Bookstores competitive
Students find creative cost-saving methods to acquire books I
By Kathryn Borman
Staff Reporter
Purchasing textbooks can often be
a confusing and costly new experi
ence for freshmen at the University of
Ncbraska-Lincoln.
But UNL’s textbook providers say
this docs not have to be the ease.
Jim Bellman, textbook manager at
Nebraska Bookstore, 1300 Q Street,
said freshmen who have not had to
purchase textbooks in the past might
be shocked by the textbook cost of
S2(X)-$300 for one semester.
In order to reduce casts, students
might buy textbooks only as they find
they arc needed for a course, he said,
or they might look toother sources for
acquiring texts.
Bellman said he had seen more
students getting literature texts from
either used paperback stores or the
library.
Students also borrow textbooks
from others who have previously taken
the course.
He said students often do what
they can to prevent themselves from
buying texts as they become more
expensive.
“Publishers arc aware prices arc
going up and there will be market
resistance,” Bellman said. “If students
arc sharing books, the bookstore sells
fewer books and the publisher sells
fewer books."
He said that some publishers were
introducing “no frills” textbooks
whichcliminalcdcostlyenhanccmcnts
such as photographs, graphics and
glossy pages to the cost of the book.
Textbooks for technical subjects, such
as horticulture or anatomy, however,
often require photographs and graph
ics, Bellman said.
In addition, more advanced meth
ods of conveying information to stu
dents, such as videotapes on televi
sion production or sign language, arc
beneficial but more expensive than
traditional texts, he said.
Both Bellman and Gwen Behrends,
textbook manager at the University
Bookstore in the Nebraska Union,
-it
Publishers are aware
prices are going up
and there will be
market resistance. If
students are sharing
books, the bookstore
sells fewer books and
the publisher sells
fewer books.
— Bellman, textbook
manager,
Nebraska Bookstore
-ft -
said that their textbook departments
attempted to be competitive, both in
pricing and when buying back text
books.
The main cost of textbooks is de
termined by the publisher, and as their
prices increase, ihcbookslorc’spriccs
must increase also.
“Our store is right at the national
average,” Behrends said of the Uni-^
versily BoOkslOrc. She cited a recent
convention of college bookstores she
had attended, at which all representa
tives indicated a 25 percent markup
on textbooks.
“We use that markup to cover ship
ping, handling, labor and possible
return costs,” she said.
Sometimes classes are cancelled
or enrollment is low in a course, and
then the bookstore must cover return
costs out of its profits, she said.
Behrends also said University
Bookstore tried to be competitive on
its book buy-back prices. She said the
rate was 60 percent of the current
price for books that the store would
need for next semester.
However, the buy-back price de
creased for books of which the store
already had sufficient copies, and
dropped to 10 percent for mass mar
ket literature novels.
Because lex tbooks arc cosll y, there
is a temptation for people to steal
them and return or sell them back to
the bookstores, Behrends said.
Popular spots for theft arc at the
slacks in the libraries when students
leave their books unattended, in resi
dence hall cafeterias where many stu
dents leave their books while eating
and from the racks outside of the
bookstores when students do not check
their books with bookstore personnel
or use book lockers.
Avoiding these situations reduces
the risk of theft, Behrends said.
She also said students should iden
tify their textbooks as soon as they
have determined that none of their
texts will need to be returned to the
bookstore. This could be something
as simple as writing one’s name in the
textbook or something more complex
such as picking a page number and
writingonc’snamcor ID number near
the binding on the page in every text
book.
If a student’s textbook is stolen and
they report ilquickly to the University
Bookstore, store personnel can be
alerted if someone tries to sell back a
copy of the stolen text, Behrends said.
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