Two Important Factors

• The internet (which is relatively insignificant in comparison to the second factor)

• The used textbook market

New Books vs. Used Books

Students prefer used books because they are less expensive, and we do our best to supply used books because they are more profitable. However, publishers and authors earn nothing from the sale of a used textbook. So a broad goal of the publishing industry is to eliminate the used textbook market. They are fighting back. Some years ago they tried to challenge the used textbook market legally, claiming it was theft of intellectual property, but they failed. So they have opted for different approaches.

• They reduce the life of an edition. Ten years ago a textbook edition could be expected to last at least four years. Now that life is closer to 3 years, even that is apparently shrinking. The only guaranteed profit to a publisher is from the first printing. After that first sale, wholesale companies and bookstores begin the process of buying and selling.

• Another approach is to push for the requests of custom editions which are useful only to the professors using them, and which only they (the publishers) provide. Some stores, have copy centers with the capability to manufacture these items, do the copyright clearance, and sell the materials less expensively than the publisher.
  

• Another way a publisher fights back is by complicating the buyback and ordering process.

The Way Things Work

Many stores use POS (point of sale) systems to track inventory sales. Since 1997 we have been using a POS (point of sale) textbook inventory system. Before that, we would work from price charts and put price stickers on every book in the store. Now the prices are listed on the shelf cards, and the price is determined by the bar-code, which is scanned at the cash register.

After a book is scanned (sold), it is deducted from the inventory. When books are bought at buyback, refunded, or received from the publisher, they are added to the inventory. In all cases this depends on the bar code. The bar code is derived from the International Standard Book Number (ISBN).

In times past, one textbook would have one bar code. Now, a textbook may have multiple bar codes, with the basic text being imprinted with one, and then shrink wrapped to include CD's, PASSPORTS, study guides, lab manuals, Wall Street Journal subscriptions, videos, and who knows what, adding another bar code to the package. Many times we do not know what we will get from the publisher until it arrives. This is a problem in that we must have the bar code entered before the book will scan. During buyback we must figure out what bar code is on the actual textbook so that we will be able to effectively buy it from the students. We also need to know what will arrive in the store when we order that ISBN from the publisher.

Many times these 'extras' are valuable to the student, but often they are not. We don't have the choice of omitting the 'extras'. Many publishers will not sell certain texts as 'text only'. The publisher's goal is to thwart the used book market.

For Example

"The Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers" is a good example. The ISBN on the textbook, which is what the student presents at buyback, is 0-13-079783-9. If you order this ISBN from the publisher, the ISBN on what you receive is 0-13-021457-4 (at least it *was* in July, next month it might be something else). The newer ISBN has a CD, which some of instructors may or may not use. The CD is rarely used by most students, nor do they keep the CD with the book, yet students are angry when we won't buy the book back without the CD. The bar codes for each textbook are different. This is the reason the course request printouts that we send often lists two textbooks of the same title, edition, and copyright as being required, when you only requested one. This is also how we can tell who is checking the lists as they should. Those who check carefully have questions, those who do not check their lists generally call us the second day of classes wondering what is going on, asking why we are selling materials which were not requested nor needed.

A typical order is processed like this. We receive requests for 100 copies of 0-13-079783-9 for 4 sections of English 100. We enter that into the system. Based on the Fall term sales, we expect to buy 70 copies from the students. The additional 30 copies are ordered from the publisher.

When the new textbooks arrive, they have a different ISBN and the text system doesn't recognize it. (Even if we phone the orders in and speak with a person, they often do not tell us what ISBN will be arriving.) We then have to enter the new ISBN for each of the four sections, adjust the outstanding quantity of the 'buyback' ISBN, add the new ISBN to the purchase order, make sure pricing is identical for each textbook, and place additional shelf card(s) so they will reflect the correct information. We then edit the old ISBN (which is what is still on the text) to remind us to require the CD when ordering the textbooks from wholesalers or buying them back from the students.

It has become a very tricky process. Again, the publisher's goal is to make the merchandising of used textbooks difficult and unprofitable.

How You Can Help

• We urge you to question your textbook representatives when they arrive at your doorstep trying to get that
  all-important huge textbook adoption.

• Ask the representatives about the materials they are including in the texts.
  'Oh, but it's FREE!' Nothing is free when it comes to textbooks.

• Will you use it, (the extras)?

• Is it a one time use only?

• Can you get just the textbook without the study guide wrapped up with it?

Note From The Manager

If you've read this far, I thank you. We, as well as our competitors, Lemox and UTS, are in business to provide course materials and information in a seamless manner. I mention our competitors because they receive their information from us. They are in the same 'boat' as we are. They also have the same goal. That goal is to provide the customer with the correct information, correct materials, and correct prices on time. When we can do it well, we are proud of our efforts. When we perform poorly as a result of our own decisions, we can figure out how to make it better. However, when conditions outside of our control prevent us from performing well (the publishers, requests coming in during buyback, classes being added or enrollment caps being increased without our knowledge) we all lose, especially the students, and the general mood is frustration.

I wish each of you the very best in the coming semester.

Sincerely,
Forrest Halford
Book Department Manager
University Bookstore-WKU