College textbooks are expensive. The secret to spending as little as possible on textbooks too often eludes students until about their junior year. By then the student may have spent a lot more money than they needed to. Here we will give you a few tips to help you save money.

• Find out what book is in use for the class that you want to take. Then find out the copyright year of the book. Books that are 2 years old may not have a buyback value at the end of the semester. The newer the book, the better the chance that you can sell it back later.
• Buy USED, Buy EARLY. Used textbooks are in high demand by most students. The earlier you make your purchase the better the selection of used textbooks. IMPORTANT: Make sure you know the return policy of the store or website to ensure that, if you drop the class, you can return the book.
• Shop around a little. Know what your textbook is worth. The College Store has a price, but you may find the prices lower, and sometimes higher on websites and at other stores. We suggest checking out www.studentshopper.com as a price comparison website.
• When buying online, make sure that you are dealing with a reputable seller. Don't ignore feedback left by past customers. Try to determine whether the seller actually has the item in stock, or is just listing somebody else's textbooks.
• Whenever possible, buy directly from the website or bookseller that owns the book. (For example: Bookbyte offers greater discounts on books that we list on our own site than we offer when the same books are listed on other websites.)
• Books purchased from a store that are in shrink-wrap are usually not returnable if unwrapped. Check for labels that say "No return if opened." DO NOT open the package unless you are sure that you want to keep the book.
• Return your books as soon as you know you do not need them. Stores and websites state how long you have to return the book. No company wants to deny your return, but you need to follow the policies.
• Sell back your books at the end of each semester. You have the best chance of getting the most money back on your books at that time.
• Finally, read the information here to help you better understand the college bookstore industry; oh yeah - use Bookbyte.com to save lots of money.

Why are Textbooks So Expensive?

First of all, it costs a lot to make one. One publisher estimated one million dollars in production costs before it comes off the press. Color printing, hard covers and high quality paper add to the cost.

However, this is not the only reason for the prices being so high.

It is NOT the college bookstore that makes the price so high. It is the publishers.

Publishers are currently changing editions about every 2 years. They do this in order to make up income they perceive as lost due to the sale of used books.

Students know that used books save them money. The publishers know this as well. Publishers frown on the re-selling of books, but a principle called "the first sale doctrine," declares it legal to resell books without having to pay the publisher anything for the resale. This is the principle that allows used books to be bought and sold.

The publishers have crated some marketing strategies to increase sales and try to deter book re-selling:

Ancillary Material: These are instructor goodies. Since the publisher sells the book to the faculty for adoption and not to the student, the first level of marketing is to the faculty. Ancillary materials include test banks, web sites (hey you cannot get in with a used book), PowerPoint lecture slides, videos, CD-ROM’s and Instructor’s manuals. Students pay for these materials as their costs are rolled into the production cost of the textbook itself.

Value Added; Free stuff with the book. Often this stuff is unwanted by the faculty, but it makes the new book look like a good deal. Suffice to say that the value added stuff is incorporated in the price of the textbook as well.

Instructor and Annotated Copies: These are freebies that are given out like candy to faculty to help persuade them to adopt their book. The publishers hand out $75 books as a marketing tool. The law states that if you send something to somebody without their request, it is theirs to keep and do with as they wish. Free copies cannot be taken back if not adopted; and there are many non-adopted texts. You pay for these as well in the price of your textbook.

As you can see, the price of the book is high because you, the purchaser, are often paying for sales and marketing, add-ons, and the impact of the secondary used market. Interestingly, as new book prices keep increasing, the used market continues to grow.

The history of the textbook is an old tale.

Medieval students, who were able to do so, would purchase a copy of the text of their course of study at a college or university. The print was small, leaving wide top, bottom, and side margins allowing the student to write down the lecturer's commentary, references, and definitions. Poorer students, who could not afford books, would equip themselves with parchment, and write down the text as the lecturer read it to them. They would add the same marginalia and finish the course having made their own annotated copy of the text. One can see examples of such "textbooks" in most rare books libraries.

The textbook was little different when it started out in America; but, unlike Medieval times, the students did the reading and the schoolmaster questioned the students, drawing the commentary from the students themselves. School books became public property, so writing in the margins ended. Some textbooks are printed with use sidebars, a relic of that practice.

The “readers” that served generations of grammar school students were collections of stories such as The Great Stone Face, Hiawatha, and The Ride of Paul Revere. The stories were generally moralizing tales, their vocabulary, syntax, and moral lessons growing more complex with each step or grade.

Well into the twentieth century, most American students were rural and attended one-room schoolhouses of five to twenty students under the direction of a single teacher; the teacher often being a recent graduate of the same school. The fortunate 2-3% of American students able to partake of higher education came from diverse backgrounds and had varying levels of academic knowledge. Under these circumstances, the use of a standardized textbook became not only an effective way of preparing students who had not enjoyed wide reading, but it was a great equalizer.

Textbooks begin with the writer. Most texts are written by professors or those who teach in the subject area. Publishers are always on the lookout for new textbooks, so when their sales reps visit campuses, they look for new book projects. When they find one, they fill out a form to send to the Acquisitions Editor. The Acquisitions Editor will contact the author, asking for a synopsis of the textbook, usually about four sample chapters, and a resume of the author. The editor then reviews the information to see if there is interest in the project.

The next step is to send the sample chapters out for reading by other professionals in the same field. The readers are asked question and the results are scored. If this first small test is successful, then the chapters of the textbook are sent to a wider group of professionals to go through the same process.

The next step is where most books end their life cycle--the Marketing Committee. The publisher puts together a project proposal based on the cost of production, marketing, anticipated sales and revenue. If the book looks like it can generate a profit, it will go forward; if not, the textbook will die in committee and not be created.

The physical creation of a textbook can be a long and expensive process. Facts have to be verified. Illustrations need to be gathered, along with permissions and payments for their use. Then, there is typesetting, press production, binding and finishing. At an estimated cost of about one million dollars before the first book even rolls off the press, the publisher needs to sell 16,700 books to recover the cost of production (assuming an average selling price to a bookstore of $60).