Online retailers fail to offer savings

by Yvette Thomas
FOR THE POST

Editor's note: Reporter Yvette Thomas researched book costs at two Uptown stores and four Web sites to find the best book prices. She also researched information useful for first-time online book buyers. The following are her findings.

For most Ohio University students, buying textbooks means a trip Uptown. And for those whose parents don't do the purchasing, it also means spending money.

But recently, Internet sites like varsitybooks.com, ecampus.com and amazon.com have promised reduced textbook prices. Is buying books online really a better deal? Surprisingly, it is usually not.

"Government by the People," a required book for two of three Political Science 101 classes offered this quarter, was $43.18 at varsitybooks.com and $59.50 at amazon.com. Both prices did not include shipping costs, which ranged depending on the type of shipping and amount of time to ship the book.

College Book Store, 50 S. Court St., priced the same book at $46.25. The price tag at Follett's University Bookstore, 63 S. Court St., was $42.75.

A chemistry textbook that cost $78.75 at both College Book Store and Follett's was $142.00 at amazon.com, not including shipping costs. The difference in price partially is because the textbook was used at College Book Store and Follett's and new at amazon.com.

General book manager of Follett's Chis Knies said he does not view e-retailers as much of a threat. In addition to the Athens location, Follett's also has a Web site at efolletts.com.

Knies said books bought from the Web site may be sold back to Follett's during book buy back at the end of each quarter.

Sophomore Jason Brower, a physics major, said he might consider buying online if it were cheaper.

But regardless of cost differences, sophomore Danielle Skinner, an International Studies major, said she probably wouldn't buy from e-retailers. Skinner said she's uncomfortable giving out her credit card number online.

"It's shady," she said.

Almost every online book retailer promises secure transactions. For instance, efolletts.com cites zero instances of credit card fraud on its Web site.

And students considering an online textbook purchase should be aware of an added challenge - getting the correct book. The best way to avoid mix-ups is to know the international standard book number for each book. This number is unique to every book published and usually is located on the back cover.

A few sites, like efollett.com and varsitybooks.com, have books organized by school, course name and professor. At amazon.com, book-buyers are on their own. In this case, it's best to be armed with exact title, edition, publisher and date of publication to avoid buying the wrong book.