2006-07-09 10:28:14 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
Because they're not on the New York Times Bestseller list.
2006-07-09 11:47:25 · answer #1 · answered by Liza 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's a HUGE money making venture for the schools. when i was at community college my books cost more than my tuition every semester! schools figured out that they could gouge students by charging outrageous prices for 'required' books. often times instructors will require several books that could run into the hundreds of dollars. the used book market helped for awhile until the schools figured out they could just require a brand new edition every other year or so. purchasing an older edition is usually fine as they change so little from year to year (usually there's just a few extra pages/graphics). amazon.com is a great source and the school library almost always has copies on reserve for you to use. also, check bulletin boards. students often advertise older versions that they can't sell back. but all in all it's just a way to squeeze as much out of you as they can.
2006-07-09 18:15:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When the the new editions come out, most publishers raise the price of their books, so it can cover the cost of putting it together such as bundling or shrinkwrapped with instructional CD-ROMs and wookbooks. So,let me put it this way buy unbundled textbooks you pay less. Also, the most commonly purchased textbooks on college campuses have new editions published on average of every three years, so that's another reason why it cost so much for textbooks. You might disagree on that. Also, the publisher charge americans more for textbooks than overseas. Let me make it short and not sweet, they charge more to fatten their pockets.
2006-07-09 18:52:46 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Press runs for such books are small, so the cost of typesetting, printing, and marketing can be spread over only a few books. Most colleges have facilities for buying used books; that will save you money.
2006-07-09 17:32:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because bookstores enjoy screwing already poor college students in the a ss.
2006-07-09 17:48:00 · answer #5 · answered by atari_girl22 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
because you forget where you are buying them i was in shock to the first time i went to get books so i do know how you feel and the used ones arent cheap either so i do know.
2006-07-09 17:32:19 · answer #6 · answered by LENORE P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they are sold in much lower volumes...but you can save money if you can get the book list ahead of time and buy them used or on amazon.com
2006-07-09 17:31:57 · answer #7 · answered by bobsled 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have no idea, except that the bookstores want to gouge students and make more profit.
2006-07-09 17:32:34 · answer #8 · answered by Chreap 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
so they can get more money out of kids wanting to go to college
2006-07-09 17:32:14 · answer #9 · answered by quikboy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋