Some say knowledge is priceless, but Student Charge accounts tell another story. The combined four-year bill students pay for their books can equal enough to purchase anything from a small car to a ridiculous number of shoes.Imagine a world in which almost half of the huge bill for books at the start of a semester is refunded at the semester's end.
Last year, Ned Rice, currently a sophomore at the College of William & Mary, helped make this dream a reality through the creation of a student-run book exchange.
In a matter of two years, Rice's student-run book exchange has become so popular that it saved students approximately $25,000 for the Spring semester of 2003, said Sarah Wyatt, William & Mary's freshman class treasurer.
According to Wyatt, many William & Mary students became frustrated with what they viewed as unfair buying and selling practices of the school's primary textbook provider. Consequently, Rice and other students in the class of 2005 decided to take action.
The class of 2005 hoped to begin a tradition in which each year's new freshman class would gain a firm financial base. By organizing the collection and sale of used books, all students save money while simultaneously contributing a minimal profit to the sophomore and freshman classes. Each year, the sophomore class provides guidance and assistance to the freshman class in exchange for a smaller share of the profit.
Currently, students receive approximately 45 percent of a book's new value when returning old books through the student-run book exchange. In turn, the books are sold back to students at 50 percent of their new price, Wyatt said.
This process is a vast improvement from standard bookstore procedure, according to Freshman Class President Sheila Sheppard.
"Sometimes if you have a $100 book, Barnes & Noble gives you $10 for it and sells it for $75," Freshman Class President Sheila Sheppard said. "We think that's ridiculous."
The exchange also saves students a substantial amount of money while providing the freshman class with the 5 percent profit earned from each book.
"We're making money by saving people a lot of money,"
Sheppard said.
Since the purchase and resale of books is a huge logistical challenge, the exchange must be carefully organized.
Advertisement is done primarily through e-mail and word of mouth.The e-mails contain information about collection sites. With one site in each freshman dorm area and several in sophomore dorm areas, sites generally are located in students' rooms.
When Sheppard volunteered her room as one of these sites, she alone collected 658 books.
As books are collected, an index card with the seller's identification is paper-clipped inside.Then, books are logged onto a database in the computer, and a list of books and prices are compiled. After the book sale, money and unsold books are returned to their owners.This way, said Wyatt, the class is not responsible for unsold books.
This year, Wyatt said book sales have been extremely successful, doubling last year's total sales.
Freshman student Amanda Rowe said she benefited from the sale.
"I got about half off the price of my books," Rowe said. "But it only works well for intro classes."
According to Wyatt, the supply does not meet the demand in many classes because many courses are taught only during certain semesters. Additionally, some students choose to keep their books.Generally, classes with textbooks and introductory classes are the exchange's biggest suppliers.
Despite insufficient supplies this semester, Wyatt believes she saved about $200 on books for her four classes.
At the inaugral sale last year, there was concern over whether the sale would be allowed.Because William and Mary receives money from Barnes & Noble, the school's bookstore, students did not want to be responsible for adding difficulties to the already present budget crisis.
Despite lowering Barnes & Noble sales, however, the students have found many members of the administration to be very supportive of the exchange.
According to the store's Web site,William & Mary receives "an average of 9 percent of the price of each new textbook."Most of the cost, 67 percent, actually goes directly to the publisher. Textbook coordinator Virginia Lennon, declined to offerinformation regarding William & Mary's profit from the sale of used textbooks.
"This information I cannot give out to you," Lennon said. "Right now this information is not available."
The University's practices are very similar.If the University Bookstore is confident that a book will be needed for the next semester, students are generally offered 50 percent of the new price.However, a wholesale company buys books that have not been ordered by professors. The company gives students 10 to 40 percent of the book's new price, depending on national demand.The used books then are sold back to students for 75 percent of the new book price.
Unlike Barnes & Noble, however, the University Bookstore makes large donations to the school.
According to Jon Kates, executive director of the University of Virginia Bookstores and Cavalier Computers, the bookstore is non-profit. This year alone, Kates said, the profits made in sales have given the school $300,000 to assist with budget problems and provide scholarships.Additional money has been given to Student Council and various programs.
Most of the store's income, however, does not come from the sale of used textbooks, Kates said.
Additionally, professors have the potential to greatly reduce the prices students are forced to pay for books by ordering the books in a timely fashion, Kates said. Consequently, student books are not purchased for their full price, and the bookstore is forced to offer students a greater quantity of new books, he added.
Students, therefore, must look for alternative ways if they want to save money.
In addition to used book stores on the Corner, students have the option of using "Hoo Hock," an online student market organized by Student Council. It allows students to buy or sell textbooks and other used items online.
"Hoo Hock" operates similarly to the William & Mary Book Exchange. With "Hoo Hock," however, no organization earns commission and the exchange is not as widely used.
This means that the potential to save money is in students' hands. Although saving money may require a little more effort and time, that "extra" cash might just mean another hundred meals on the Corner.
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