Why are books for school so expensive?

[Cyrus]

Man, I just bought my books for school and it came out to $619.00

I could have bought a model airplane with that much money!

http://www.bookstation.net/catalog/images/0130489875.jpg

http://www.edirectory.co.uk/pf/images/products/2184/i/02cf475a.jpg

http://g.bookpool.com/covers/707/0139239707_500.gif

http://bilder3.booxtra.de/produkte/000000164/000000164454n.jpg

Someone give me a discount!

 

[chroot]

The authors gotsta get paid. (And the editors.. and publishers.. and printers.. and distributors.. and warehouse managers.. and forklift operators.. and bookstore employees.. and other random middle-men who take a cut for doing practically nothing..) Ugh. Sorry they're so expensive.

- Warren

 

[Moonbear]

What used to drive me nuts was that the smaller the book was, the more expensive it got! But, then again, that's because those were usually more specialized for upper level classes, so they didn't sell as many copies to make their profit on bulk sales as they do in the introductory courses.

 

[neutrino]

Is the size of each picture proportional to the amount of money you spent on the book?

 

[ksle82]

Wow, that's a lot of money. Here's how i would pay for my book:
I would buy my book online in the SUMMER (Amazon, ebay.com, half.com) when the DEMANDS ARE LOW. Thats when they're cheap. I would also choose paperback or the international edition so it would be even cheaper. I would never buy from the bookstore unless it's absolutely neccessary.

And if you want to sell the books later, sell them when the DEMANDS ARE HIGH (when schools begin to start nationwide). If you do this correctly you would actually make a profit like me :).

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We need to sell books as .pdf files.

How long will this madness continue?



I sure do prefer getting Scientific American as a .pdf.

 

[Cyrus]

Wow, that's a lot of money. Here's how i would pay for my book:
I would buy my book online in the SUMMER (Amazon, ebay.com, half.com) when the DEMANDS ARE LOW. Thats when they're cheap. I would also choose paperback or the international edition so it would be even cheaper. I would never buy from the bookstore unless it's absolutely neccessary.

And if you want to sell the books later, sell them when the DEMANDS ARE HIGH (when schools begin to start nationwide). If you do this correctly you would actually make a profit like me :).

The teachers do not put out the book list until just before class starts. And you do not sell back your engineering books...thats a really bad idea.

 

[chroot]

What I love is how many popular textbooks have new editions coming out almost every year, with hardly any changes except a few new problems or an extra chapter. I'm convinced that they only do this to kill the used-book market and make sure every student has to pay full list price.

- Warren

 

[dmoravec]

yeah, I've had a few professors laugh about the yearly new additions. In general they were fine with people using old versions and even had the bookstore continue selling them.

 

[scorpa]

I only needed to buy 3 books and it cost me 350 bucks...can't wait till next semester when I need 4 new ones...ughh.

 

[neutrino]

Where I live, you can get them all for $40.9899 at the current rate, if only content is of prime importance.

 

[Cyrus]

Do you live in Banladesh? My friend had one (int edition). Its printed on used toilet paper. :rofl:

 

[neutrino]

Do you live in Banladesh?

Close enough. :tongue2:

 

[heman]

Cyrus,,why do you need to buy all the books...i guess your library should have the facility to get them issued for sufficient period!

 

[Cyrus]

No. The library does not carry course books, you have to buy them.

I go to Rip-you-off University. Your diploma is a receipt.

 

[heman]

i really feel a bit lucky..because in my past 2 years i never bought a book and till now i haven't figured a book recommended in pf which i could not find in my library..

 

[Cyrus]

What are you going to do when you get a job, run to your schools library? You have to buy them at some point. They are a necessity.

 

[ek]

I justify the cost of books with the notion that they are not just to be used for the course, but as reference texts in whatever my future endeavours may be.

 

[Moonbear]

i really feel a bit lucky..because in my past 2 years i never bought a book and till now i haven't figured a book recommended in pf which i could not find in my library..

What do you do when someone else is using the library's copy of the book? I knew one student who did that because she was too poor to afford to buy books, but she ended up also doing very poorly in her classes, because she couldn't always get the books when she needed them because someone else would check them out or recall them when she had them checked out (after students had a book for 2 weeks, someone could recall them so they could check it out too, so you couldn't renew it indefinitely), or some course texts were kept on reserve, so they could only be used in the library to ensure they were always available, but then you can only study during hours you can get to the library.

When I was a student, I bought all my books new, mostly because I learned after the first year that I couldn't STAND having someone else's highlighting or notes distracting me in a used copy, and really, the used copies weren't that much cheaper to really make it worth it, especially for upper level courses where you want to keep the book as a reference long after you take the course.

But, just wait until you're in grad school, and instead of buying textbooks, you find you're forever shelling out the money for photocopying or printing costs for all the journal articles you'll need! It was easy to spend $20 to $50 a week in photocopying, in addition to those courses that still required textbooks.

 

[Cyrus]

When I was a student, I bought all my books new, mostly because I learned after the first year that I couldn't STAND having someone else's highlighting or notes distracting me in a used copy, and really, the used copies weren't that much cheaper to really make it worth it, especially for upper level courses where you want to keep the book as a reference long after you take the course.

Yep, same here. I NEVER write in my books EVER. Thats what pen and paper are for.

 

[Lisa!]

*Note to self that I don't need to buy these books since cyrus has them especially the 4th 1!*

 

[heman]

What do you do when someone else is using the library's copy of the book? I knew one student who did that because she was too poor to afford to buy books, but she ended up also doing very poorly in her classes, because she couldn't always get the books when she needed them because someone else would check them out or recall them when she had them checked out (after students had a book for 2 weeks, someone could recall them so they could check it out too, so you couldn't renew it indefinitely), or some course texts were kept on reserve, so they could only be used in the library to ensure they were always available, but then you can only study during hours you can get to the library.

When I was a student, I bought all my books new, mostly because I learned after the first year that I couldn't STAND having someone else's highlighting or notes distracting me in a used copy, and really, the used copies weren't that much cheaper to really make it worth it, especially for upper level courses where you want to keep the book as a reference long after you take the course.

But, just wait until you're in grad school, and instead of buying textbooks, you find you're forever shelling out the money for photocopying or printing costs for all the journal articles you'll need! It was easy to spend $20 to $50 a week in photocopying, in addition to those courses that still required textbooks.

You have a very valid point...
you know like i used to get the books issued and used to use them for full semester.consider my laziness or need to get them reissued but i avoid that..like on each book i used to have a fine for around 4 months...
but the fine is so low that i have no problem paying it...

 

[Daverz]

The authors gotsta get paid.

I doubt most of that money is going to the author.

And I don't want to hear any crap about markets. The instructor is not choosing books based on price, and the students don't have any choice at all (apart from opting out altogether).

 

[Cyrus]

*Note to self that I don't need to buy these books since cyrus has them especially the 4th 1!*

You see this? She's already trying to move in and claim my stuff as her own...:grumpy: WOMEN! :!)

 

[Math Is Hard]

I feel your pain. They used to at least make the books oversized and stuff them with companion CD ROMS and study guides and all kinds of crapola to at least give an illusion that you were getting something worth over $100.

But now I think they don't even care what we think anymore. We have no choice but to buy the damn things so screw us. I just got this book and it's a tiny, thin little thing. Doesn't come with a CD ROM or any doo-dads.

$107 for this. Lame.

 

[heman]

so photocopying the whole book ...i think would have been the better option in this case

I wonder what this book contains...title is "Research Methods"

 

[mrjeffy321]

I took two classes whose books were about $130, each. They were thin books too, not that they really matters, but when I pay that much for a single book, I want it to look like it is actually worth that much. And of course, it was a summer class, so I only used the books for a month, I didn’t even get an entire semester's "enjoyment" out of them.

 

[scorpa]

or some course texts were kept on reserve, so they could only be used in the library to ensure they were always available, but then you can only study during hours you can get to the library.

When I was a student, I bought all my books new, mostly because I learned after the first year that I couldn't STAND having someone else's highlighting or notes distracting me in a used copy, and really, the used copies weren't that much cheaper to really make it worth it, especially for upper level courses where you want to keep the book as a reference long after you take the course.

.

That's how it works at my library to, there is a reserve room with one or two copies of each text and you cannot take them out of the room. I also hate using someone elses old books so what I usually do is I buy all brand new science books and buy the books for arts courses (or any other option) used to save money (and those ones get sold again if possible). This year I actually got lucky. I was able to trade some books with friends, that way it won't be in my space for the year and he doesn't have to buy it, but I will get it back later when I want it (it was an ochem text that is definitely a keeper), and he gave me one of his texts that I will need for this year (and then never want to see again...haha). It works out well and you save a lot of money.

 

[devious_]

Have you tried using abebooks.com? I managed to find all your books for $173.56, without shipping. And I didn't choose the cheapest options. You could also try firstandsecond.com for international editions.

I didn't pay a cent over $250cdn for 3 semesters worth of books. You just need to know where to look.

 

[Kalimaa23]

I fully agree with Ivan. Electronic publishing is the way to go. You can already find a lot of good GR/QFT texts on the axiv, so I don't know why you should bother to buy textbooks.

 

[J77]

Can the university require books that it doesn't supply in the library??

 

[mattmns]

My books were sooooo cheap this semester (well except for 1 of them, which was outrageous). My books were: 38 + (12 + 11) + 91 + 90 = $242 three of which I got from Amazon, saving me about $35. The expensive book was this little Combinatorics book that is listed at $115, but Amazon was selling for $91. Either way, $242 for books for 3 Math classes and Russian, I thought it was great

 

[daveb]

bestwebbuys.com is also a good site for textbooks.

 

[Moonbear]

I fully agree with Ivan. Electronic publishing is the way to go. You can already find a lot of good GR/QFT texts on the axiv, so I don't know why you should bother to buy textbooks.

I can't read for content on a computer screen. I could never do that. I'd have spent just as much on printing costs in the end, and then had a bunch of printouts instead of a neatly bound book.

Can the university require books that it doesn't supply in the library??

Of course. Books are part of the expected expenses for a university education.

 

[J77]

Of course. Books are part of the expected expenses for a university education.

Sadly, it will probably become that way in the UK also.