It happens every semester. Students promise themselves they are going to find the best price for textbooks online. But they forget and it’s too late. So they run down to the local bookstores, where they pay the retail prices.
But just how much cheaper is online textbook shopping, if at all, than retail prices?
Students on the Monroe Park Campus can shop in at least three bookstores in the area: The Virginia Book Co., Carriage House Book Shop and VCU’s e2 Bookstore.
A recent random survey of textbook prices on the Internet and in the campus community found that, indeed, some books were cheaper on the Internet while others were not. Much of the price difference depended on the availability of a used book.
Sites such as Amazon.com and BN.com offer free shipping. In most cases, students can purchase several books and can opt for the five-to-seven-day ground shipping; therefore, students typically want to shop early to purchase used textbooks that sell fast.
Even if they do find better prices on the Internet, how much cheaper will those prices be than shopping at a nearby bookstore once they pay shipping costs?
“I bought my textbooks online one semester,” said Meredyth Thurston, a junior mass communications major. “I found that I spent just as much money after I paid for shipping.”
Some students, however, say Internet shopping can become a hassle.
“It’s just easier to go to the store,” said Lauren Kirby, a senior English major. “I just buy all of my books at VCU’s e2 Bookstore. They have everything I need.”
Still, some of the smaller local bookstores don’t always stock the books students need. For example, an unofficial survey indicated that textbooks for the ENGL 200, HIST 101 and POLI 103 classes can be found at local bookstores, but Carriage House stocks only two of the three books, while the Virginia Book Co. and e2 stocked all three.
“I used to shop at Carriage House Book Shop just for English classes usually,” Kirby said, adding that she had some teachers who only order their books through that store.
Scott Selby of Carriage House said the store caters to many of the VCU professors’ needs.
“We’ve been working with some professors for the past 30 years,” he said. “We started as a regular trade bookstore, but over the years professors had us order books for them. Eventually it made more sense to start selling textbooks.”
Students who wonder about which store offers the lowest price on a textbook would learn that the Virginia Book Co.’s price list ranks lowest.
“We are normally $2 to $10 cheaper on most books,” said James Black, the store’s assistant manager. “In some cases we are as much as $17 cheaper for some books.”
Nonetheless, all VCU-area retailers reported that the Internet textbook sites affect their book sales.
“We have had decreased sales over the past few years,” Selby said. “Either the students aren’t buying books anymore or they are going to the Internet.”
To counteract the Internet’s negative impact on their textbook sales, retailers offer incentives to students via promotions. VCU’s e2 offers 20-percent-off coupons for students who spend more than $100 on books, and the Virginia Book Co. earlier this semester offered a free gift to students who purchased books with RamBucks.
“Even though my parents pay for my books I still try to find the best deal,” Thurston said, “because I keep the extra money.”