The cost of textbooks going up year after year is nothing new, it’s been happening for a long time.  One way to avoid the high price of new textbooks is of course to buy used books.  Many students visit on campus used book stores, or online alternatives such as Amazon.com or eBay.  But of course the book makers and profs that write the books don’t like this practice since it limits the potential sales of their books.  One tactic publishers used in the past was to release “updated” editions of a book at a relentless pace, which usually amounted to just shifting page numbers and chapters around with little real new content.  Another tactic publishers use is bundling workbooks and DVD/CD disks with books so you have to buy the book to get these additional bundled items.

The Wall Street Journal this week highlighted a new tactic that has cropped up among publishers working with university departments.  Several colleges are forcing students to buy what are called “custom text books” and they explicitly put wording on the books that disallow them to be sold as used.  The dirt behind this practice is that publishers pay a royalty to the college departments publishing these text books so for every sale a university will generate anywhere from $10 - $50 on a sale of one of these custom books.

The University of Alabama was cited in the WSJ article as being one such school forcing students to buy a custom textbook. Freshman composition students at its main campus to have to buy a $59.35 writing textbook titled “A Writer’s Reference”.  A practically identical book by the same name is available for $30 as a used book, but students are forced to buy the custom books as it is apparently updated each year and also listed as being “illegal” to be resold.

There is a backlash against this practice and some hope that politicians will take on the matter to make it illegal.  After all, earlier in the year when it was found some schools were pushing certain student loan companies and getting a kickback it was deemed illegal, and this practice of working in cahoots with publishers to force students to buy a certain book new isn’t much different.

The recommendation is to complain to college departments that use this practice of publishing custom text books, and if you can’t buy these text books used in a used bookstore then try using a social network such as Facebook to find somebody that might have the book used.

Source: Wall Street Journal