Being a college student would be a lot easier if textbooks didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
UCF students try and find every which way to get their textbooks for cheap–and most of the time the on-campus bookstores are the most expensive.
Students tend to buy from competitor bookstores, other students, or online when purchasing textbooks. These places often offer more affordable alternatives than the on-campus bookstore.
The on-campus bookstore, Barnes and Noble: UCF, is a Barnes and Noble affiliated store. However, prices on the official Barnes and Noble website are much cheaper than the ones seen at our bookstore. For example:
Book: Assault on Paradise
Buy new on campus: $94.00
Buy new through Barnes and Noble : $73.43
Rent used on campus: $42.30
Rent used through Barnes and Noble: $18.79
Knight News reached out to Steven Way, the general manager of the UCF Bookstore. We asked Way questions regarding the high price difference between the UCF Bookstore and our affiliated company.
KnightNews found out that the UCF Bookstore is not managed by Barnes and Noble, it is managed by Barnes & Noble College, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Way clarified that Barnes & Noble, Inc. can offer some textbooks at a lower price point because it does not have the associated costs that running a physical store has.
“Textbook prices are set by the publishers. This cost is the same whether the bookstore purchases one textbook or 1,000 textbooks,” Way said.
The bookstore then adds an industry standard margin to that price, which covers anything from labor to maintaining the physical store itself.
So contrary to the student body belief, the UCF Bookstore isn’t overpriced on purpose, their prices aren’t really up to them.
“The UCF Bookstore is a full-service operation. Its mission is to ensure that the right book, for the right class, is on the shelf at the right time and provide students with outstanding service,” said Way.
For more information on our bookstore check out ucf.bncollege.com
