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Bookstore faces online competition

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By Kallie Red-Horse | Daily Lobo
Last updated: 09/07/09 11:10pm

Students are choosing to purchase their textbooks from Internet providers instead of on-campus bookstores, said Jeff Sherwood, CEO of a textbook comparison Web site.

Sherwood’s Bigwords.com has seen an increase of 25 to 50 percent in visitors and revenue each year since 2001, he said.

“On-campus bookstores have an advantage because they are on campus. Their presence is unavoidable,” Sherwood said. “(However), we see that every year the online stores are taking a larger and larger percentage of the sales from the bookstore. They simply can’t compete.”

According to the Web site of the National Association of College Stores, a trade association, only 13 percent of textbooks were purchased online in 2004, while in 2007, the number rose to 23 percent.

Melanie Sparks, director of UNM Bookstores, said the bookstores’
relationship to the University community is unlike that of online retailers.
“We are a part of the University, and as such have the relationship with the faculty to ensure that the correct course materials are available for their classes — either in-store or (on) the Internet,” she said. “We feel confident that we offer services that Web sites cannot provide.”

Economics Assistant Professor Matias Fontenla said he agrees that the Bookstore is a reliable source for books but said the store should be ready to make adjustments to effectively compete with the rapidly expanding online textbook business.

“(The Bookstore) will have to lower prices,” he said. “They still can charge somewhat higher prices than the online competition because of the convenience factor, but the price difference will shrink.”

Sparks said the Bookstore has adapted to the online trend in the textbook market.
“We have a very robust and active Web site that offers the same guarantees as coming into the Bookstore,” she said.

Sparks said the Bookstore also has an advantage over online retailers: textbook buyback.

“We have a very aggressive used-book program, and that saves students 25 percent,” she said. “We also have a 5-percent-off for tax with their Lobo ID.”
Freshman Cameron Allen said being able to sell books back at the semester’s end outweighs online convenience.

“I would rather buy online,” he said. “But if you buy online you can’t sell them back to the Bookstore, so in the long run it might actually cost more.”
Fontenla said the competition between online and on-campus will ultimately benefit students.

“If students have alternative places to buy textbooks, it forces college bookstores to lower textbook prices if they want to compete,” he said.

Published September 7, 2009 in News

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13 comments

Jeff

September 8, 2009 at 4:48 AM
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Bigwords does buyback comparison, too, and generally can get about 75% back.

There is a ton of competition online for textbook buyback. Bookstores generally purchase books in order to sell them to a bigger book distributor, keeping a small margin. This reduces the amount they can offer for a book.

Read more …

Many online stores purchase books in order to fill their own inventories. No middleman equals higher book buyback values.

Regards,
Jeff Sherwood

Samantha

September 8, 2009 at 6:36 AM
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I have also used http://www.BookDealFinder.com to purchase my textbooks. I usually pay about 50% of what the college bookstore is charging! I haven’t had much luck with Big word.

Hopefully this can be useful to others too!

Read more …

Take care,

Sam

Casey

September 8, 2009 at 8:15 AM
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What we are witnessing is the power of the free market to destroy the chokehold that the UNM bookstore has on this community. I can easily save 30%-50% by ordering my books from on online retailer even after factoring shipping into the cost. The UNM bookstore is a perfect example of bureaucratic inefficiency in the market place. I urge everyone to “punish” this market inefficiency by taking your dollar else where. If the bookstore cares about its longterm viability, it will have to face reality sooner or later and become competitive.

Kevin

September 8, 2009 at 11:30 AM
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I love http:///www.bigwords.com soo much, and now even more so with their new Iphone app. This semester I was able to not only save 324 bucks on all of my books but I searched for them at school when my professors were telling me about my books that I needed for the end of the semester.

Par Kettis

September 8, 2009 at 3:36 PM
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Good story Kallie. If the new developments on line can bring down the price of textbooks that would be really good. It is also interesting to read the instant comments. Take care.

John Perry

September 8, 2009 at 3:49 PM
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I find the notion that I can save more money at the bookstore with the buyback quite laughable – if I pay $50 for something at the UNM bookstore, I’m lucky to get $15 back, wheras if I pay $30 for a used (but still perfectly usable) book on half.com, I can resell it for whatever I feel like (usually I do good in the $20-$25 range).

While I appreciate that if I have an urgent need for a textbook I can get it right away at the bookstore, I think I’ll continue to shop (and sell!) online, thank you very much.

Anthony Bentley

September 8, 2009 at 4:59 PM
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Every semester I watch the bulletin boards and buy my books from other students whenever possible. Likewise, I sell my books to other students.

Students usually sell for less than the bookstore does, and selling to other students usually brings a higher price than the bookstore buyback.

Read more …

Plus I get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside when I work with others in the same position as I am—students should help each other out! We’re all in the same boat.

jeff

September 9, 2009 at 7:44 AM
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Sam
Looks like you changed your name but on que are ready talk about how one site is bad and yours is better. It is a pattern that is disturbing. Find another way to promote your site.

green

September 9, 2009 at 9:27 PM
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I would suggest using GreenTextbooks.org
Save Money, Save The Planet

GreenTextbooks.org specializes in the recycling of textbooks, DVDs, CDs. Buying used textbooks not only saves you money, but cuts down on greenhouse gases caused by the manufacturing of new textbooks.
With GreenTextbooks.org you’re not only saving trees, you are saving some green. http://www.GreenTextbooks.org

Rob

September 9, 2009 at 11:38 PM
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The bookstore doesn’t buy back many books… there’s no advantage. When the bookstore didn’t buy back any (not one) of my textbooks, a friend of mine recommended MyBookBuyer.com I have been using them since.

Frances

September 11, 2009 at 9:02 PM
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You can also check out www.DealOz.com , DealOz compares 200 bookstore prices and free discount coupons too. Their coupons are valid and have saved over $500 on my textbooks.

Amit Sehgal

September 19, 2009 at 4:33 AM
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Check out this site www.bookase.com, A price comparison search engine for books and textbooks. It searches for the lowest prices among the major online stores worldwide and also offers discount coupons. You can also choose among various shipping options to calculate the lowest price

Textbook Ace

October 2, 2009 at 4:35 PM
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I would use Textbook Ace

TextbookAce.com sells new and used college textbooks for all subjects at great prices. They wrote the book on textbooks! They have been buying and selling used textbooks since 1995.

Read more …

They also offer an array of novels, professional textbooks, teacher’s editions, study guides, and K-12 (elementary and secondary).
http://www.textbookace.com

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