EXPENSIVE TEXTBOOKS: WHO GETS THE MONEY?

Going shopping for textbooks? Most students think they must open the vault, grab your cash, because there is a man waiting for you behind the doors. Well actually there are two men, John Trott and Louis Cappocci Manager and Assistant Manager of the Westchester Community College bookstore and mere conduits in the textbook trade; however, they too feel your pain.

John and Louis are responsible for 950 titles and manage an average of 10,000 books per semester. While that sounds like a block buster mo money potential, WCC receives a small percentage of those sales.   

For the cost of doing business, the publishers get a whopping, 77.4% of the sticker price which covers book development, royalties to the authors and don’t forget for shipping they get their 1% too. The remainder approx. 3.7 cents per dollar, per new textbook  goes to the bookstore. Of that amount they shell out money to pay the staff, taxes, insurance, and security.  In addition, they are also faced with the new 3^rd party “rent-a book” industry where companies such as Amazon, Valore Books, and Barnes and Nobles, offer book rentals per semester at nominal cost, which cuts directly into the bookstore’s profits.  As a result, WCC’s management decided if you can’t beat them join them and are currently in the process of selecting new vendors to run their book rental division. But to turn a profit the bookstore heavily relies on the ancillary items like sweat shirts, cups, pens and notebooks.  John Cappocci said it best “This is your bookstore. Money you spend here stays here and is invested in the school activities.  This is the FSA Student Faculty Association, and we think that is a very important point.

When asked what is your most common student complaint, Louis replied “Surprisingly, the books are expensive was number 2. And the number 1 complaint was the professors choose not to use the book or the expensive electronic supplement that accompanies the book and cannot be returned.”

They recognize books are costly, but they have implemented a few programs to help offset the price, such as the Buyback program. At the end of the semesters if the book is requested the next semester, the textbook managers will initiate the buyback program, where they purchase your book at 50% of your cost and resell the used book next semester at a lower cost to the student before they order new books.  It is the bookstore’s position “If you buy a book at full price, learn something, get an education and get to sell the book at 50% is a double win!”  However, remember paperback workbooks, loose-leaf binders, and books with supplement codes are not eligible. For more information on expensive college textbooks please click here.