Shirking high prices and an apparent monopoly, many college students avoid shopping at the campus bookstore, or at least do a little comparison shopping before paying retail for textbooks. When the Harvard Coop decided to tell students they were unwelcome to comparison shop, it sent an unabashed message about the reality of nearly predatory textbook pricing.
Students at Harvard University have taken trolling the web for bargains to a more efficient, university-specific level with price comparison site Crimsonreading.org, much to the chagrin of the Coop. After catching students copying down book prices and ISBNs to post on the site, Coop management called for the Cambridge Police Department to remove the students. The police reasonably declined to take action against the law-abiding students. Word of the incident, reported by The Harvard Crimson, has spread around campus and will likely raise suspicions about on-campus bookstores.
Coop President Jerry Murphy called ISBNs intellectual property, according to a Sept. 19 Crimson article. Saying identification numbers, akin to phone numbers or bar codes, are intellectual property is a ridiculous way to get around the truth: Campus bookstores refuse to engage in the competitive market, squeezing more money out of students than retailers who do not enjoy a privileged position on campus or in student directories.
Textbook prices increase at an average rate of 6 percent each year, according to a July 2005 report from the U.S. Government Affordability Office. From 1986 to 2004, the price of books nearly tripled. Students can easily spend up to $1,000 each year on textbooks, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance said in a May 2007 report. The report recommended students use websites to find affordable books. It also called for professors to get out information about required course titles before the first day of class. It is crucial for students to have ISBNs, along with book titles and authors. Frequently changing textbook editions make online shopping tricky, and, without ISBNs, students run the risk of buying the wrong textbook.
The Barnes ‘ Noble at Boston University website does students a favor by listing required and recommended texts over the summer. However, by not listing ISBNs, the bookstore makes it difficult for students to know what exactly they should look for online. While this strategy makes sense for Barnes ‘ Noble, professors should take the extra step and email students or post the full book information on Course Info sites.
The Coop’s actions exemplify the absurd state of retail textbook sales, in which new and used books at campus stores are sold at a significant markup from online or student swap prices, for only the added convenience of on-campus, instant availability. Some Harvard students, after surreptitiously scribbling down ISBNs in the bookstore and comparing prices online, might just decide, even if prices are similar, the open animosity of the Coop toward students motivates them to take their business elsewhere.
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