The average college student spends an estimated $900 a year on textbooks, according to the Web site for U.S. Public Interest Research Group, That averages out to $450 a semester, or more than $100 a month for a four-month semester just for textbooks.
This expense leads many students to seek alternative ways to purchase their textbooks and quite a few of them are going to the Web.
Senior Shannon Parsons is one of the many students who go online to buy her textbooks. She recently visited the campus bookstore to find out the titles of the textbooks required for her classes. She then went to Amazon.com for cheaper deals.
“Bookstores are trying to rip you off,” Parsons said.
Parsons took along incoming freshman Deidra Allum to teach her about the money saving methods that she practices. Allum said she plans to follow Parsons’ book buying method.
One University Bookstore employee who asked not to be identified said the bookstore has seen a decrease in sales because many students now go online to buy books.
Many students say this is understandable with the number of textbook Web sites found with any search engine. Among the largest are Amazon.com, Half.com, Cheaptextbooks.com and Offtextbooks.com.
Offtextbooks.com is a student sharing service that asks “why pay regular price at giant bookstores like Barnes and Noble?” It promises to save students up to 70 percent off textbook prices because it was “created by students for students.”
Prices do not include shipping and handling, which on Amazon costs at least $3.50 per book when sent by regular shipping.
Some students choose to try a more nontraditional approach to getting their textbooks: they share.
Sabrina Wein, a senior criminal justice major, tries to get her textbooks on loan from friends or associates.
She said that she loans out some books and borrows others.
“Some people will let you borrow a book every now and then so that you can read the chapters you need or copy pages, because they know how ridiculous these prices are because they’ve paid it,” Wein said. “I also look on bulletin boards to try and find deals, but sometimes I just have to go ahead and buy the books at the bookstore.”
Bulletin boards, classroom walls and hallway signs are other places students find cheaper deals or other students willing to share.
However, not everyone is going to the Web or sharing. Some are still taking the old fashioned route and heading to the campus or off campus bookstore to purchase textbooks.
Senior Kim Wall said she prefers buying her textbooks at the Tiger Bookstore located off campus.
“I want my books right then so I go to bookstore and buy them. I don’t like waiting for shipping,” Wall said. “It always seems that the off-campus bookstore is a little cheaper than the one on campus, so that’s the one I always go to.”
But if the Internet or sharing fails and the bookstore just doesn’t have the book, there are still other alternatives.
Beth Carter, an employee at Bookstar bookstore for four years, said that although they don’t usually carry textbooks, they do have a way to get them for students.
Carter said Bookstar usually has a rush of students every year come in and order textbooks if they can’t find them at their campus bookstore. The only catch is that Bookstar does not sell used books.
No matter what method students choose to obtain their books, the fact remains that they have to have books for their classes.
“We all need books, otherwise you can’t really do well in your classes,” Wall said. “It’s just a shame that you have to hustle to get a good deal.”
