Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Book Scam - How Colleges Rip Off Students

This quarter, I needed but three books.  Two out of the three still have an abundance of used ones, cutting the cost considerably and thereby proportionally increasing my joy according the funds left in my meager student bank account.  However, there is one book that has no used versions.  This book happens to be eighty some odd dollars before tax, foiled.

I believe the greater part of this cost comes not from the book itself, but from the fact that they package it with a study guide and, CD-ROM? Come-on folks, why don't you
throw in a audio tape, video, regular CD, computer program, 3-D glasses, water
bottle with emblem, personalized highlighter, ear phones, Vivrin tablets,
did I miss anything???  Oh yes, a laptop computer which has the book, CD,
CD-ROM, tape, video, computer program, 3-D software, ear phones, and an
IV of caffeine built in.  Then they could just retail the "book" for like $2299
before tax and shipping, and because they can't put something like that on
the shelf, it should only take 4-6 weeks to reach you so buy early!:)

My point is this.  I think universities and book producers have a serious scam goin' on
here.  Why do they come out with a new edition every year? Did the
gravitational pull of the moon and sun align so as to change all current Physics
theories?  Must we re-evaluate all of our thinking? I didn't hear about
that happening in the news but I did notice that the only thing that changed
in my new eighty dollar book was problem 11-29. It said find the amount of
“force” on the block at point A.  Now it says find the amount of “Force” on
the block at point A.  Wow, I'm glad they put out a new edition, I never
would have got 11-29 which may have thrown me so far off into perilous
disillusionment that I would nere understood Physics again!!??

And what about the term wholesale?  After a quarter of clearly
painstakingly marking where all the important points in your book are, they
buy it back for 4 bucks.  That’s two slices at Pizza Roma.  If I recycled
the thing I'd feel more rewarded.  "They must have a new edition" is the
common reply to your obvious cynical look of despair at the word "four
bucks, its wholesale son".  You mean its a buck a pound!!?? 

AND DONT CALL ME SON!@#@!#$#$%%(&^%!!

Even though they're using that edition for two
more years at PLU and don't have a single copy, you know, with shippin’
costs all the way to Tacoma (29 cents bulk book rate), labor(these old people VOLUNTEER to rip us off, thank you), and a resale value of $49.50, well, we have to
make a profit you know.

I had a teacher who was using the ninth edition!!
This author was kicking out a new one as fast as federal regulators allow
and my teacher said by the time he finds the typo that warranted this "new"
edition they've put out another one!  And God forbid we'd use the eighth
edition, heaven sakes!  This is a University!  If were going to charge
you 2.99 for old humbao and Husky dogs then darn it were going to use the
ninth edition!  I once heard of a class that used the same book twice,
but I wasn't in it and I think it was summer A and B terms anyways and I'm
not sure that counts.  So, alas, each year our rainforests are depleted, to
make the authors richer, to make the publishers richer, to make our
schools richer and to let us know that, even with an education, in the
end..

were only worth a buck a pound.

a student about to go buy books, sigh.

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