COLLEGE BOOKS

It’s a trap. Especially the way it used to work around here. Let’s put a few sample numbers on the board which somewhat resemble the rates here at my college, the University of Jamestown dealing with the total cost of being a college student in 2016.

College Cost (Tuition, food, dorm, etc.) $25,000

Living (Food, Gas, Fun, etc.) $1,000

BOOKS + $2,000 – could be much more depending on major/classes

Total $28,000

First of all, college cost enough the way it is. I think basically everyone can agree on that. Some places cost a fair amount less than the above example, other schools cost quite a bit more. Regardless, most students at most colleges end up finishing college with more than a small sum of student debt.

If we move on from the direct cost of college to some of the indirect cost, such as living and books, things start to add up. Living is to some degree inevitable, though the number could be decreased depending on your level of cheapness and self-control. Personally, I absolutely have the cheapness to keep that number down, but I must admit that I have momentary lapses on the self-control side which leads to my college living cost number growing.

However, the books are another matter entirely in my opinion. These are not as optional as the living cost. Now, I know that some students have found ways to get by without purchasing books. Some students share with classmates to reduce the cost for all. Others scathe by and mooch off a friend when they have to. People hate you, by the way.

The worst thing about college books is that the cost is added to your normal cost of college. You pay enough to go there, why do you have to pay an extra couple thousand on top of that for books? At least the bookstore is right there on campus so the only really inconvenience is monetary. However, many college students actually purchased most of their books online. These books are usually used; as are a majority of the books you find in your college bookstore. Generally, the only reasons there would be a new book in the bookstore would be because the professor either switched to a new edition of the textbook or it is one of those books which students must write in and potentially rip out and turn in some pages from the book. Other than that, you pretty much get used books in the exact same condition from an online setting that you get from your local bookstore at your college campus.

The difference is the price. Quite often a book that cost $80 in the bookstore will cost in the neighborhood of $15 online. That is not the case for every book, but an extreme difference like that is quite common. Another major thorn in the side of students concerning college books is the buyback process. Imagine a student purchased that $80 book from the campus bookstore in August. You could sell that book back in December for approximately $3 and maybe a sucker if you’re lucky. Oh and a chance to win a $25 gift card to the same bookstore who just screwed you and all of your friends out of hundreds of dollars.

But that system doesn’t even exist anymore. Starting this year, our bookstore does not even sell books. That’s right, a bookstore that doesn’t sell books. They claimed they didn’t make any money with that old system. I find that hard to believe. Someone in that system makes a lot of money at the expense of college students, and usually when someone is making money at the expense of college students, it’s usually colleges.

I want to return to the thought on the college not being able to make money selling books in the campus bookstore. If they claim that an $80 purchase and a $3 buyback payment followed by reselling the book for $65 followed by a $2 buyback can’t make money, somebody is cooking the books. Students buy books online for $15 and sell them to another student for $12 and are absolutely pumped to be netting negative $3. In the scenario listed above, the college took in $145 and gave back $5. Even if they have to purchase 1 book per every 2 as a replacement, given the purchase price being $75, the college is still up $75 in this scenario.

But like I said, our bookstore does not even sell books anymore, so they renamed it something that does not say bookstore in it. They do continue to sell overpriced pencils, notebooks, binders, and college apparel though, in case you’re wondering. I do greatly enjoy the convenience of having these items on campus in case of emergency. But only in case of emergency, other than that I’m going to Walmart or Target or any other place, as do most students.

Also, this experience reminded me why I do not rant online. I understand some of the reasons why college bookstores are as overpriced as they are and, to some degree, why books are hard to make money on. But I can’t say those things because they would detract from my arguments. I also kind of hate complaining publicly. My life isn’t worth whining over. Life’s good. It’s a beautiful November day and somebody just told me they like my mustache. No matter how much books cost, how does it get any better than that?