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Not-so Eager
Students explore new ways to buy
BY KIFFEN COLLINS
The Battalion
CC A r
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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