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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1999)
e Battalion Aggielife Page 3 • Tuesday, May 4, 1999 Person fra® not talkii| cide is one J issues in j nds and | »ve ofthej In' beings elping tlie! if: nk to or ie filing them Uteelbetti 4 “Studei t for eaditi leurceont* [during si# g Service® •'eunselotsil ts 24 hotffit ndav dim| runselots® 12; alter» can betd| ine at Sts. 1 ti 5 to 7 if hind theft.-; ces a r eB iencenectp 220 forrol lerewtlite ; : the Cett^i it 693-23*1 tssa m. rpH M | enel /ill bea^ | in at 8 i! | will be pf i 691-82 at j- idu for mom ITY or Editor ditor r roducef i Casas Sl 81 ! ihersonS'-' erty.Oanpf; srkins.M 6 ' 1 ' 8 Bearden Not-so Eager Students explore new ways to buy BY KIFFEN COLLINS The Battalion CC A r A 1 jL JLu re you crazy, $400! It’s just two books!” Since starting college, ^every student has acquired an opinion about the price of books. Whether buying one lab manual or ten course-re quired books, students have found that the prices are never slim. However, there are options available to college students who prefer to price com pare when it comes to buying and selling books. Many Websites on the Internet offer stu dents access to a variety of college text books for purchase. Varsitybooks.com is a Website dedicat ed to providing books to students for “15 to 40 percent below retail.” The Website states campus book stores sell books for the publisher’s sug gested price, which is usually upgraded an additional 10 to 20 percent for their own profits. Varsitybooks.com allows a student to purchase books via the Internet using cred it cards. Sales tax and shipping charges are added on to the posted price of the book. However sales tax only applies to the states of Illinois and the District of Columbia, and shipping rates can range from $4.95 to $17.95, depending on the preferred time of delivery. Varsitybooks.com contains book lists for more than 75 schools across the United States, including Texas A&M, which are up dated each semester. The books are listed by school first, and then department head ings and finally by course. However, the books available for purchase are for under graduate studies only. This site allows for the purchase of new books. The Varsitybooks.com Website states that its prices for new texts remain competitive, and are often less expensive than what other book stores sell used books for. Hayden Hayes, a freshman biomedical major, said he buys his textbooks on the Internet because it is one less worry at the beginning of school. “My sister began buying her books from Internet sites such as Varsitybooks.com and she was the one who introduced me to online shopping,” he said. “I find it much easier than searching different book stores for all my texts. ” The only thing Varsitybooks.com does not offer is a buy back program. The store suggests selling used books to campus and local book stores, as they will usually buy them back without a receipt. Yet, if a book purchased from Varsitybooks.com is un satisfactory for any reason, it may be re turned within 30 days for a full refund. Another Website that has been draw ing students interest is studentadvan- tage.com. This is a resource for students created through exclusive partnerships with uni versities and businesses nationwide, and allows students to participate in discounts on products and services. Members of the student advantage pro gram receive a user ID number enabling them to access discounts of 10 to 50 per cent on purchases made through the Web site and at more than 12,000 national and local merchants, including Foot Locker, Amtrak, Tower Records, Staples, IBM and more. As there are not currently any discounts offered at book stores, studentadvan- tage.com said it is continuing to expand its list of merchants and is willing to give dis counts to students in the program. Cur rently, the discounts remain for extracur ricular activities aside from scholastic studies. Kelly Rutherford, a freshman general studies major, said her mother bought her a membership to studentadvantage.com before she went off to college. “She figured it would be a good way for me to save money and get discounts at some of my favorite stores,” she said. “The downside to it is that most of the discounts I Readers books in an attempt to save money offered are at stores not located in the Col lege Station area, as well as the fact that dis counts are not offered on textbooks. Al though it has come in handy when I am just shopping for other items of interest. ” A third Website that has generated stu dent interest is Textbookzone.com. This In ternet site allows student’s the opportunity to e-mail their course schedule in, and the organization will send a full list of books available for purchase and prices for each. Jason Lucas, a junior mechanical engi neering major, said Textbookzone.com is the simplest way to shop for books with no hassle. “I just send them my schedule each se mester and get the list of books and prices,” he said. “I can compare their prices with those in the MSC or any other local book store. ” While researching the various Websites for texts, the prices appeared very com petitive. For example, a Math 141 textbook from Varsitybooks.com was priced at $73.06, and the same text was $85.95 from Text- bookzone.com. An economics 202 macro economics book is $53.39 from Varsity- books.com, and $55.00 from Textbookzone.com. A third example is a zoology 107 text and lab manual. Both were $103.42 from Varsitybooks.com and $107.75 from Textbookzone.com. The Texas A&M University Bookstore also offers books for students. However, its prices were unobtainable for price comparison. The University Bookstore does stock all required textbooks for courses at A&M and also supplies a large number of used textbooks for students. This ensures the student that his book will be there and also requires no extra charge for shipping. The University Bookstore also offers students the option of selling their books back, which is not an option over the In ternet. The payback is usually 50 percent of the selling price for hardcover and large-format soft cover textbooks, and 25 percent for general, small-format, pre priced paperback books returned in good condition. Although there are many places to buy college textbooks, most students prefer get ting their books on campus or at local book stores because of the convenience. Jeff Cooney, a junior management in formation systems major, said he prefers buying his books on campus simply be cause he does not have enough time to browse the Internet for the best prices on textbooks. “I don’t really use the Internet much for shopping purposes, and I don’t have time to wait for my books to come in and hope they are the ones I need,” Cooney said. “Also, I don’t want to have to search the In ternet trying to find all my books if they are not all in one place. ” DATHAN NEUMEYER/Special to The Battalion Searching for the right spot. Jason Hart, Pother’s bookstore employee and a junior civil engineering major, stocks books that have been bought back from students. Town Coffeehouse Presents: Last Free Exit ‘TfR'BT; sch:o c W Tuesday May 4 th , 7 p.m. SW corner of Research Park Follow Signs Call 845-1515 for more information Bis
