inventory control at Nebraska Book Company.
"The number of schools which order a book plays a big part in the decision in what we pay," Anderson said. If a particular text is in high demand at other campuses, students will usually receive one third of the original list price, he said.
Yet as books become older, their demand across the country diminishes. In such a situation, Anderson said, students may find themselves receiving only $5 for a book that originally cost $50, he said.
Wilkerson said that because of the wholesaler's policies, he hopes students will not direct their dismay about low refunds toward the textbook store.
"Students often think that we're ripping them off by paying them so little for a books that's not going to be reused," he said, "when, in fact, if were weren't buying those books back for the wholesaler, the students would get nothing for them."
But there is light at the end of the tunnel for students tired of paying big bucks for their books. Giangola said that the growing availability of paperbacks is lowering prices, and because paper prices are leveling off, production costs will be reduced.
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