By Nick Yulico
Daily Bruin Contributor
Used textbooks are a contentious issue among UCLA students not
aware of online options with bargains not available at the UCLA
Store.
After students exit the UCLA Textbook Buyback Center with
significantly less money in their pockets than what they originally
paid for their books, the usual feeling is that they are getting
tossed a bone.
“It really rips off students. It seems you don’t
even get half of what you paid for,” said Julie Kurian, a
fourth-year psychobiology student.
Although students often do get half of what they pay at the UCLA
Store, this is not the case when the book isn’t needed or if
it is an old edition.
According to Jacques Freydont, director of Academic Support at
the UCLA Store, the first priority for the store is finding books
for the upcoming quarter. Giving money back to students whose
textbooks are needed is a secondary priority.
“I wish I could get every student the money they need and
expect,” Freydont said. “It is simply not feasible
since the UCLA Store often has no control over the value of the
book.”
The UCLA Store buys back books at up to 50 percent of their new
or used price, depending on how students bought the book and if the
book is needed.
Used books bear a “UCLA Store” stamp or a yellow
“used” sticker. If the shelves are already filled with
copies of the book or if the book is not being used in the upcoming
quarter, the book’s value decreases. The price of unneeded
books is determined by the national wholesale companies to whom
UCLA sells the books.
Books are no longer needed when publishers come out with new
editions. Although new editions are often necessary for an update
in content, they are often replicas of the old editions with
changes only in page numbers or slight editorial revisions.
Used books make no money for the publishers or authors,
according to Freydont. Thus, publishers come up with new editions,
which make the old editions obsolete.
“Nobody’s getting rich off textbooks, except maybe
certain authors or professors,” Freydont said.
Alternatives to the Textbook Buyback Center include Web sites
like UsedBookBroker.com, which eliminate the middleman and offer
students the chance to directly buy and sell used textbooks with
their peers.
“Students are attracted to UsedBookBroker because they
receive 65 percent of the retail price when they sell textbooks to
others through the service,” said John Nesbitt, director of
marketing at UsedBookBroker.com.
The Web site charges $3 per book sold to help cover the expense
of running the site, but overall savings can be substantial.
A book with a retail price of $100 is sold and bought on
UsedBookBroker.com for $65. That same book at the UCLA Store would
cost $75 used. If the book was bought new, UCLA would buy it back
for $50, or $37.50 if it was bought used.
But many students aren’t aware of alternatives to the UCLA
Store.
“The availability of the Web sites is a problem. I
don’t really know of any,” said Brian Grace, a
third-year English student.
Web sites can save students money, Freydont said, but the UCLA
Store also saves students almost $2 million each year by providing
and buying back used books.
The store averages $4 million in used book sales annually. A
used book is sold for 75 percent of the new retail price. Students
buying used books save $1.3 million, plus an additional $600,000
when they sell their books back. Overall, they save just under $2
million.
“What other institution on campus is saving students this
much each year, and I mean all students?” Freydont asked.
While Internet sites offer students the chance to directly trade
their books with other students, the process of advertising the
books, selling or buying the books takes a long time. But some
students are willing to wait.
“If I’d get substantially more money online, then
I’d wait a couple of weeks to sell the book,” said Mike
Lee, a fourth-year business economics student.