Looking for textbooks online, not on line

Friday, September 9, 2005
By Jennifer Weil

PURCHASE—On the first day of classes at Manhattanville College last week, senior Janine Fortunato was standing on a line that snaked through the bookstore, waiting to pay for the book she was holding.

She needed four others, but they each cost $80, so she put them back.

"The used ones were cheaper, but they didn't have any," Fortunato said.

With textbooks' rising cost, many students find alternative places to buy their books, such as the Internet, where they can be found at a lower cost.

"I'm going to try and buy the books online. I might as well," the 21-year-old from Staten Island said. "If I can't find them or they aren't cheaper, then I'll come back and buy them here."

In the rear of the bookstore, biology majors John Poka and Dominick Lombardo were writing down the book titles they needed so they could try to find them at a better price at Amazon.com, eBay or Barnesandnoble.com.

The students, both juniors, were looking for a new organic chemistry book with a solutions manual for $230.

"Even the teachers said we should go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble," Lombardo said, "because they know the prices are ridiculous."

An alternative to the more established online bookstores is www.yourbooks4sale.com.

"We felt that there was a definite need for it," said Keith Doran, who took over the site's operation from founder and former RCC student Thomas Ossa. "Students may buy a book for $50 to $150 and only get back $10, $15, $20. So now with our Web site, they can buy a used book at half the retail price."

Doran said his site posted notices from 40 colleges ­ including RCC, Dominican College and Purchase College, SUNY ­ and had more than 1,000 registered users, who pay a fee to post their textbooks.

Students can recoup some of their money by reselling their books at the end of the semester, but many are disappointed with the amount they receive.

At many college bookstores, if a professor doesn't request a new textbook or there isn't a new edition, students can receive up to 50 percent of the book's cost at the end of the semester, said Laura Nakoneczny, a spokeswoman for the National Association of College Stores. If professors don't know what textbooks they are going to use the next semester, the bookstore can only speculate about whether the book will be used and can only offer the list price that its used-book wholesaler offers.

Even if the book won't be used the next semester, students can sell the books back, but they will receive the amount the used-book wholesaler thinks it can get for the book, Nakoneczny said.

When the semester is over, Kristi Leeber, a first-year student at RCC, said she would try to sell back her books.

"I have no use for them," the 18-year-old said, "and I can put the money toward next semester."