Students consider alternatives to DU bookstore
Josh Kurtz
Issue date: 7/31/09 Section: News
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Students' online textbook purchases have affected the campus bookstore for approximately five years, Rita LaRue Gollotti, senior associate vice president of Drexel Business Services, said. Drexel Business Services contracts with Barnes & Noble, the purchaser of textbooks for Drexel's three campus bookstores.
"Drexel students are very savvy and aware of technology," Gollotti said.
Incoming freshmen had differing views on the how they planned to purchase textbooks.
Amanda Mathis, an incoming freshman majoring in biological sciences, said convenience is her main consideration for purchasing books. Mathis plans to buy textbooks for her first term online because she can order them from her house.
"When I'm [at Drexel in the future], I'll probably just go to the bookstore," she said.
Matt Strollo, an incoming freshman majoring in music industry, said he took one college course previously at Holy Family University. He purchased the class's textbook from the college's bookstore due to convenience.
Sean Comber, an incoming freshman majoring in music industry, said he would most likely buy textbooks through eBay due to price considerations, as long as there was enough time to receive the order.
Most Drexel incoming freshmen were directly supplied with textbooks in high school and have no experience purchasing textbooks.
Gollotti said her advice to incoming freshmen on textbook purchasing is to research available options and determine which purchasing factors are most important.
Gollotti urged students to sell back their used textbooks, sayingitwould help students "down the line." Remove quote before 'it' here.
Reusing books also has environmental advantages, Gollotti added.
The Drexel bookstore has recently worked on building up their used books program, she said. The bookstore has seen an increase in used book sales in recent years.
Charles Gibson, a pre-junior majoring in architectural engineering, said he prefers to purchase his books online or from a friend. Gibson cited price, specifically the cost of bundled books, as his main reason for doing so.
"Anytime [the bookstore] bundles things, they increase the price of both products [when compared to a Web site like Amazon.com]," Gibson stated.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
J. Scott Allen
posted 7/31/09 @ 11:48 PM EST
My favorite alternative to the campus bookstore is http://www.bigwords.com They are a textbook search engine that searches all the online retailers and rental sites to find you the best price. (Continued…)
John Gault
posted 8/05/09 @ 1:09 PM EST
The bookstore does not "bundle" books. The faculty or department orders the bundle and the bookstore has to purchase what the faculty/department request. (Continued…)
Shannon
posted 8/13/09 @ 10:51 AM EST
Another great search engine is gettextbooks.com
Honestly, the thing that irritates me the most are "custom" edition textbooks that we have to buy through the bookstore. (Continued…)
Sandra Tilghman
posted 8/13/09 @ 2:36 PM EST
I prefer the school bookstore as I can use my financial aid to purchase my books and not take it out of pocket now. This way I have money available to purchase other supplies that may be needed that are not available at the bookstore. (Continued…)
Amit Sehgal
posted 9/21/09 @ 9:16 AM EST
Check out this site www.bookase.com, A price comparison search engine for books and textbooks. It searches for the lowest prices among the major online stores worldwide and also offers discount coupons. (Continued…)
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