Posted on 01/17/2010 10:08:53 PM PST by Saije
At the beginning of each semester, George Mason University Bookstore's general manager ventures into the school's mailroom and tries to figure out where everyone bought their books, because fewer and fewer students are coming into her store.
This year, the competition was easy to spot: bright orange boxes from chegg.com, which considers itself the Netflix of textbook rentals.
Chegg.com has rented more than 2 million books to students at more than 6,400 schools since it was launched nationally in 2007. Students can rent books by the semester, quarter or summer at rates that vary depending on the popularity of the title and when the semester starts. But the books are usually at least half off retail. Students hang on to the orange boxes and mail the rented books back at the end of the semester for free.
The site has gained popularity by infiltrating Twitter and Facebook, using student ambassadors who are paid $5 for every customer they recruit (one student has made more than $17,000) and promising to plant a tree for every book rented. It has also agreed to donate money to Haiti earthquake relief efforts for each order. "Students are very green, but they are also very socially aware," said Tina Couch, a spokeswoman for the company.
Students are also thrifty, especially with prices of textbooks steadily increasing and, in some cases, spiking because publishing companies have packaged the thick volumes with computer programs, workbooks or access codes to content-related Web sites.
Estimates for a typical student's spending on textbooks range from $700 to $1,000 annually.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
College textbooks were always a giant scam.
Poor, poor college students! Why don’t we just have Gov’t takeover university education completely, and make it free tuition for all??
Isn’t that the solution??????
Especially because many of the changes between editions are gratuitous, just to force a re-purchase of books.
There’s nothing new in freshman calculus, for instance. Absolutely nothing new in the first two semesters of calc or physics in the last 100 years.
Same deal for chemistry, or English.
The interference by Uncle Sugar (with subsidized loans, tuition grants, etc) is part of what has driven the cost of college out of sight.
There’s an easy answer. We figured it out in my day!
Why didn’t I think of that? lol
How much has freshman level Calculus changed in the past hundred years? How about Shakespeare? Statics and Dynamics in mechanical engineering? Electronics? Well, OK, that’s changed a lot, but the others really haven’t changed much other than maybe the references in the practical problems. So why do you need a new textbook every couple of years other than to kill the used textbook market?
I remember a math class I was in and the professor had the textbook he used in college 35 years earlier. The book was from the same publisher about 15 editions earlier than what the class used. The chapters were in a different order and there were some new figures but the problem sets were the same! I also recall that the student bookstore there bought used books at the end of the semester but did not sell used books (they made more money by keeping the books out of the used market).
They were a scam. I always made sure to ask the seniors and in college, there was always a surplus of textbooks that the graduating class wont need. Yeah, I was sponge-liberal back then..
**...Gov’t takeover university education completely, and make it free tuition for all??**
Am I on FR or did I somehow transport to Daily KOOKS??
It warms my heart to see the free market find a way to stick it to these scammers.
Poor, poor college students! Why don’t we just have Gov’t takeover university education completely, and make it free tuition for all??
Isn’t that the solution??????
btw My kids USED books run at least $100/class and often much more. Sometimes they sell back for a minimal amount. They often buy off amazon and used text book sites as well.
Especially because many of the changes between editions are gratuitous, just to force a re-purchase of books.
There’s nothing new in freshman calculus, for instance. Absolutely nothing new in the first two semesters of calc or physics in the last 100 years.
Same deal for chemistry, or English.
I knew someone who devoted a lot of effort into writing a college text book. Now that I have 3 in college I know why—very lucrative....
We had that over 35 years ago where I went to school. Rent or purchase, it was up to the student. Nothing new.
Good for the students. The college textbooks racket is a huge scam - require students to buy expensive texts, which are obsoleted within a year or even from one semster to the next. And the books are essentially worthless within a short life - just try selling a used one back to the bookstore.
The college textbooks racket is a huge scam
I remember in college that i took an elective called Modern Germany...the Prof said on the first day he wanted us to buy 6 textbooks...i got up and walked out...dropped it..it’s a damn scam alright...used to grind my gears to pay that much for a book that is obsolete within a year.
Appalachian State started this years ago
Question: If one buys a used book online and then sells it the same way at the end of the semester, I would assume the net cost would be darn near zero. Or am I missing something?
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