Show College Textbooks Norma Hendrickson Contributing Writer College textbook prices grab the attention of students Most students dread purchasing the required texts and resent the prices they must pay Where and when students purchase their books can greatly affect the cost Three retail sources exist for students Store PJ's College Books Online booksellers Sharon Riggs textbook manager manag manag- I er for the bookstore said Its the price of education People dont don't want to pay for fora a textbook but they dont don't hesitate I to pay for a pair of jeans Riggs explained prices are higher at the college store because the costs are higher The store is required to stock enough copies of every text for r every course to supply every enrolled student Store policy allows percent refunds on books returned dur during the first three weeks of the semester Riggs said students can save t money by purchasing used f f books The demand for used books exceeds the supply The The- best time to buy them is right after finals and before classes for forSee forSee forSee See Textbooks on page 4 I Textbooks continued from page 1 the new semester begin Savings are maximized if students resell their old texts back during designated designated designated buyback dates During these dates students receive 50 percent of the new book price for new or used books Fall semester semester semester semes semes- ter buyback dates are December 4 through December 12 PJ's College Store 1935 W. W S. S also carries many books required by students Dave Jones store manager points out they buy back books every day all year long Prices are usually lower than the on- on campus store When asked w why y people choose PJ's Jones said We have more used books lower prices shorter lines and free parking right next to the store PJ's matches buyback offer on the same dates Managers of both stores pointed out that based on supply and demand there are exceptions to the rule PJ's also offers a full refund on books returned during the first two weeks of the semes semes- ter The lowest prices are online Surprisingly one online ne bookseller bookseller book boo seller agreed with Riggs when he explained why We dont don't need to carry new books from the publisher we dont don't need to carry percent of the books for every class we offer you a large but limited quantity of books at better prices than your average bookstore but we can in no way replace them or fulfill the needs of every student student student stu stu- stu- stu dent wrote Mark A. A Freed General Manager on the of Online booksellers offer advantages advantages advantages in addition to lower prices Typically customers pay no sales tax bec because use it is not collected at atthe atthe atthe the time of sale Books are shipped directly to the customer so there is no standing in line or driving from store to store Shipping costs drive up the price and average about per book It takes longer to get the books they cannot be examined examined examined exam exam- ined before purchase and returning returning returning return return- ing them is more costly and less convenient than at a traditional store Online buyers must beware The return policies and customer service vary widely The books offered may not be the most recent editions The best method to make an accurate comparison is to use the ISBN number found on the back of any book and verify verify verify ver ver- the edition A few online booksellers operate operate operate oper oper- ate an actual store Two of these stores are http and e C a m p u s. s c o m http has a full day 14 refund policy and live customer service representatives Customers purchase books directly from the store and are charged for the first book and for each additional one The store had more selections and low prices but no specific return policy posted An mail e-mail addressed to their return department came ame back as undeliverable undeliverable undeliverable unde- unde and the one sent to customer customer customer cus cus- tomer service was not answered Some stores like http WW and J http have some books in their own inventories inventories inventories ries but also refer buyers to other i sellers which may have different j shipping rates or return policies than the original stores 1 Another type of online bookseller bookseller bookseller book book- seller is actually a search engine Buyers enter the book description and receive a price comparison listing various places to purchase s the book on the web Examples of these stores are A 1 I Boo k s tor e s com http http com J and half com http j com C i |