Buying pre-owned books online comes with underlying texts

The Internet has fundamentally changed the way we buy course materials, making it easier for students to buy and resell textbooks by eliminating physical barriers. Students no longer have to rely on friends of friends to find potential buyers and sellers.

Supap Kirtsaeng was one of those students. He called on his friends and family to send him cheap editions of textbooks from Thailand and resold them at a profit on eBay until the publisher John Wiley & Sons took him to court.

The Supreme Court is now scheduled to hear the case sometime before June 2013.

It might seem like a distant situation, but this case has special implications for American students: If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Kirtsaeng, the price of course materials everywhere may rise.

The gross domestic product per capita in Thailand was $9,700 in 2011, while the U.S.’s GDP per capita clocked in at $48,100 the same year. If the market opened up completely, citizens of Thailand would have to pay the same amount of money as U.S. buyers for their books ““ a situation simply not possible given the economic inequality. They would be priced completely out of the market.

Therefore, publishers would raise prices in the U.S. to compensate for their loss.

“Every time one of these things happens, it puts pressure on the publishers, and it puts pressure on the price of what you’re going to pay,” said Bruce Hildebrand, executive director of the American Association of Publishers.

A ruling in favor of Kirtsaeng may seem like a win for individual students searching for a lower price at first, but would actually be detrimental to students as a whole in the long run.

When considering which book to buy, students should keep in mind how their individual decisions affect the entire system. In this case, the cheapest option is not always the best option, since prices would rise. Furthermore, the quality of less expensive, internationally printed books is often dubious.

“What happens overseas is they print a lower-cost edition,” Hildebrand said. While these books contain a lot of the same core content, he said, they do not have as much licensed material ““ things like photographs and illustrations.

But it’s not hard to see why students would spring for cheaper textbooks, regardless of their origins or lack of supplemental content. Compared to trade books ““ that is, other books sold to the general public ““ textbooks are expensive.

According to the National Association of College Stores, the average price of a new textbook was $62 in 2010, while the average trade nonfiction hardcover book cost $26.13 that year, according to the School Library Journal’s annual report. At UCLA, students spent about $1,509 on books and supplies this year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The disturbing part of this, however, is that because of the nature of the textbook market, the price could increase depending on the outcome of Kirtsaeng v. Wiley.

We are dealing with a bizarre market. As economist James Koch noted in his 2006 College Textbook Cost Study Plan Proposal for the Congressional Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, faculty pick the assigned course materials from publishers’ lists, often with little regard to their costs, since they’re not the ones paying for them. Those who should benefit most from textbooks ““ the students ““ have little to no say in this arrangement. Students must rely on the faculty to make the decision, and it isn’t always the right one. All in all, it’s a wonder the cost of course materials isn’t higher.

The publishers do have competition, of course. The used-book market is alive, well and a viable option for students. Nevertheless, until the court decision, students should be wary of online merchants peddling suspiciously cheap textbooks.

To save money, students can and should borrow their books from the library or choose from the 20-30 guaranteed buyback books available at the Associated Students UCLA store. Even though the textbook store only buys back books for up to 50 percent of the original price, it still remains a feasible option that students should keep in mind. Only 20 percent of the guaranteed buybacks get returned at the end of the quarter, said Neil Yamaguchi, ASUCLA academic support director.

Besides the textbook store, students can also sell their books to other students taking their courses, whether here on campus or by using the Internet to find customers at other schools.

Moreover, students can seek out cheaper electronic versions of their textbooks. However, e-books cannot be lent out or resold, and thus may be more expensive in the long run.

The number-one way to reduce textbook prices, though, is from the top down.

“The ultimate arbiter is the faculty,” Hildebrand said.

To alleviate the pressure on students, professors should be sensitive to price concerns. Not all courses require hardcover textbooks with color illustrations. In most cases, lower-cost versions of most textbooks are available, Hildebrand said.

The Internet has given students much more control over their course materials, opening up new possibilities in the textbook market. In exercising that control, students must make sure they realize the implications of their actions for publishers, resellers and their fellow students.