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**Cvo1iRT0** · 01-21-2009, 08:01 PM

The problem is, from the bookstore's point of view, they are actually charging very little compared to the cost of the textbook. A normal book, say, The Davinci Code, a bookstore gets ~45% to ~55% discount on over retail, so if it is $15.00 retail the bookstore pays $7-$8 for it, and makes the rest in profit. You'd think college textbooks were a higher profit, as they're more expensive, right?

WRONG. College textbooks are ~5% profit for the bookstore, generally, unless they mark it up further than the retail price- and most don't. The printing houses and the professors who write them set the prices, and they set them at blatantly ridiculous levels. I remember an IR book I had to read, one of the classics, but about 70 pages (and small paperback, not a hardcover) - and it cost $70. $1 per page. The bookstore had a monopoly on all campus sales. They had deals with the registrar that they would ship you all your books ahead of time for added fees to your tuition at the start of each semester. Usually around 1000 dollars regardless of the actual book costs.

The book store routinely understocked (believing quite correctly that not all students would purchase). Many times they would just not have the book, meaning that students had to hunt around elsewhere. They just didn't care, because the university would not permit any competition to open on campus.

01-21-2009, 08:01 PM	#11
Cvo1iRT0 Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 378 Senior Member	The problem is, from the bookstore's point of view, they are actually charging very little compared to the cost of the textbook. A normal book, say, The Davinci Code, a bookstore gets ~45% to ~55% discount on over retail, so if it is $15.00 retail the bookstore pays $7-$8 for it, and makes the rest in profit. You'd think college textbooks were a higher profit, as they're more expensive, right? WRONG. College textbooks are ~5% profit for the bookstore, generally, unless they mark it up further than the retail price- and most don't. The printing houses and the professors who write them set the prices, and they set them at blatantly ridiculous levels. I remember an IR book I had to read, one of the classics, but about 70 pages (and small paperback, not a hardcover) - and it cost $70. $1 per page. The bookstore had a monopoly on all campus sales. They had deals with the registrar that they would ship you all your books ahead of time for added fees to your tuition at the start of each semester. Usually around 1000 dollars regardless of the actual book costs. The book store routinely understocked (believing quite correctly that not all students would purchase). Many times they would just not have the book, meaning that students had to hunt around elsewhere. They just didn't care, because the university would not permit any competition to open on campus.
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