by Bob Jones
The textbook pricing model has been out of whack for years causing gigantic swings in the prices students have to pay for textbooks depending on if they must buy new or can by used. In the last two years we have seen a bump in the rental of textbooks and more recently the supply of digital textbooks. Most times the digital download textbooks can be accessed only for a fixed time period, technically making these rentals also. How will these new delivery methods effect overall textbook costs?
Before we have a look at the new system we must have a look at the system which has been in place for some time. A publisher issues a textbook that's accepted and adopted by many professors for their course. The 1st semester the course is offered a students only option is to get a new textbook. The publisher has a very pleasant sales volume and revenue stream. The subsequent semester the majority of the textbook that were sold new are now on the market at a discount as a used textbook. The result is the publishers sales dropped significantly. Over the following couple of years most students choose the cheaper used textbook.
The publishers only good income is at the first semester of release or when the book is revised and re-released in two or three years. No wonder they must charge a multiple of what the book should really be selling for. Let's face it, if they sold the books new at a fair price student book buyers would still opt for the used version at its lower cost.
Other than the first semester of a new release, college students can save money by purchasing a second hand textbook and then selling it back. Of course using a textbook price comparison service is important to both find the cheapest source to buy from and also to find the best price to sell back.
So what happens when we add textbook rentals to the equation. There are countless textbook rental sites both online and at or near the campus. These sites will offer textbooks for rental at anywhere from 60% to 80% off the cost of a new textbook. This is a better deal instead of purchasing the new textbook. How does it compare to a used school textbook? Because they have to cope with the used textbook inventory many times the rental price is very near to the price of buying a used textbook. Of course there is no sell back value on a rental. Many students find the ease of textbook rental and the lack of sell back trouble to be an enticing offering and go with the rental. Textbook rentals have become so popular that some textbook publishers are looking at getting into the book rental business. It is interesting to the publishers because rather than earning profits only on the primary release the book a rental is creating income semester after semester after semester. With this continuing revenue model you can even find revisions coming less frequently. An ongoing cash stream and the reduced production cost of making less "new" revisions, you can see why the publishers are interested in textbook rentals.
But here's the rub, as more sources move into rental and book buyers increase the usage of rental the quantity of used textbooks will reduce. It is the inexpensive prices of the used inventory that applies downward pressure to rental fees. Without an adequate stockpile of <a href="http://www.cheap-textbooks.com/cheap-used-textbooks.htm">used textbooks for sale</a>, instead of being 60 to 80% off the rental textbooks may move to the 40 to 60% off range. In the long run the rental of textbooks both in print and digital could end up permitting prices to escalate.
Bob Jones created Cheap-Textbooks.com, a website dedicated to saving college students money buy finding <a href="http://www.cheap-textbooks.com/">cheap textbooks</a>. The site offers a <a href="http://www.cheap-textbooks.com/textbook-price-comparison.html">textbook price comparison</a> service to help student book buyers find the least expensive new, used, rental and e Textbooks.
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New Unique Article!
Title: How Digital And Textbook Rentals May Cause A Rise In Costs
Author: Bob Jones
Email: dirasu.845720.0@articlesamurai.com
Keywords: cheap textbooks,cheaptextbooks,cheap-textbooks,used textbooks for sale,textbook price comparison,rent,rental
Word Count: 626
Category: College
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