2008 Woodie Awards
E-books not as cheap as they appear
William Richards
Issue date: 8/24/07 Section: News
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This consolidation reduces the number of books that students need to carry to class.
"A professor mentioned to me that even though she offered the e-book for marketing, some students still wanted a hard copy of the book," Dias said.
It is possible that the entity benefiting the most from students who choose e-books is the publisher itself.
"The publishers definitely win when a student buys an e-book because the majority of the profit from that book goes to them," said Melissa Yopack, textbook reservations manager at the UCF Bookstore.
Yopack said that e-books are disappointing not only to students during buy-back time but also to the Bookstore.
She said that in the last two or three semesters, there has been an increase in professors who join with publishers for e-books.
"We're only going to make a 2 percent profit from an e-book," Yopack said. "We'd much rather get used books because we make 20 percent profit on those."
The UCF Bookstore makes most of its money from buy-backs.
E-books, on the other hand, ensure that publishers are able to sell new books every time and that students can't avoid buying a new book because used e-books simply don't exist.
"Electronic books are a new trend with publishers that probably will carry on," Yopack said. "It's going to be very hard because we really don't want new books."
That is why the Bookstore tries to encourage professors to use the same book every year. Then the student gets 50 percent off the book at buy-back, and there are more used books available, Yopack said.
"It's a win-win situation for the students and the Bookstore," Yopack said. "In a way, it's a war between us and the publisher. We ask the faculty to re-use books. At the same time, publishing reps are calling the teachers trying to get them to buy new books."
E-books are often not available through channels such as Amazon.com and other cheaper online booksellers because the publisher customizes the e-book for the department.
Besides e-books, the Bookstore cannot buy back books with a CD and access code component. Many publishers bundle their CDs and textbooks in packages.
Yopack explained that since the publishers often do not sell items such as access codes separately, students are forced to buy the entire package.
"The number one complaint of students at buy-back is that they bought this book with a new CD and an access code and the teacher never used it," Yopack said.
"A professor mentioned to me that even though she offered the e-book for marketing, some students still wanted a hard copy of the book," Dias said.
It is possible that the entity benefiting the most from students who choose e-books is the publisher itself.
"The publishers definitely win when a student buys an e-book because the majority of the profit from that book goes to them," said Melissa Yopack, textbook reservations manager at the UCF Bookstore.
Yopack said that e-books are disappointing not only to students during buy-back time but also to the Bookstore.
She said that in the last two or three semesters, there has been an increase in professors who join with publishers for e-books.
"We're only going to make a 2 percent profit from an e-book," Yopack said. "We'd much rather get used books because we make 20 percent profit on those."
The UCF Bookstore makes most of its money from buy-backs.
E-books, on the other hand, ensure that publishers are able to sell new books every time and that students can't avoid buying a new book because used e-books simply don't exist.
"Electronic books are a new trend with publishers that probably will carry on," Yopack said. "It's going to be very hard because we really don't want new books."
That is why the Bookstore tries to encourage professors to use the same book every year. Then the student gets 50 percent off the book at buy-back, and there are more used books available, Yopack said.
"It's a win-win situation for the students and the Bookstore," Yopack said. "In a way, it's a war between us and the publisher. We ask the faculty to re-use books. At the same time, publishing reps are calling the teachers trying to get them to buy new books."
E-books are often not available through channels such as Amazon.com and other cheaper online booksellers because the publisher customizes the e-book for the department.
Besides e-books, the Bookstore cannot buy back books with a CD and access code component. Many publishers bundle their CDs and textbooks in packages.
Yopack explained that since the publishers often do not sell items such as access codes separately, students are forced to buy the entire package.
"The number one complaint of students at buy-back is that they bought this book with a new CD and an access code and the teacher never used it," Yopack said.