Posts Tagged ‘Textbooks’

New Federal Textbook Rules Already In Use At MC

Who loves following federal law? I don’t! But I recently found out about new federal regulations that effects Marietta College students and their textbook purchasing decisions.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act goes into effect July 1st, and contains many different things (thanks to Disruptive Library Technology Jester for the breakdown of the law).  One part that is important to students is that there are new textbook disclosure rules to help make class selections and book purchasing decisions a bit easier.

According to the law, colleges are now required to show what books and materials are required and/or recommended for each course at the time of scheduling.  Back when you scheduled, you should have noticed a book icon listed for each class.  Clicking on the icon will tell you what is required for the course, the price, and the ISBN.  Not all classes have books listed, so you may see “To Be Determined” and “No Required Materials” notes instead.  Textbook bundles must also be sold separately, with bundled and non-bundled options listed – including pricing breakdowns.

Ed. Note – According to a rep from the National Association of College Stores, which commented on the article, books are allowed to be bundled still.  Writing on the Mall apologizes for the error.  Here’s what they said:

Under the law, institutions do not have to sell or list textbook bundles seperatly. Publishers need to disclose such information to faculty, but faculty are free to continue to adopt bundles as required. Publishers do not have to offer unbundled for any package they determine as “integrated”.

Another change is that publishers are required to tell professors more information about books they may use for classes.  Professors will now know how much the book costs, what revisions have been made to the book, and other editions of the book in different formats (including their prices).

HEOA also asks for book options to be publicized better by the institution, including renting textbooks, buying used books, and digital textbooks.

Like I mentioned earlier, Marietta College has already adopted the new requirements in its online scheduling system.

Follett Higher Education Group, the company that owns the Marietta College Bookstore, has been advertising it’s own book rental program called Rent-A-Text.  Follett is trying to compete with Chegg (A person favorite!), a popular book rental service that has been around for a few years.  Half.com and Amazon are other great choices for used textbooks.

Amazon's Kindle Marietta College Students Excited About Kindle

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Amber Davis is a guest writer for Writing on the Mall.  She is involved with the Media Writing Two class at Marietta College, which has been submitting articles to us.  Her article is the first of many that you will see hit the site.  If you would like to see more like this, just let us know at patrick_h at writingonthemall dot net.

Danielle Stein, a sophomore at Marietta College, was faced with the tough decision on whether or not to return to Marietta College this year. Due to the rising prices of textbooks and tuition, it seemed that what Stein would spend a year on textbooks, would be the equivalent of one semester at a state college close to home.

This seems to be a common concern among many college students and it seems that there really is no current solution. Even buying textbooks on Amazon or eBay still can run students around $300, and they consider that a ‘deal’.

Amazon has recognized this problem and is currently working on the solution. Kindle, a portable digital reading device only about one-third of an inch thick and a 3G wireless connection capable of downloading entire books in under one minute is their answer.

Read more…

Publishers Introducing Packets to Rip Off Students

While I don’t think this is happening at Marietta College, I’m posting this because its could happen here eventually if we’re not careful.

The Consumerist is reporting on the plight of students at many other schools who go to buy books, only to find that they can’t find a deal because the books they try to buy do not exist.  Publishers have begun selling books in packets, which do not have to have the same ISBN number as the textbooks inside them.  Therefore, you can’t buy a used book that does not exist.  The packets also do not tell you what books are inside until you open them up, so trying to search for a book by title doesn’t work either.

You can read more about the infuriating problem of packets at The Consumerist.

Chegg.com: Rent Textbooks, Save Money

Over at The Consumerist, they highlighted an article from Clark Howard on Chegg.com, a textbook rental service.

Chegg.com is like the Zappos of the Textbook industry, in a way, as you pay less for the book than you normally would, don’t pay for shipping back to their warehouse at the end of the semester, everything is recyclable and made of recyclable materials, and they plant a tree for every book rented.  Better yet, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if it turns out you don’t need the book, or the quality of the book is not what you had been promised.

Now, you may be asking yourself, what’s the catch?  Well, there really isn’t one that i can find.  The length of a rental is 125 days for those on the semester system, 85 days for those on the quarter system, and 60 days for those poor souls taking summer classes.  Considering that Marietta’s semester is 15 weeks long, and only uses 105 days, you’ll have plenty of time to ship the book back on time.

Their rental rates are based on supply and demand, so a popular book will be much more expensive to rent than a less popular one, so some savings may not be as good as others.

If you really fall in love with the book you rented, you can buy the book from Chegg (they charge you on top of what you paid for the rental and shipping, then tax is applied).  You can also extend rentals from 15 to 30 days, all the way up to another full semester.

On the flip side, a 25 percent penalty fee is assessed on books not postmarked by the return date listed on the account.  If your book is one week past due, you are charged the entire price of the book, as they assume you want to own it at that point.

The site has been around since 2004, and has claimed to have saved over $42 million dollars for students nationwide.  If you’re up for trying it out, then go for it.  It seems like the cheapest option out there, as far as textbook shopping goes.  Just remember that this is only one of many options, so make sure that you use our book-buying guide and save yourself some money this year!

Bookstore Now Lists Fall Book Lists

Check out the Marietta College online book lists now so that you can shop around and get the best price possible.

Remember to check Half.com, Amazon.com, and Textbooks.com.  If you’re buying directly from the Marietta College Bookstore, you are probably paying much more than you need to.

Check out this story I wrote before the Spring semester to see the exact savings compared to Half and Amazon and learn other tips.

Textbooks.com has provided these tips as well (FULL DISCLOSURE: I was sent these tips by Textbooks.com in a message sent to blogs like Writing on the Mall.  I am not being compensated for posting these tips):

There is no doubt about it – textbook prices suck! Textbooks.com, the site with the cheapest prices on the planet’s biggest selection of hand-inspected used textbooks, is committed to keeping more cash in the pockets of students than any other website. JT Thome, Chief Operating Officer of Textbooks.com shares the following tips to help students save when shopping for textbooks.

• The biggest mistake that many students make when purchasing their textbooks is that they wait too long.  The secret to reducing the cost of a student’s textbooks is to shop early when the used books are plentiful. Used books save money – big money, especially when the used books are bought online on sites like Textbooks.com.

• The second biggest mistake that some students make is by waiting too long to sell their books back at the end of the semester. By selling their books back after their final exams, the students will get the most for their money.

• Selling their books back online will pay them even more. Specifically, Textbooks.com automatically pays students a bonus of 10% for those books bought back online that were originally purchased from Textbooks.com. And, for the top best-selling textbooks, Textbooks.com actually guarantees to the student when they purchase their books that they will receive 50% of the new book selling price when they sell them back at the end of the term. This is true whether the student bought the books new or used. These titles are listed on the Textbooks.com website as “Guaranteed Cash Back” titles.

• When buying used books online the discounts can range anywhere from 30% to 90% off the new book price from the publisher. And for those students that want to buy new books, they can find discounts from 15% to 30% off.

• When making their purchase, students should be sure to double-check the ISBN number to make sure they are purchasing the correct edition. Also, make sure not to buy an international edition.  Websites like Textbooks.com never sell international editions, and any old editions are always very clearly marked.

• Again, shop early.  As soon as students have their courses selected and have received their syllabus from the faculty member, it’s time to buy their textbooks.

As a note, as well, I have had good luck with International editions of books, so as long as they are printed in English, get them if they are cheap and available.

Book Buying Tips

If you havn’t heard, the book lists are up for the Spring Semester.  Typically not the most fun day, as you are expected to shell out around $500 (in most cases) for books.  Absurd.  If you follow these helpful tips, you should be able to save AT LEAST 30 to 40%, if not closer to the elusive 50% mark.

Read more…