Campus bookstores explain cause of high textbook costs

Shayna Mundy is frustrated. The junior psychology major spends about $300 a semester on textbooks and didn't even bother to sell back her books last year because of the low potential return.\n"They don't even pay you half price," Mundy said.\nMundy said she could make more money selling them directly to another student.\nThe average liberal arts major enrolled in 15 credit hours can expect to pay about $360 for new books or $275 for used books, while the average science major will pay about $450 for new books and $340 for used, according to the IU Bookstore.\nAfter paying these prices each semester, the money students get back at the end of the semester ranges from 10 percent to 50 percent of the original price. \nThe same book is often back on the shelf the next semester selling for much more. \nThere's no simple explanation to the textbook conundrum, said Tim Lloyd of T.I.S. College Bookstore, 1302 E. Third St. \n"The original price of a new book is set by the publisher, and then we mark it up typically about 15 to 20 percent," Lloyd said. "Ideally, if you paid $50 for a book, you could sell it back when you're done with it for $25, and then it goes back on the shelf for $37.50. \n"But this is where the area gets difficult -- not all classes are reported for the next semester by the time students are ready to sell their books."\nWhen a class hasn't been reported, the bookstore can only offer students the national wholesale price -- which can be as little as 10 percent of the student's originally purchase price.\n"There are cases where (a class) has not been reported, and so we buy it back based on the national wholesale price -- and then the book gets picked up by a class again," Lloyd said. "We're just not as prepared during sellback time as we'd like to think. We'd love to have 90-100 percent of the information we need each time." \nEvery college bookstore in the country faces the same dilemma, said IU Bookstore Director Paul Hazel.\n"When the faculty member has reported the book, that's when students get half price for it at sellback," Hazel said. "We're putting together a program, an incentive program, to get the faculty to start reporting those books earlier. We're really at the mercy of the professors." \nHazel also had advice on how students can cut costs when getting books. \n"My advice to students buying books would be to get in early, shop around, and try to get used books; they're generally 25 percent less than new books," he said. "We try to keep prices as low as we can, because we realize that students don't have a whole lot of choice."\nWhile every situation is slightly different, Hazel said, it's generally best to be as early as possible when buying and selling back books. \n"The earlier the better," Hazel said. "If you've got a course with 2,000 people, there might be only 500 people taking it next year, so we only need 500 copies -- and once we've got our 500, then the books go to wholesale price. Generally speaking, the end of spring term is the hardest time to sell back, but we keep doing things to encourage professors to report their fall classes earlier." \nStudents tired of paying hefty prices at T.I.S. or the IU Bookstore have the option of ordering their books through Web sites such as varsitybooks.com or half.com. \nBooks sold at ecampus.com generally cost the same at T.I.S. -- but when it's time to sell books back, the Web site guarantees 50 percent back if your book is on the site's list of top 50 buy-back books. \nWhile Internet prices for books are often slightly cheaper than bookstore prices, sometimes advantages disappear after paying postage.\nBuying books over the Internet can be risky, since students aren't sure of getting exactly the right book for their section, Hazel said. \n"Besides, it's such a cold way of buying books," he said. "They don't get a smiling face, they don't get that customer service"