Finishing off a class leaves many students with a feeling of relief and accomplishment. Until they realize they have no further need for this semester’s textbooks, and a new set is just a summer away.

But selling surplus books off to bookstores leaves many students frustrated and critical of the process.

‘I think they rip you off,’ said Aaron Meyerson, an undeclared freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. ‘It just seems like they rip you off when you buy the book, then they rip you off again when you sell it.’

But the amount of money bookstores offer students is dependent largely on professors, whose choices in texts decide what books are bought back, and what new orders are placed, said Kathleen Bradley, manager of the university bookstore.

The bookstore asks for orders from professors as early as March 15 for the spring buyback, but many do not place their orders until after the buyback has taken place, some as late as August, Bradley said.

Because the bookstore only buys back texts requested by professors, the university is often forced to order books they would have otherwise bought from students, Bradley said.

‘I can only do this when I have faculty orders,’ Bradley said. ‘I don’t know what faculty are going to use.’

A similar situation arises at Follett’s Orange Bookstore, where books requested by professors draw the most cash for students, said Jason Tsistinas, text manager at Follett’s. Because many professors don’t respond to the bookstore’s requests, students are often left stuck with their books.

‘Less than 10 percent respond right away, especially in the spring semester,’ Tsistinas said. ‘The frustrating thing for me is when a professor calls in August saying, ‘Yeah, I’m just going to use the same book as last year,’ when you knew the same decision could’ve been made four months earlier.’

Other factors go into whether or not professors will buy back textbooks. Many professors choose to order new editions of textbooks or Saran Wrapped book packages, instead of reusing students’ old copies, Bradley said.

Although new editions and packaged books can be good deals, often times they are simply schemes put on by publishers to decrease used books sales, said Mark Monmonier, professor at SU and member of the bookstore advisory board.

‘If you have a book that is a big seller, it is in your economic interest to come out with a new edition every three, four, five years to make new copies obsolete,’ Monmonier said.

Professors should closely examine the differences between older and newer editions and the helpfulness of packaged book deals before they order them for their classes, Monmonier said.

But many don’t, and instead request the newer editions, which may be almost identical to older versions, said Frank Condello, director of marketing for the Nebraska Book Company, SU’s main textbook wholesaler.

If students pressured professors to examine their orders and get them in on time, many more might participate in the buyback process, Condello said.

‘If you really want to go and get this turned around, go to the professors and tell them to buy back the books,’ Condello said. ‘What’s the real difference between the fifteenth and sixteenth edition? Nothing, maybe a new graph. Force the professors to use the books for as long as possible.’

If a professor does register a book request, bookstores will offer just half the original price of a text until they have enough copies to fill a quota of 50 to 80 percent of the expected class enrollment. Also, there is a possibility that additional copies will be bought to return to the wholesaler.

The highest rate that a wholesaler will offer, however, is just one-third of the original value, Condello said. If there is a surplus of old copies, rates can slide to an even lower percentage of the book’s original price. It’s all supply and demand, Condello said.

‘Everything has got to average out,’ Condello said. ‘I know it sounds unfair, but I can guarantee you… after 37 years at this company… what we are paying you is the most you can get paid.’

The low prices offered by wholesalers led to the creation of OrangeExchange.com by Jae Ahn and Dean Muscio, both information studies majors.

The Web site, launched last year, allows students to post their textbooks online, along with their e-mail address, to solicit offers from other students for the books, Ahn said.

Users can then search the site by class number and contact the student interested in selling the book.

‘It’s very simple, very straightforward,’ Ahn said. ‘If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll get it there. It’s the ultimate way to cut out the middleman,’

Although Ahn does not guarantee the best deal on textbooks on his site, he thinks students should at least shop around to find the best prices before they settle for selling their books at the bookstore’s prices.

‘I would definitely see where my textbook would be worth the best and try to get the best deal out of it,’ Ahn said. ‘I think that there are places that students do not recognize. Students do have options.’

This is also the advice of Ray Wimer, professor in the department of retail management and consumer studies at SU.

‘I think if you looked online, like at Amazon, you would probably get a better deal,’ said Wimer said.

Wimer said he believes the bookstore offers students a reasonable deal, but warns that they may not be getting the most money for their used textbooks if they do not shop around.

‘As a consumer, students have much more of a choice of what they are going to buy and from whom they are going to buy it from,’ Wimer said. ‘If you are shopping for a used car, do you go to one dealership? No, you shop around for the best deal.’

Published on April 18, 2004 at 12:00 pm