College students increasingly turn
to Internet when buying textbooks

March 16, 2004

By Sarah Lawrence
Iowa's Internet

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Many college and university students in Iowa have turned to the Internet to buy and sell their textbooks.

Students are visiting Web sites such as half.com, amazon.com and studentmarket.com to buy their books in order to save money, avoid long lines at the bookstore, or make sure they have their books on time.

"My sophomore year I started looking for books online, and I found that they were a lot cheaper," Anna Rainey, a third-year student at Drake University in Des Moines, said. "So when I can't find a book online, I go to the bookstore as a last resort."

Rainey pays for her own books each semester. She said finding the best price is a top priority for her, and she finds all of the best prices online.

"It's probably less convenient because you have to search for the book, whereas you could just walk over to the bookstore," Rainey said. "But if you're trying to pinch your pennies, you'll search online for the books before you walk to the bookstore."

Many books sold online are a lot cheaper than those in bookstores. A new, hardcover copy of the textbook "Economics: A Contemporary Introduction", by William A. McEachern, sells for $121.50 at the University Book Store on the Drake University campus. The same book can be purchased on the Amazon Web site for $88.95.

Jeff Engquist, a third-year student at Drake University, said he saved about $200 on textbooks last semester by buying his books online.

"A classmate told me a year and a half ago that that's how she bought her books, so I decided to check it out," Engquist said. "Compared to the bookstore prices, the books online are at least 25 percent cheaper...I found most of my books for between $40 and $60. All of the bookstore books were over $100 apiece."

Engquist also sells his books online. He said that he gets more money for selling his books online and that he can often sell books that the university bookstore won't buy back.

"I don't sell any books back to the school bookstore because they won't take them if there's a new edition coming out," Engquist said.

Students who choose to buy and sell their books online must register their credit card and checking account number with a Web site. When a student buys a book, the student's credit card is charged or the money is taken out of the student's checking account. When a student sells a book, the money is deposited directly into his or her account, minus a few dollars for shipping and commission. The books take less than a week to ship.

"About five to six business days and it will be in my mailbox like clockwork," Rainey said. "I've never had a problem ordering online."

Sonja Reineking graduated from the University of Iowa last year. Reineking said she liked to buy her textbooks online to avoid the crowds at the bookstore.

"It's really hectic at the bookstore at the beginning of the semester," Reineking said. "There are really long lines and you have to push people out of your way just to grab the book you need."

Reineking said buying her books online took away the stress that comes from "braving" the bookstore.

"Sometimes I get nervous in places packed full of people, so avoiding the bookstore was a really good idea for me," Reineking said. "The books are cheaper too, so that's always a plus."

Val Melkus, a third-year student at the University of Northern Iowa, said she goes online to buy books when the bookstore does not have the book she needs.

"If the book store has ordered a book late, or didn't order enough books, I go on the Internet to find it," Melkus said.

University Book and Supply, the bookstore that serves the University of Northern Iowa campus, has tried to get rid of this problem by offering services where the students can reserve their textbooks online before the semester begins.

A link on the bookstore's Web site at panthersupply.com allows students to type in their course numbers and reserve books. Employees at the bookstore will then pull the books ahead of time, Jeremy Strohman, the textbook manager at the bookstore, said.

"We started this service to help the students," Strohman said. "We've always had a reservation program, but when the dot-coms started popping up, we started working on our Web site to make it more customer-friendly."

Rainey said as long as shopping online is cheaper, she will continue to do so. "It may not be more convenient, but it saves you money."