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Stores Surprised by Textbook Prices
8/8/08
All around the country, college bookstore professionals recently began doing double-takes as they unpacked book shipments for fall term. While incremental price increases are always expected over time, on some titles, prices had leapt 10% in just a year, twice the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 5% Consumer Price Index for June (up from 2.7% in June 2007). Other titles had soared 30% and even 40% since this time last year.
Staffers are wondering how to explain these increases to faculty, students, parents, and campus and local media. College stores and the textbook industry in general have already been taking a beating in news media across the country over textbook prices.
“Some prices really caught my eye and a few made me jump,” recalled Jim Simpson, assistant director of bookstores, Miami University, Oxford, OH. He first spotted the increases while changing prices on books he’d received from his wholesaler. “At least two books have gone up so much that the net from the publisher is more than the new retail was the last time we used the book. I’m just not sure how you justify a $20-$30 increase in a book from one year to the next.”
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Mary Deenik, textbook manager, Hope-Geneva Bookstore, Hope College, Holland, MI, found similar increases while processing invoices for large shipments from Pearson and Cengage. “Those are the two that really caught my attention for substantial increases,” she said. “Book after book had price increases. I’m seeing higher prices almost across the board from large and small publishers, but at lower percentages. There are a few who have held the line on costs. We are also seeing more fuel surcharges that further erode the bookstore income.”
Deenik said one chemistry package in particular, a chemistry textbook with study guide/solutions manual by Cengage Learning, stood out. Her recent invoice history for the title shows these increases: July 1, 2007: $209.50 net July 19, 2007: $218 net June 27, 2008: $240.25 net “Using an industry standard markup would result in a product priced more than $300,” she pointed out. “I told our store director I cannot in good conscience charge that. We have reduced our margin to keep the list price below $300. I hope we can cover the shipping costs.” “If I were to list everything we have received to date with a 10% increase in cost price over last year, it would take me all day—and the bulk of our shipments have not even arrived yet,” said Lina Lipscombe, director, bookstore, computer store, and digital store, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada. Laurie Taylor, assistant manager, Southeast Bookstore, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, said that of her 240 titles, prices on more than half increased, 16% of them by 10% or more over last year’s prices. Taylor saw increases from all the publishers with which she deals. “Since we are a rental, it really won’t affect my students this semester, since my fees are fixed. However, we will have to look about increasing the rental fees in the future,” she said. Chris Tabor, general manager, Queen’s University Campus Bookstore, Kingston, ON, Canada, also found price spikes on titles from a variety of publishers, some more than others. “From what I have seen, most Nelson Cengage titles are 11%-plus in increases,” he said. Looking at a variety of publishers, Tabor pulled several titles as example, all with three-figure prices: • A ceramics book by John Wiley & Sons was up 36% since June 2007. • A German language text by McGraw-Hill was up 19% since July 2007. • A chemical engineering title by Pearson was up 40% since August 2007. • A computer book, also by Pearson, was up 23% since June 2007. |
NACS TOOLS HELP EXPLAIN TEXTBOOK PRICES
NACS offers several tools that member stores can use to help them address the issue of textbook prices with faculty, students, and any media that might contact them.
Where the New Textbook Dollar Goes, created through a grant from the NACS Foundation, is useful in explaining the breakdown of textbook prices. A poster-sized, color version of this graphic was sent to all NACS full-store members as part of the June Magic Mailing.
FAQs on Textbooks was created by NACS specifically to address frequently asked questions about textbook costs. A brochure explaining textbook costs also is available on order through The NACS Store.
Dealing with the Media
 When a fledgling crusading journalist from the student newspaper (or a seasoned local reporter) comes calling, avoid the dreaded "No comment" by using these tips to keep control of the interview and stay on message.
Consumer Tips was developed to provide advice to students unsure of the best way to save money on textbooks.
Going to Bat for Students—It always helps to let students know you're on their side. This document outlines what college stores are doing to help keep the price of required course materials as reasonable as possible.
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“I plan to explain to students that publishers have raised prices this year considerably,” Wright said. “There are many reasons, but the end result is the same. We are working harder to supply more used books to help students save money.”
Taylor said she’d alert departments about the higher prices of workbooks, readers, and graduate-level textbooks that the store has to sell. “I have never had to do that before,” she noted. “Of course, that makes us work that much harder to find used textbooks and more buybacks if possible.”
Tabor said so far his store had sent 16 letters to professors. “Our text manager sends one each time a book has increased over 14%.” Tabor has been told by some publishers that they have a “blended” increase of 3%-4% and that some books have even dropped in price. He added that, in his experience, many of the books that have decreased in price are old stock with little demand.
Simpson said that “explanations aren’t my responsibility at this point. Faculty have made their decisions without my input. Students are going to purchase wherever they find the cheapest price and, frankly, complain regardless when they end up with an international edition that I can’t/won’t buy back from them.
“It’s my considered opinion that the publishers need to explain how/why this is happening. It’s not something we as bookstores can control. We’re all seeing increases throughout the retail world, whether it’s clothing, groceries, discretionary items—it really makes no difference.”
Andrea Lepinski, bookstore specialist, Columbia Gorge Community College Bookstore, The Dalles, OR, has also met with some instructors to ask how they feel about using old textbook editions to keep costs down. Some instructors like it because it means they don’t have to redo their syllabi. Of course, there are always others for whom nothing but the newest edition will do.
Lepinski has turned to secondhand sources such as Amazon.com rather than ordering from the major publishers. “When reps call because my orders have been so small,” she said, “I tell them pointblank why we have opted not to move to the newer edition.
“We have one class that has been using the same edition for a few years and the book is all over the Internet for less than five bucks. The book costs students about $25 through the bookstore, which is way lower than the $180 price tag of the latest edition.”
Tabor said it’s important to remember that while the books showing a price spike may represent only a small percentage of some publishers’ titles, they can at the same time represent 100% of the titles used in a particular course. “Few students take comfort from the fact a different book used in a different course did not rise in price as fast as the book they are required to buy,” he said.
Asked about sharp price increases on some titles, Susan Aspey, Pearson’s director of communications, stated, “We offer students more low-cost alternatives than ever before and we continue to make significant investments in affordable learning options, including digital texts. Our current pricing practices and policies are consistent with our historical practices.”
She added, “Headline prices are only part of the story. Independent studies find that students are paying less for their course materials than in prior years, and NACS recently found that they pay about $700 per year, far less than is typically reported. All of the above notwithstanding, Pearson’s prices have increased far less than some of our competitors and the market at large.”
“As with so many businesses these days, some of our costs—including those related to raw materials and fuel—are rising dramatically,” wrote Stephen Hochheiser, vice president, college store and public affairs, Academic & Professional Group, Cengage Learning. “The costs related to technology development and support, which are core to our ongoing success, are also increasing significantly.” Hochhheiser then noted that higher education institutions face reduced state funding, larger class sizes, and the need to hire more adjuncts. Those challenges, he said, “generated their requests that we provide services including class-management tools, customizable faculty training, and more robust technology solutions. The only way we can recoup these costs is through the sale of new course materials and services, most of which are purchased by the student.”
He stressed that Cengage Learning offers a range of products in various formats and at a range of prices “in direct response to faculty and student needs. It is the faculty who determine what will work best for the class.” Hochheiser cited e-textbooks available “at a considerable discount for over 80% of our titles.”
Asked directly about the wide variance in price increases and spikes of anywhere from 10% to 40% on certain titles, Hochheiser replied, “I cannot offer any insight into that disparity, as our company did not apply huge increases to prices of individual titles. If any stores have questions about specific situations, we would be glad to communicate with them directly.
“Pricing decisions involve many factors including our costs, return on investment, and the inherent value of our content that directly contributes to the success of the teaching and learning processes,” Hochheiser said.
Simpson said the price increases were “terribly disheartening when you consider all of the additional expenses these kids incur—not to mention our costs.”
—Michael von Glahn
Sound Off!
Tobi Carlson (carlsont@uvic.ca) 8/8/2008 12:21:28 PM
With regard to the comment above re: publishers steering the market toward digital, I''ve noticed that often the e-books are priced about the same as a used copy of a print text. However, they are often non-transferrable and expire after a certain period, which print texts, new or used, do not do. Therefore print texts may have more and longer-lasting retained value. Students are pretty savvy, and many are also aware of this. There is value in having an easily portable (and maybe more environmentally-friendly?) e-version, but I feel that publishers will need to lower the prices even more on electronic versions to truly steer the market away from print. It is more important than ever to keep professors and students informed of all of the ramifications of their selection and purchasing decisions, so that they can make the best choices for themselves.
Terri Meinel (meinelt@uww.edu) 8/8/2008 10:15:00 AM
One cannot help but wonder if publishers are not intentionally steering the market from print to digital by price increases that are sure to drive customers away from the traditional textbook purchased in the traditional campus bookstore. The investments they have made in technology have to pay off and price increases of textbooks, coupled with perceived savings for ebooks, may well be their intended future for the industry.
Dave Hammond CCR (Hammondd@midlandstech.edu) 8/8/2008 8:30:12 AM
I noticed an approximate 10% increas across the board increase on Cengage titles as I ordered them on line this year. Almost every other publisher had increases of 5% or more. Unfortunately, the textbook market is not going to sustain these price levels. Sooner or later, the market will speak in volumes as it has begun to already.
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