It’s a question that arises at the beginning of every semester, and with the start of every new class: why are textbooks so expensive, specifically at Broad Street Books?

According to a survey conducted by the State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) of California and Oregon, students spent an average of $898 on new and used textbooks during the 2003-2004 academic year.

“Textbooks are expensive and valuable,” said Ben Brown, textbook manager at Broad Street Books. “Everyone takes a cut. Students get what they pay for.”

The National Association of College Stores publicly advertises exactly what students are paying every year. According to this organization, the “textbook dollar” for 2003-2004 was broken down into the following percentages: 65.8 for publisher’s expenses, including materials, editing, administrative and marketing costs; 11.8 for author’s income; 1.0 for freight expenses; 17.3 for college store personnel and store operations; and 4.1 for college store income before taxes.

These expenses come through in the high prices of textbooks at Broad Street Books. Consider the textbook for this semester’s Introduction to Economics, which was priced at $145.75 for the new version, and $109.50 used. In comparison, W.W. Norton, the book publisher, sells it for $131.50, while Amazon.com charges as low as $71.40, with free shipping.

“Students may not realize that textbook pricing has always been an issue because of its ties to education,” said Nancy Healy, manager of Broad Street Books. “But this is a business like any other and we have to operate on a surplus. The internet is taking away profits from the entire book industry in general.”

Healy also remarked on tactics used by publishers to inflate the price of textbooks.

“Publishers are really killing stores and students with their frequent repaginations and new editions,” she said. “Textbooks may also be marked up because they include CDs, exercise books, and other features, or because they are no longer considered re-sellable without their shrink-wrapped covers.”

Follett Higher Education Group, a Follett Corporation subsidiary that operates and stocks college bookstores, presently manages Broad Street Books. This has been the case since May 2003, when the independently owned Atticus Books was taken over and renamed.

The University has strong ties with Broad Street Books; it not only leases the bookstore property to Follett, but also receives a commission on every single item sold at Broad Street Books. Healy was not able to disclose the exact percentage commission appropriated to the University, only that it was higher than what the previous management had paid.

“Students should realize that they are investing back into Wesleyan by purchasing textbooks here,” Healy said. “We do our best to make this a community store, as well as a college environment.”

Follett currently manages campus bookstores for about 760 institutions nationwide.

“Universities really don’t want to be in the retail business,” Healy said. “Follett has a central warehouse and much greater access to used titles. We do everything we can to supply students with used books, but it partly depends on how early professors send us their syllabi, whether they want specific editions of texts, and how easily available these texts are.”

Cynthia McDermott, trade book manager at Broad Street, expressed an understanding of students’ opinions.

“The students are our customers, and we do our very best to meet their needs,” McDermott said. “The publishers’ perspective is first about profit, whereas we have greater contact with the students and can benefit them through buy-back and providing used books.”

In the past, students have attempted to lessen the costs of textbook purchases through a number of organized efforts, such as online classified services or selling used books directly to classmates.

Ian MacLeod ’07 got the idea to buy used books from friends for cash, and sell them online himself. He has since expanded his endeavor to the whole campus. “It’s definitely a big waste to have all these used books sitting around your room, and all college kids can use some extra cash,” he said. “But it takes a fair amount of man hours to sell online.”

MacLeod has had some success, but says there are some risks to paying cash for books without knowing if anyone will buy them.

“I’ve sold quite a few books, but the market is highly seasonal,” he said. “I haven’t sold any in the last few weeks, because most of the customers are students who are buying books when a class starts.”