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Determining Textbook Order Quantities
Module One: Assessing the Financial Impact of Buying Decisions
Underbuying
While it would appear that underbuying is preferable to overbuying, there are costs involved in underbuying that may not be readily apparent:
| A buyer risks alienating faculty and students when too few books are available. |
- Faculty—Underbuying leaves the buyer open to inquiries from faculty members who want to know why the quantity they requested was not ordered. While the buyer may have a perfectly valid reason for ordering a certain quantity, faculty members may not appreciate the complexity of the decision-making process and feel that the store has not been responsive to their needs. As a result, faculty may choose to place textbook orders with competitive stores if they feel their needs are not being met, and then actively solicit sales to that store. A further ramification of this is that faculty may also recommend a competitor store to new faculty in their department.
- Students—Student confidence that the bookstore is operating to serve their needs may also become a concern. Students may fall behind in their courses because of textbook unavailability and this could be harmful to the successful completion of their coursework. In addition, frequent incidents of underbuying by the store may serve to bolster the competition's sales. Also, it is critical to consider the course level associated with the textbook. Under-buying a graduate-level text can actually prevent a student from completing a course. Typically, graduate-level courses are accompanied by high expectations of student engagement and participation, so that the need for the text is heightened. Also, many graduate-level courses incorporate pre-assignment work, which will require the text prior to the start of classes. Often, competitor stores do not carry graduate-level textbooks.
Reordering
Reordering when additional copies are required (apart from the initial order) is less cost-effective than initially ordering sufficient quantities. The cost of freight per book is less for large shipments than for the comparatively small reorder. However, reordering is necessary and important and must be done well and in a timely manner. All buyers must reorder at some point.
In addition, some publishers' order fulfillment may not be fast enough to make reordering from them desirable in every case, although many publishers offer special rush shipping programs to expedite ordering and reordering. Wholesalers may have a faster turnaround time, but they do not carry every title.
Finally, since many courses now utilize packages that are specially assembled, their availability for reorder may be limited. The time to actually receive these packages may provide a longer delay in getting those materials to the store.
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