Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Textbook prices have some students emptying their wallets, but in the
textbook market, who wins? Not the student, and maybe, surprisingly, not KU
Bookstores either.

KU Bookstores are non-profit. All proceeds from textbook and merchandise
sales support SUA events and are returned through student services, but
costs have some students wondering why they are paying so much.

According to the Government Accountability Office, GAO textbooks are
increasing at an average of 6 percent per year. This accounts for increasing
prices at twice the rate of inflation in the last two decades.

GAO attributes prices to accompanying factors such as CD-ROMs and other
instructional supplements.

Tim Norris, KU Bookstores director, said, “Publishers are urged to change
their marketing and, in effect, charge higher prices. We don’t set those
prices. We aren’t hiding anything. If students know how this market works
they may realize we aren’t trying to gouge anyone.”

The average profit bookstores earn is 22.5 percent according to the National
Association of College Stores, NACS. Personnel costs, freight and store
operating costs are subtracted from this figure.

In a handout distributed last semester by KU Bookstores, students were told
about textbook costs and that textbooks are a market controlled ultimately
by faculty. While faculty do not choose the prices of textbooks, they do
choose the textbook. When professors require new editions or learning
supplements, the price of materials goes up.

“Help support our partnership with KU faculty in ensuring timely adoptions.
An accurate adoption list allows us to determine what books we can actually
buy back from you. The upcoming market is determined by the choices that
faculty make,” the handout said.

KU Bookstores sell used books 25 percent lower than new books. If a new book
costs $100, a student could buy back the same book for $25, which is 25
percent of the price of the new book. The student could sell the book back
for 50 percent the cost of the new textbook rate or $50. Thus the student
could spend $25 for a $100 textbook, 75 percent of the price of the new
book.

David Watts, KU Bookstores textbook manager, recently shopped their
competition. He compared the prices of 28 textbooks with the other two
textbook stores in Lawrence. The results were consistently complimentary to
KU Bookstores. Prices were lowered on some texts after the comparison to
remain competitive.

“Our prices were very comparable to Jayhawk Bookstore, usually within a
couple dollars,” Watts said, “and our prices were usually lower than The
University Book Store.”

On-line textbook buying is an option that 16 percent of students choose,
according to NACS. On-line businesses such as Amazon.com are sometimes able
to sell used books for less because individuals set the prices rather than a
publisher.

KU Bookstores are not in competition with on-line stores. “It is true that
you will see lower prices on-line,” Norris said, “but students get burned by
on-line business because it is not completely reliable.”

Hannah Miller, Grove, Okla., freshman, chose to split textbook buying
between the Internet and the KU Bookstore. “Some prices were the same and
some were cheaper on-line,” Miller said. “Others I could only get in the
bookstore.”