tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post8613993425070260985..comments2023-09-30T06:14:57.271-05:00Comments on Not Living on Ramen: Textbooks cost way too much.E.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05595667311126848588noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post-84526100903571165942008-01-16T09:55:00.000-06:002008-01-16T09:55:00.000-06:00Thanks Jessica, finally, I get 1 textbooks from th...Thanks Jessica, finally, I get 1 textbooks from the COCOMARTINI online bookstore and save me $100<BR/><BR/>hehe ^_^Andywherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02780950259085564088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post-63854270725400347252008-01-15T14:57:00.000-06:002008-01-15T14:57:00.000-06:00I work in college publishing, and while I take iss...I work in college publishing, and while I take issue with a lot of the stuff that drives up the cost of textbooks (particularly ancillary bundling), it's the professors who demand these perks. Most textbooks come with a hefty set of ancillaries you never see--a test bank (i.e. prefab test questions), a set of PowerPoint slides, instructor's editions, etc. We do them because if we don't, your professors will choose our competitors' books, the ones with all the bells and whistles.English Majorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00276582833751319518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post-1613223391380620502008-01-15T10:22:00.000-06:002008-01-15T10:22:00.000-06:00The college book market is probably a racket in th...The college book market is probably a racket in the grand scheme of things. The professors always pick brand new editions of books with new content because they need to create new exams, homework and quizs to help reduce the possibility of cheating. If you have any advanced books like calculus or physics they have multiple authors, which always increases the cost of the book. I can't remember how many books I spent over $100 on that I couldn't even sell back since a new version was going to be used the next semester. Usually I would average $300 in books and selling them back would only get me about $30-50 to go out to the bar with at the end of the semester since I was usually broke by then anyway.Jim ~ mydebtblog.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12831157334066115572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post-40471162775223065612008-01-14T17:37:00.000-06:002008-01-14T17:37:00.000-06:00Jim-It isn't so much the impact on my finances tha...Jim-<BR/>It isn't so much the impact on my finances that bothers me as the principle of the thing. There ought to be a lower cost way of getting the information we need from these books; the textbook industry is a racket. I buy used whenever I can, but they churn out new editions so often that that isn't always possible. There have also been semesters when I've had to pay costs over the $500 I'm given. Any parents of high school seniors take note: you might need to factor $1,000 a year for books into your projected college costs.E.C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05595667311126848588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post-63224719459000204432008-01-14T16:03:00.000-06:002008-01-14T16:03:00.000-06:00Maybe I am missing something here, but why are you...Maybe I am missing something here, but why are you complaining about the cost of books when you get a voucher to cover them? When I was in college I made a nifty Excel spreadsheet with the book ISBN numbers and all the sites I could buy it at. I also assessed whether or not I needed the book for the class, because I didn't want to take on the expense. Buying used books also helps reduce cost too. Hang on to that scholarship, I never got a book voucher with mine but it did cover my tuition cost so that helped a lot.Jim ~ mydebtblog.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12831157334066115572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post-51346572554582909652008-01-14T08:21:00.000-06:002008-01-14T08:21:00.000-06:00So true! If you're on facebook, I'd also recommend...So true! If you're on facebook, I'd also recommend using the marketplace to purchase used texts directly from other students. I've both bought and sold that way. <BR/><BR/>My city has three universities, and someone's set up a website for direct buy/sell between students from all of them (http://www.tusbe.com/). It might be worth some googling to see if there's something similar where you are.Christine Rebeccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11068719624256428421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911917248033923490.post-22855960152282771012008-01-13T22:17:00.000-06:002008-01-13T22:17:00.000-06:00I'm totally with you. The textbook industry is su...I'm totally with you. The textbook industry is such a scam. Some "new editions" they really only change the problem sets. Nice.<BR/><BR/>I've had a few profs that said no book was necessary, but it isn't common.<BR/><BR/>Abebooks.com usually has international editions. Sometimes cheaper than amazon, not always...SJeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12009307751501366318noreply@blogger.com