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Volume CXXXIII, Number 6 |
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Book prices fail test
A recent front-page New York Times article scratched the surface of an issue very relevant to students: the sky-high price of textbooks. The article highlighted the fact that publishers charge about twice as much in the United States for the exact same textbooks that they sell abroad, primarily in European markets. For example, a biochemistry text that sells in the United States for $146 is available from amazon.co.uk for just over $70 including shipping.
It is understandable, then, that more students are turning to alternate sources for textbooks, especially considering that those alternate sources offer considerably cheaper prices. Textbook publishers maintain that the price differentials reflect the demands of different markets and that foreign sales of American textbooks somehow advance America's standing. Politics aside, it is important to keep in mind that American college students' pocketbooks (or, more likely, those of their families) are already drained from the costs of tuition and housing. In other countries like Britain, these fees are largely covered by the government, which makes the lower textbook price at amazon.co.uk seem even more unnecessary.
The legal dimension is framed by a 1998 Supreme Court ruling which states that federal copyright law does not protect American manufacturers from reimportation of their own goods at discounted prices. Textbook publishers have since attempted to limit foreign wholesalers of their products using the contractual language. They have labeled identical versions of a textbook for foreign sale using such designations as "international editions."
These practices are manipulative and seek to profit unreasonably from what should be a fundamentally disinterested pursuit-higher education. This is not a Bowdoin issue. It is a student issue. As most Bowdoin students will attest, a trip to the textbook annex is rarely a cheap one. Single books can cost upwards of $100, and a typical class load often translates to hundreds of dollars in book expenses. Bowdoin students should be fully aware of price discrepancies when purchasing books for second semester-and beyond.
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