At the start of every semester, students gripe about the cost oftextbooks. Many attempt to save money by buying books at T.I.S. orC.B.X. rather than the Ball State Bookstore.
It's common knowledge that prices at the campus bookstore aremore than those of the bookstores in the Village; a sample of 66prices on 33 books (a new and used price for each book) across 24academic subjects showed that prices are higher at the Ball StateBookstore.
Of the 66 prices, 55, or 85 percent, were more expensive at BallState than at T.I.S. and C.B.X. Of the books that cost more, bothnew and used prices were an average of 10 percent more at thecampus bookstore. The 11 books that were cheaper at the Ball StateBookstore cost only 5 percent less than their Villagecounterparts.
So students are paying an average of $5 more per book at theBall State Bookstore, and they are left wondering why theuniversity would be sucking even more money out of theiralready-empty wallets.
Five years ago, Barnes & Noble took over business operationsof the Ball State bookstore. Vice President of Business AffairsNorm Beck said the partnership was formed to lower prices.
But that might not be the case.
Melissa Brinker, manager of the bookstore, said Barnes &Noble raises textbook prices 25 percent to 30 percent higher thanwhat it pays the publisher. She said prices might be higher at herstore because the company rents its space in the Art and JournalismBuilding,
All businesses pay for their building space, though. Itshouldn't spark such a high difference between Barnes & Nobleand T.I.S. or C.B.X. T.I.S. Textbook Manager Mark Hornung said hiscompany owns the store's building and pays a monthly mortgage.C.B.X. manager Scott Ronnau said his store pays a monthly rent tothe building's owner.
Even the markups don't fully explain the price differences.Hornung said T.I.S. also applies an equivalent markup on textbooks.Ronnau said C.B.X. uses a lower rate, about 23 percent, which mightexplain the lower prices. That would account for a 2-percent to7-percent variance, but not the full 10 percent more the Ball StateBookstore is charging.
But students don't care why books cost less; they just careabout saving money.
On top of paying rent to Ball State, the bookstore also mustgive 9 percent of its profits to the university. That figure iseerily comparable to the extra 10 percent students pay when theybuy books in the Art and Journalism Building.
Brinker said the revenue generated by Barnes & Noble for theuniversity goes toward student scholarships and other programs.Beck, however, said the money is paying off the portion of the Artand Journalism Building not funded by state money.
By that argument, then, students are paying more money at thecampus bookstore to foot the bill for AJ. Apparently the $1,000 feeimposed on freshmen and the steadily increasing cost of tuitionaren't enough to cover expenses; the university is trying to stealmoney from students in yet another way.
The Ball State Bookstore's prices are unnecessarily high. Theonly way to get Barnes & Noble to lower them is to go elsewherefor textbooks. The bookstore will be forced to lower its prices toreasonable and competitive rates.
If you need a caffeine boost from the cafe or copies from theCopy Center, visit the Ball State Bookstore. If you need textbooks,stay far away. The bookstores in the Village cater much better tostudents' budgets.