With the cost of textbooks averaging $800 a year according to the College's Web site, the staff at the Textbook Annex realizes that buying books can be painful. However, the Textbook Annex has recently changed aspects of the book buying process to make it as painless for students as possible.
Improvements include posting book lists on the College Web site before the start of the semester and introducing daily buybacks.
Motivated by student requests, Course Materials and General Book Manager Michael Tucker said the Textbook Annex purchased software last year to publish the list online in an easy-to-use format. Last semester, the Textbook Annex published the list about one week before classes began?though in the future, Tucker said he would like to publish the list as early as two weeks before classes begin.
"I think it's great," said Julia Littlefield '11, who said that putting the list up before classes allowed her to purchase textbooks on Web sites like e-Bay and Amazon at a cheaper price.
Emily Keuthen '08, who also purchased her books online, found that the list allowed her to save money.
"For big books, online is definitely cheaper 90 percent of the time," said Keuthen, though she added that shipping costs can absorb any savings on smaller books.
Tucker said that despite the online list, the Textbook Annex has actually experienced a slight increase in sales. Tucker said that this might be attributed to the rising cost of textbooks.
Still, the Textbook Annex has a number of advantages over online sellers.
"Buying at the textbook annex is more convenient," Littlefield said. "You can go in and come out with your books."
Casey Latter '09, who remembers buying books in the basement of Moore Hall, also said that the process has improved. "It's better than it was, more efficient than it was."
But Littlefield seemed troubled with crowding in the Textbook Annex.
"The line is always a hassle," Littlefield said of the rush to get books. "But I'm not sure they can change that."
Tucker admitted that while the crowds in the Textbook Annex may be frustrating from the student perspective, the transactions-per-minute have doubled in the basement of Coles Tower. Tucker attributes this to new software, as well as a thermal printer that can shave between five and 10 seconds off each transaction.
"From our perspective, this was the smoothest rush ever," said Tucker of this semester's book-buying.
The buying period also includes a number of days when students can return or exchange books for their full value. In the past, books could not be sold back until the end of the semester after the buying period elapsed.
Due to student requests, there is also a daily buyback for books purchased from any vendor. In this role, the Textbook Annex acts as an agent, finding vendors who will take the book, and then offers their price.
However, students may get a better deal at the end of the semester. If orders for the next semester have been placed, the Textbook Annex will offer 50 percent of the new price, while during the semester, a wholesaler buyer may only offer 10 to 20 percent of the full price. By holding onto the book, the student takes the risk that the text will go out of print or that a new edition will be published.
The more used books the Textbook Annex can sell back to vendors, the larger selection they are able to choose from when buying used books to stock the store shelves. Daily buyback will amplify this interaction, meaning that students have a wider variety of used books to choose from.
"The percent of used books on our bookshelves is way above the national average," said Tucker. Instead of searching at just one wholesale vendor, the Textbook Annex uses seven.
The trend towards putting texts on sites like Blackboard may also affect the textbook process in the future.
"As convenient as it is to look things up [on Blackboard], it's easier to have everything you need. Printed course packets would be helpful instead of just stuff you print out twice a week," said Latter.
Tucker has not noticed a reduction in the 900 to 1000 texts usually on the bookstore shelves, though he has heard about professors who use Blackboard exclusively.
While Littlefield appreciated having shorter articles and excerpts available on Blackboard, she said there is "something to say for having a book in your hands that you can refer back to after the class."
"We're always trying to improve the way we do business to help students," said Tucker.