University of Memphis students who don't purchase required course material by the first day of class may want to do a price comparison before turning to the on-campus bookstore.
When comparing textbook prices for six freshman-level courses – a total of seven books – The Daily Helmsman found that assuming three textbook stores near campus have similar prices could cost a student quite a bit of money.
Amazon.com prevailed with the cheapest prices in most cases when taking both new and used books into consideration. However, Textbook Brokers, located just west of campus at 3566 Walker Avenue, beat out the online store twice in the seven-book list.
"We use all the resources available to us to get the books in here at the right price so we can extend that cheap price to the students," said Derrick Gibson, Textbook Broker's general manager. "Most of our inventory is used, so that gives us a big advantage."
However, Amazon doesn't carry some custom edition books required for courses at The U of M, and the prices of their used books constantly change due to the company running out of stock and hosting a variety of sellers.
Tiger Bookstore, across the street at 3533 Walker Avenue, was second to Textbook Brokers and Amazon in pricing, leaving the on-campus bookstore, operated by the Follett Higher Education Group, with the highest prices among those compared.
"Textbooks are expensive and pricing is based on a very simple equation – the price from the publisher plus a contractual margin, within the contract with the school," said Donna Collier, campus bookstore manager. "So pricing begins with the publisher."
She said the on-campus bookstore typically discounts used books by 25 percent, the industry average. They, along with Textbook Brokers and Tiger Bookstore, also offer books for rent.
Collier said that Follett's Rent-A-Text program saved students $130 million nationally and is expected to double that this year.
Still, of the seven freshman-level books compared by The Daily Helmsman, only two were available for rent from the on-campus bookstore, according to their website, and the rental price was not cheaper than Textbook Brokers' or Tiger Bookstore's rental prices.
Senior logistics and supply chain management major Tyler Ricossa, however, said he turns to the on-campus bookstore first.
"I always seem to find better deals off-campus, but sometimes the specific book I need is only sold on campus, so I always go there first," he said.
Ricossa said his second choice is Textbook Brokers.
"It's always faster than Tiger Bookstore and I usually don't ever try any purchasing online … I want to be able to see the book in my hand before I purchase something over the internet and then it show up looking nothing like I expected it to be," he said.
Though Tiger Bookstore is cheaper than the campus bookstore, Textbook Brokers had cheaper prices for new, used or rental books in the comparison.
They did, however, offer rentals on some books that weren't available for rent at Textbook Brokers.
When renting a book from any of the stores, the student returns it at the end of the semester and doesn't receive cash back. When buying a used or new book, the student can sell that book back for cash.
"Textbook Brokers has affected our business a little bit," said Marvell Bond, Tiger Bookstore's textbook manager. "But where they beat us on prices, we beat them just as much on prices."
Bond said that Tiger Bookstore would lower its prices for a week beginning Aug. 26 "to pass on the savings to the students."
He also said that he will try to match or beat prices if students bring in a quote from another store that is cheaper.
"We've been doing that for years," he said, though he won't guarantee the price match in all cases.
His store also has a Smart Card, available for free at a register, which if used gives the customer $15 off a textbook purchase of $300 or more.
Jonathan Underwood, senior business administration major, said he usually goes to Amazon.
"Mainly because of the price and its convenience of getting it online," Underwood said. "My second choice would be Textbook Brokers. Those prices are the lowest in my opinion."
Though the store seemed to be cheaper than its nearby competitors, Gibson said that they see roughly 20 to 22 percent of students enrolled per class purchase books there.
The on-campus bookstore would not release data on the number of students who shop there.
Bond estimated that about 30 to 35 percent of students enrolled per class purchase their textbooks from Tiger Bookstore.
