Students weigh options to buy cheapest textbooks

When it comes to buying books, which is top priority: convenience or cost?

As the U.S. economy falls deeper into recession and Indiana’s unemployment rate nears 7 percent, some students are becoming more conscious of the cost of their textbooks.

Internet buying is easier than ever, and with prices often cheaper than campus bookstore competitors, a host of niche book-buying Web sites have emerged as attractive options for many students. 

Sophomore Julia Stern decided to compare prices.

She found that, while the prices for some of her books at local bookstores were competitive with prices online, many of the books at the local stores were more expensive.

She turned to BIGWORDS.com, a comparison shopping site that finds the best prices for a book from several different outlets. Stern added the site also gives users package deals when ordering multiple books.

“If I save money on books, I can use it on something else,” Stern said. “I’m okay taking a little more time.”

Stern began using BIGWORDS.com after previously using another online outlet. The prior company listed her textbooks as “in-stock,” but when a book hadn’t arrived in the mail several weeks later, the company told her the book was no longer available. 

Junior Kelsey Yost has looked to borrow books from friends who have taken the same classes in the past.

“I borrowed books and didn’t have to buy 20 of my books this semester,” Yost said.
Yost shops at T.I.S. because of the convenience. Also, she said the rewards card and the discounts the store offers are better than any deals she can find online.

These are exactly the kinds of incentives T.I.S. manager Greg Lloyd is hoping will steer students away from the Internet and into his shop.

Although students now search for books online, Lloyd said he hasn’t seen any change in the number of book-buyers returning each semester.

“Our main goal is to save students money on their books and make sure they get the right book for the right class,” Lloyd said.

In addition, Lloyd said the prices at T.I.S. are “probably better” than what he’s seen for books online.

Sophomore Kirstie Gunselman spent $330 on textbooks and art supplies this semester – nearing her to a recent national average of students’ spending on these items.

In 2007, the National Association of College Stores reported students spend more than $700 on textbooks and supplies during the course of the academic
year.

Though Gunselman has ordered books online in the past, she said she opted to buy all her books at T.I.S. and the Friends of Art Bookshop this semester.

“So far, most of my other books haven’t been a whole lot cheaper online, and you get what you’re supposed to get,” Gunselman said.

To help students afford their books no matter where they buy them, some professors do extra work.

Stern said her biology professor told the class she bargained with the textbook’s publisher and saved each student $130.

Caty Pilachowski, astronomy professor, said with a daughter who is a freshman in college, she is conscious of the cost of books.

“I’m always surprised at how much students pay for books,” Pilachowski said. “There are other ways to get the books, but students opt for convenience.”

For her class this semester, she ordered a split textbook, which is an abridged and cheaper version of a larger textbook that includes only chapters dealing with a specific topic.

In addition, Pilachowski selected a book that’s also used in other classes so students can re-sell the books after the semester is over.

“Nobody has enough money,” Pilachowski said. “Faculty can help design things to help students save money because right now it’s especially difficult. Going to college is expensive.”