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The Verdict is in!
The BEST Prices on Textbooks Are at the Campus Bookstore.
By Mark Palmore

Online textbook sellers have spent millions of dollars this fall trying to convince you to buy your textbooks online. Companies such as Varsitybook.com and BigWords.com claim they have the lowest prices on textbooks — as much as 40 percent off retail prices. But the truth is coming out!

According to a recent article by U.S. News & World Report and research conducted by the National Association of College Stores (NACS), the best bargains on textbooks are still found at the campus bookstore. When other online buying issues are taken into account — shipping costs, textbook availability, lack of used textbook selection and timeliness of delivery — purchasing textbooks at your campus bookstore remains the only logical choice for most students.

In the U.S. News & World Report article, "Textbooks 101: Web Offers Few Bargains," (Sept. 20 issue, page 74) reporter Kenneth Terrell compared prices on nine textbooks at five online textbook sites and found "the results for the Internet stores were disappointing, if the goal is to offer students an attractive match of lower prices and convenient shopping."

NACS research on textbook prices supports this finding. The national trade association randomly selected 50 titles and of the 44 books available from all sources, the campus bookstore offered the lowest price, or a competitive price, 80 percent of the time. Important to note, however, is that this comparison did not include shipping or handling charges incurred for the online orders, which would increase the cost of buying textbooks online.

Many campus bookstores now offer students the opportunity to purchase textbooks online from their "click-and-mortar" Web sites, which means you have the convenience of placing your order when you want and picking your books up later — with all the advantages of shopping at the campus bookstore: reasonable prices, the best selection of new and used textbooks and the convenience of getting your books when you need them, on time!

The typical student is in his or her late teens or early 20s. We're idealistic, yet practical. We're open to trying new things and new ways of doing things. But we're not stupid. Online textbook sellers can spend millions to advertise half truths, but that doesn't mean we're going to change the way we buy our textbooks.