Spring Break
The Daily OrangeOnline book vendors offer cheaper deals
By Courtney Carpenter
Posted: 1/18/05, 12:24 AM EST Section: News
Strained by the burden of increasing textbook costs, students are increasingly looking to fill their orders online.
According to a survey by the California Student Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) and the OSPIRG Foundation, students on average spent $898 on textbooks in 2003 to 2004, compared to an average of $642 in 1996 to 1997.
"We've seen sales increase from 6,000 to 10,000 online orders this semester alone," said Dan Yunghans, textbook supervisor at Follett's Orange Bookstore.
The Syracuse University Bookstore has also seen an increase in online ordering.
"We had 551 online orders for textbooks this fall, compared to 466 orders last fall," said Kathy Fonda, division manager of bookstore operations at the University Bookstore.
As student's preferences change, however, over-the-counter sales are dropping overall. Follett's lost five percent of their sales due to the increase in online ordering,
Other alternatives are also crowding out the over-the-counter market.
Pearson Education publishing company introduced a new alternative for students in August - SafariX WebBooks. Safari offers students a wide variety of online versions of textbooks including agriculture, sociology and law.
Students subscribe to the content for the length of their course and pay half the price of the printed textbooks, said Wendy Spiegel, senior vice president of Pearson Education.
Orangeexchange.com, founded in May 2003 by Syracuse University graduates Jae Ahn and Dean Muscio offers SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students the chance to sell their textbooks to their peers.
"We thought it was ridiculous what we were paying for books, so we decided to create this site as a free service," Ahn said.
Another popular way students cut costs is through student textbook exchange sites, such as Books on Campus.
According to a survey by the California Student Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) and the OSPIRG Foundation, students on average spent $898 on textbooks in 2003 to 2004, compared to an average of $642 in 1996 to 1997.
"We've seen sales increase from 6,000 to 10,000 online orders this semester alone," said Dan Yunghans, textbook supervisor at Follett's Orange Bookstore.
The Syracuse University Bookstore has also seen an increase in online ordering.
"We had 551 online orders for textbooks this fall, compared to 466 orders last fall," said Kathy Fonda, division manager of bookstore operations at the University Bookstore.
As student's preferences change, however, over-the-counter sales are dropping overall. Follett's lost five percent of their sales due to the increase in online ordering,
Other alternatives are also crowding out the over-the-counter market.
Pearson Education publishing company introduced a new alternative for students in August - SafariX WebBooks. Safari offers students a wide variety of online versions of textbooks including agriculture, sociology and law.
Students subscribe to the content for the length of their course and pay half the price of the printed textbooks, said Wendy Spiegel, senior vice president of Pearson Education.
Orangeexchange.com, founded in May 2003 by Syracuse University graduates Jae Ahn and Dean Muscio offers SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students the chance to sell their textbooks to their peers.
"We thought it was ridiculous what we were paying for books, so we decided to create this site as a free service," Ahn said.
Another popular way students cut costs is through student textbook exchange sites, such as Books on Campus.
