The board that oversees Florida's state universities has launched a program that will offer free online textbooks to students; the program makes printed books available as well, for about half the price that students now pay every semester.

The program, called Orange Grove Texts Plus, surveyed students and found that about a third said they were comfortable reading ebook versions of textbooks, while about a quarter said they wouldn't like it at all. By going digital, they can offer a free alternative to low-income students or those who don't mind reading off a computer screen, and offer discount pricing on print versions for everyone else.

"Florida college students get free online books" [ecampusnews via BlackBox Innovations]
(Photo: Plutor)

She was not only so nice as to do better then the 50% she offered be a full refund of over $125 outside the return period, told me I can keep the 2nd book they sent me for my issues (she suggested donating to a library or giving to a friend), as well as processing the refund BEFORE I even send back the copy they do want back.

So Amazon in my opinion has gone well above and beyond not only trying to get me the book again next day, but offering me a full refund outside their policy, and letting me keep an extra copy! So I wanted to say great job with customer service Amazon and keep it up.

It's up for debate exactly what use a second copy might have to Robert, but it was still a nice, courteous move by Amazon. Instead of being bitter that Amazon sent him two defective books, screwing up his schoolwork, Robert is gushing about the company. CSR managers take note.

(Photo: Tengaport)

I manage the textbook department of a locally-owned college bookstore, and there are a few things I noticed concerning a textbook article that I wanted to address. I'm writing this because I figure it is good information for people to think of before they buy books or start bashing bookstores (which I'm glad this article did not do).

First, a school textbook store is about the only store that is told what to stock by an outside party with no stock in the store's success (professors). Professors are the ones who tell us what to stock for their courses, and those professors are "courted", if you will, by textbook company reps. These reps are sleazy. The low level psychology class here at the university uses a textbook that comes with an online access code - for years students have said they don't use the code, so we ordered used copies of the book. The textbook representative found out, and told us that he is going to do a demonstration to all of the psychology students the first week of classes (all 800 - mostly impressionable freshmen) to show them why they NEED to have that access code. A difference of about $50 for the student. Textbook reps make it worth the professors' while.

Seriously, as sleazy as textbook representatives are - professors are to blame. Professors - or departments - are the final say, no matter how hard the text reps try to get their book used. Professors and departments make that choice to use the dumb bundles, packages, new editions, CDs, online codes, etc. If you have a problem switching to a new edition - ask the professor if you can use the old edition of the book. Often times the professor knows the difference (hopefully they do if they are changing editions!) and will be fine with it.

Second, watch for custom editions - many "custom" editions we have are the exact same textbook you find on Amazon, with a special ISBN to our store from the textbook company that is shrink-wrapped with a single piece of paper that says "CUSTOM FOR [University Name]." Literally, a single piece of paper can make a book "custom". Also, custom editions can have different covers than the normal editions, but be the same book, albeit with a chapter missing. Professors decide to use custom books because publishers will let them choose what chapters from a book they want, and take those chapters out and bundled the book together with a generic or special cover. 99% of the time the chapters is a custom edition that has been put together in this manner are the exact same chapters as in the regular textbook you can find on Amazon. It might take some investigating, but it can be worth it.

Third, many custom books are "loose leaf" or "binder ready". Many, many times these are not any different than the normal bound book you can buy used somewhere. Professors choose these books because they are either coaxed by "gifts" from textbook reps, or because they are dumb enough to think that the reps line of "this is much easier for the student to carry around, they can take only what they need!" is true. These custom loose leaf books will not be bought back by the bookstore at the end of the semester. Talk to the professor, and ask them if you can just use the normal bound book you can buy elsewhere.

Also, don't open bundles. I know this might be the only way to find out what is in them, but 99% of bookstores will not accept refunds for bundles. Textbook companies put in CDs, small supplements, and the worst, online access codes, into bundles which is opened or used cannot be sold or used again. Most textbook companies only accept 5%-20% returns from the store of custom books or bundles...book stores want to get rid of them and are not easily swayed on accepting them as a return. Just wait until you go to class to see if someone else has the bundle, or maybe the professor will have the books with them or more information on the syllabus.

One quick thing about selling back your books. If a book is adopted and a bookstore needs to meet their quota - most of the time you'll get 50% of what you spent - not a bad deal. BUT many times the reasons you get really bad prices is because the bookstores buy for wholesale companies (we get commission on what we sell them, not much, but we do). When professors request a book it is worth more. Often times you should be mad at the professor for not requesting their books on time rather than mad at the bookstore. If the store has no reason to buy your book, we'll buy for wholesalers, who buy very very low. The bookstore is a business that needs to make profit, and if we don't need your book (remember, professors tell us what to stock) you won't get much for it.

And finally - please don't be mad at bookstores. Publishers set the prices, and we mark them up so we can make a profit to pay employees, heat/cool the building, keep the lights on, feed our families, or pay tuition. Yes, Amazon offers new textbooks cheaper (they get a discount because they are so huge) and sellers on Amazon/Half.com sell cheap to get rid of their books. You can find great deals online, but don't always skip the bookstore. Often times - especially with very new books - the college bookstores will have cheaper prices, mainly because publishers are trying to sell as many of the books as possible and are able to give us the books for a better deal than normal.

Overall, S.'s advice is similar to advice on how to be a good consumer in nearly every other realm: do your research, ask the experts (your professors), and shop around. The college library even may have an older edition of your book available to borrow, or available on reserve to read in the library in delicious three-hour chunks. Just ask at the reference desk.

Remember, your professor has spent nearly a decade (or more!) in college and will probably be sympathetic to your frugal plight.

RELATED:
Textbooks Publishers Using "Packets" To Fight Used Book Market
Students Can Use Internet To Rent Textbooks Rather Than Buy Them
Cheap Textbooks And Other Discounts For College Students
Harvard Bookstore: "We Own ISBN Numbers"
Busting the College Textbook Monopoly
Man To Run NYC Marathon Carrying Textbooks To Protest High Cost Of College Texts
Save On Textbooks By Borrowing Them From The School Library...
Getting Jacked When Selling Textbooks Back

(Photo: tillwe)

Reader Kristin Blick, a student at Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) in Troy, NY., writes:

I usually save a huge amount of money on my books by buying them used online, renting them or borrowing from fellow students, but this semester it's become impossible because of these "textbook packets" the school is demanding I get.  I have no way of knowing what the packet is made up of, and they won't sell me individual pieces.

Don't blame school book stores, though. Blame textbook publishers first. Often, they'll offer popular textbooks only as part of larger packets, concealing the specific titles in the packets shipped to stores. To make matters even more difficult, the packets may be customized for a given school.

Still, school faculty members share at least some of the blame. Stephen Stegman, the manager of HVCC's book store, told Consumerist that the recently passed Higher Education Act requires publishers to provide a list of packet contents to faculty members who select them.

Academic faculty being only human, they will often neglect to adequately publish the information. Thus, the only way for students to figure out what courses actually require is to buy a packet and open it up.

Our advice? Contact the faculty member responsible for selecting course materials, which will differ and different schools. If a class is a core requirement in the English department, for example, contact the English department and ask for an itemized list of the textbook packet contents, then publicize the hell out of it.

Textbook packets have been around for several years now. If any of you readers have discovered a better workaround, such as a web forum with itemized list of popular packet contents, please mention it in the comments and we'll update this post.

(Photo: Rob Wall)

In my day we just bought the books we were told to buy and were grateful when the bookstore handed us back pennies on the dollar during end-of-semester buybacks. But now rental sites such as Chegg, BookRenter and CampusBookRentals are there to help today's whippersnappers bypass the process and become only marginally screwed by the astronomical price of textbooks. The sites offer perks that include massive savings and free return shipping:

Talk radio host Clark Howard wrote a little diatribe declaring the textbook system broken and offering Chegg as analternative:

certain schools take kickbacks from book publishers for mandating that students use custom-edition textbooks. The production runs on these custom texts are small enough to be targeted for specific university courses.

These "boutique" books — which may excise certain material or add a professor's published papers — come embossed with a warning that it's illegal to sell back as a used book. The campus book stores are, of course, complicit because they refuse to buy these books from students.

If these online renters become more popular, you'd think publishers would be forced to drop their prices in order to compete.

Chegg.com a new resource for renting textbooks [Clark Howard]
(Photo: strobist)
(Thanks, Glenn!)

The e-mail, which Elseiver now claims was the work of an employee gone rogue, went out to academics who contributed to a clinical psychology textbook:

Congratulations and thank you for your contribution to Clinical Psychology. Now that the book is published, we need your help to get some 5 star reviews posted to both Amazon and Barnes & Noble to help support and promote it. As you know, these online reviews are extremely persuasive when customers are considering a purchase. For your time, we would like to compensate you with a copy of the book under review as well as a $25 Amazon gift card. If you have colleagues or students who would be willing to post positive reviews, please feel free to forward this e-mail to them to participate. We share the common goal of wanting Clinical Psychology to sell and succeed. The tactics defined above have proven to dramatically increase exposure and boost sales. I hope we can work together to make a strong and profitable impact through our online bookselling channels."

Even without the review payola, this raises the question: how much credibility would you give a review from a contributor to the book, anyway?

Elsevier is "not taking it lightly," as opposed to "taking it seriously," which is close enough.

Cindy Minor, marketing manager for science and technology at Elsevier, said that the e-mail did not reflect Elsevier policy. She called the request for five star reviews "a poorly written e-mail" by "an overzealous employee." Minor said that the concerns over the marketing pitch have been discussed "at the highest levels" in the company and that nobody favors paying for good reviews. The situation "is not being taken lightly," she said.

"We want unbiased, honest reviews," she said.

So much for that. The only review for the textbook on Amazon at the moment is a one-star review warning shoppers to be wary of any reviews.

Elsevier Won't Pay for Praise [Inside Higher Ed] (via Jessamyn)

David writes:

I feel as though I've just been taken advantage of, and, being a daily reader of the Consumerist, thought I could use some advice.

I'm currently a student at the University of Texas at Austin, and was told by one of my instructors that I needed to buy a course packet at an off-campus copy shop. I went to the copy shop, Abel's Copies, and asked the employee behind the counter for the course packet for my class. I told them the course number, but could not remember the name of my instructor - I had, up until that point, only been to that class twice. They told me that there was only one instructor for the course number I'd specified, that they were currently out of copies, and that I'd need to prepay if I wanted to come pick it up the next day. I paid, received an order confirmation, and left the store mildly annoyed that I'd have to make the trek back the next day.

However, something didn't feel right. As soon as I got home, I got on my laptop to make sure the course packet I'd ordered matched my instructor - sure enough, it didn't. I immediately called Abel's Copies, and was told that the course packet I ACTUALLY needed was in stock, and that I could come by and trade my order confirmation for the correct packet.

I made the walk back to Abel's Copies, and, upon receiving the correct packet, learned that it was $25 less than the packet I'd ordered and paid for. The girl behind the counter was unsure of what to do, and got her manager. He (rudely) informed me that there were absolutely no refunds or rebates, and that it was my fault for not knowing my instructor's name. I explained the situation to him, that I had been in the store less than an hour before, that I had been misinformed by the employees, and that I hadn't actually bought a packet, only ordered one, but he wouldn't budge. I asked him if I could have the number of his supervisor, but he told me that he couldn't give it to me; the only way I could get into contact with him was if I left MY number, and he called me. Knowing that I'd probably never hear back from him, I left my name and number and left the store out $25 but with the correct packet.

Is there anything else I can do? To the store's credit, there were many signs posted that read "NO REFUNDS," but does my situation count as a refund, as I never received what I had originally paid for?

Don't be scared by Abel's sign. It's just a piece of paper. It may be laminated, but that doesn't change anything. You could make signs too if you wanted and they'd mean just as much. You should not have to pay for the store's mistake.

You're a college student, so we're going to assume you have at least one credit card, and hopefully you used it to pay for the course packet. Call your credit card company and explain that you were overcharged and that you would like to chargeback the difference. Since it's a small amount they may not even need to contact Abel's to resolve the dispute.

And next time you need a course packet, double-check the professor's name and don't go back to Abel's!

RELATED: What Is A Chargeback?
(Photo: Spidra Webster)

After this experience, Joe started looking online, and he found similar stories from frustrated shoppers. A customer on Pricegrabber from this summer wrote:

I ordered two books, paid for expedited shipping, and have just received one book after 12 days. No idea where the other book is, and they did not provide tracking information (even after I contacted them 5 days ago to get tracking / shipment details). On the 3rd part bookseller website, the order was listed as being shipped / completed 8 days ago but when I checked the USPS tracking info on my package it was listed as being shipped 2 days ago. That means they falsely listed the order as having shipped 6 days before they actually put it in the mail.

There's another personal account of an Indoo shipping fiasco on this livejournal page.

We might have been willing to cut Indoo a little slack, except they never responded to Joe's follow up email, nor did they acknowledge or apologize for the misreported shipping date in the single response they did send him.

Joe adds,

Frankly, the only reason I ordered from them was because I read about a bookseller aggregator on Lifehacker or Consumerist and Indoo came up as cheapest/fastest for both books. I was a bad consumerist since I didn't do my research on them first. Would have saved me some aggravation. Maybe a post on Consumerist would keep someone else from making the same mistake.

(Photo: Getty)

You can also buy print versions through Lulu and Flat World Knowledge for anywhere from $11 to $60, but it's free to download in Word and PDF formats. (Note: unless you plan on downloading it, you may want to skip the link to avoid wasting the professor's bandwidth—here's a screencap of the otherwise unremarkable page for the curious.) The New York Time says that it's not a widely used text yet, but Harvard is among the colleges using it.

The article also takes a look at Connexions, an open source textbook project that allows users to mix and match existing content according to CC licenses and sees 850,000 unique users a month.

And then there's CourseSmart, an online service backed by five dead tree publishers that sells limited access to printed textbooks for a discount of up to 50% over the print version. We haven't tried CourseSmart ourselves, but the Times' description of it makes it sound like a deliberately constrained "service" dreamed up by companies that don't want to hurt their $200-a-copy golden goose, but want to take advantage of the market they created in the first place when they priced their books so high. Which, okay, sounds like good business, but we still think they suck.

"Don’t Buy That Textbook, Download It Free " [New York Times]

7 reasons to review term life coverage [Bankrate] "There are several life events that may modify your need for term life insurance coverage."

Seven Tips for the Newly Unemployed [Wise Bread] "Here are some tips that could be helpful for those [facing unemployment]."

Four Habits of Financially Peaceful People [Yahoo Finance] "Some people who have found financial peace — and the habits they share."

4 Ways to Save on College Textbooks [Smart Money] "Here are some other ways students can save [on textbooks]."

— FREE MONEY FINANCE
(Photo: balotto)

The bill would also ban textbook makers from jacking up prices by bundling unnecessary CDs and other extras. Finally, schools would be required to publish a list of required books long before the start of classes so students could avail themselves of the free market and ferret out the cheapest prices.

Faculty should also be doing their part. Instead of assigning two expensive books and using just a few chapters of each, professors should order custom books with only the chapters they intend to assign.

Congress, though, should do what it can, because mounting textbook prices are one of a number of factors that are pushing higher education further out of reach of many young people.

That Textbook Costs How Much? $200? [NYT]
Make Textbooks Affordable [Campaign to Reduce College Textbook Costs]
H.R. 4137 - The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 [THOMAS]
Write Your Senator
Write Your Representative
PREVIOUSLY: How To Write To Congress
(Photo: Getty)

Adobe has been promising a Leopard-friendly version since at least November 13th of last year, but as of today they've still released nothing. In the meantime, students who've spent considerable amounts on e-textbooks are out of luck and money.

The forum notes that there are a couple of potential workarounds that have seen some success, but the truly astounding aspect to this is that Adobe hasn't stepped up to help ensure refunds for those who weren't told their purchases would be useless—and that e-book sellers aren't making it clear at check-out that Leopard won't work.

(Thanks to Tyler!)

"Digital Editions in Mac OS X Leopard" [Adobe Forums]

In return, CaféScribe will be paying for Mr. Ditto's daughter's textbooks for a year. We've always considered running marathons to be insane behavior (even without carrying a backpack full of books) but Andre is confident that he can do it.

According to the press release that came sailing into our inbox, Andre will be carrying (among others) the world's heaviest textbook: Art History by Marilyn Stokstad. We have a degree in Art History. Good luck, Andre. You're going to need it to defeat Stokstad.

(Photo: Susannah Dambmann)

The Crimson speculates that the Coop may be reacting this way because of Crimsonreading.org, an online database that lets students search for the lowest prices by using ISBN. Harvard's Undergraduate Council President says he's spoken with an intellectual property lawyer and confirms that the ISBN-ownership claim is hogwash.

We understand taking severe measures to protect your business against cost-cutting competitors—especially when they have a business model that potentially gives them the upper hand against your traditional brick-and-mortar establishment. But we think it's pretty hilarious to invent copyright law. And we wonder, do they own the ISBNs of all books, or just the ones in their inventory? Does the publisher have any ISBN ownership rights? Maybe we should create some sort of international, standardized book numbering system so we can replace this proprietary one.

Anyway, so yeah, don't use ISBNs without writing to the Coop first and asking for permission.

"Coop Discourages Notetaking in Bookstore" [The Harvard Crimson, submitted by Joe—thanks, Joe!)

"It's hilarious because I had a class with 200+ people, and there were 3 to 4 copies of the current edition of the textbook in the library, but no one borrowed the books except for me... I just kept on renewing the books until the end of the semester and kept them in my locker."

Not all your books might be in the school library but it's certainly the first place to check, and after that, the used books on Amazon.

How I Saved Over $30,000 While In College and What I Did with the Money [The Baglady via Frugal For Life]
(Photo: Lisa Pisa)

The books generally can't be sold back to the college bookstore, nor can the student choose to buy them at another store. Professors who contribute chapters to the books are paid royalties. Is this a conflict of interest?

NPR interviewed one instructor who was in favor of "customized" textbooks. She said she had no problem requiring students to keep their textbooks, even after graduation. "Students have to trust us, they have to trust us that when we say, um, keep this textbook on your shelf, you're going to need it. I have no problem requiring students to keep those textbooks," she said.

That reminds us, we totally needed to go back and consult Architecture Theory since 1968, the other day. Oh wait, no. We did not.

Book Buying Among College Practices Under Scrutiny [NPR]
(Photo:ghindo)

CNN Money also suggests cheapesttextbooks.com and half.com. They don't mention CraigsList — does anyone have any personal experience sourcing books from there?

For savings at other stores, CNN Money recommends trying out studentadvantage.com, a discount card that costs $20 a year and offers slight discounts at a number of stores and transportation companies. However, this student forum offers mixed feedback on the card, saying it's really only useful if you have a specific set of spending needs. (In other words, it probably won't help if you're already a frugal shopper.)

For students living off campus, check apartment complexes for student discounts; be sure to check for other moving-in specials too. And a final word of common-sense advice from the junior in college: "Don't waste money you don't have on stuff like cable TV—-do you really have time to watch it anyway?"

Resources:
www.abebooks.com
www.half.ebay.com
www.cheapesttextbooks.com

Top Tips: Cutting the Cost of College Extras [CNN Money]

(Photo: Getty)

The cost of textbooks is rising faster than inflation and Hammond doesn't feel right forcing his students to purchase ever more expensive books on top of their already expensive tuition and fees.

"I think it's immoral because of the cost of it," Hammond told the Central Utah Daily Herald.

Instead of textbooks, Hammond has been assigning journal articles and other reading materials that his students can check out from the library or download from the internet, a practice which, if every one of their professors did it, would save students (on average) $900 a year.

It took Hammond a year to rewrite his own curriculum, after throwing out all his old textbooks. "It was worth it in the long run," Hammond said.

We always appreciated professors who did this when we were in college. At least at our college, providing xeroxed readings from various sources via downloadable PDFs instead of multiple textbooks was common. Often we could get away with sharing the textbook with a friend or using the copy on reserve at the library.

Hooray for professors who understand that college is expensive!

UVSC prof. quits books [Daily Herald] (Thanks, Octavia!)
(Photo:MARIO RUIZ/Daily Herald)

But it's okay, it was their parents money to begin with, right?

One reseller you may want to avoid is eCampus.com, who, according to Briana's letter, practically defrauded her.

We've heard, and experienced first hand, the ignominy of high text book prices met with perversely low buy-back rates. Are there any good, fair, sites or services out there for college students looking to finance their next crate of Ramen?

Briana's letter, after the jump...

Briana writes:

"Thought I'd share my story with you since a) I love your site and b) it's that time of year again when students everywhere are seeking to make a buck for their textbooks.

On November 3, 2005 I placed a buyback order with eCampus for some textbooks totaling $125.85. On November 5, 2005 I mailed out the box of textbooks using a printed label supplied by eCampus.

On January 30, 2006 after not having received my payment, I checked the status of my account online and it still indicated the transaction was being processed. I emailed customer service and received a response from hhershey that indicated my books had been received and that, due to a backlog my check would take another 6-8 weeks to be delivered.

On May 4, 2006 I still had not received either a check or further word on my account, and it was still listed as 'processing' online. I emailed customer service again, and received a response one minute later (according to the timestamps on the email sent to me) from hhershey telling me my order was never received.

When I asked why I was told otherwise before, and why my account still showed 'processing' (as opposed to 'cancelled' as it would in the instance my order was not received) I was referred to a customer service rep, Brittany. She informed me that since I did not insure the package, there was nothing further they could do for me.

I asked her why then had I been told my order was received previously, and why my order still listed as processing. I also questioned whether the one minute between receiving my message and responding was really adequate time to have verified the package was not received. My response was referred back to hhershey who replied to tell me there was nothing further they could do for me.

Six months of waiting for my check, and they lost my order and refuse to work with me further or give me compensation. I decided to do a little research to see what I was dealing with here. According to the Better Business Bureau they have an unsatisfactory rating (208 complaints in the last year), and searches on both PlanetFeedback and Epinions return scads of negative customer complaints for similar situations.

So we've learned two lessons in this little tale: 1) always make sure you get insurance for anything worth more than $20 when mailing, and 2) never use eCampus.com for your textbook needs. There's no telling how many unsuspecting kids they've hosed with this scam, telling them they 'lost' their order, or that it will be 6-8 more weeks when they're just skimming the free books for resale and hoping their victims will forget about pursuing compensation.

Shoulda known better,
Briana L."

This is a great idea: Amedeo Challenge is a non-profit organization that offers "bounties" (currently there is one available for 12,500) to physicians to write high-quality medical textbooks, which are then to be distributed on the Internet for free and sold in published editions for extremely affordable prices. Their aim is to promote affordable medical education to both the general populace at large and physicians, illustrating their concept thusly:

If medical textbooks of an average price of 50 per copy are downloaded an average 100,000 times a year, savings will be around 5,000,000 per title and per year. The resulting prospective is vertiginous: producing and freely distributing 100 medical textbooks could save doctors and interested lay people 500,000,000 per year - half a billion euros!

Which is a nice little bit of wishful thinking math-jiggery, but we still like the concept. Already available on their site is an HIV textbook and an Influenza textbook is forthcoming.

Obviously, this project has interesting possibilities for doctors in the developing world, and we wish it the best. Amedeo is currently taking larger sponsorships and will soon be opening their site to smaller, Pay-Pal-able donations.