Student_Against_Overpriced_Book

Iandry Rabe ENGL 107 Word Counts: 1,057 Students against Overpriced Books Nowadays, money has become a very important resource for everybody, especially for students who just graduated from high school. Going to college is now a big deal for a family that wants their kids to attend college because the cost of the education keeps rising, and it is hard for the parents to keep up with the spending for their kids. That is why, after paying the tuition, it is so difficult for the parents to afford books. Books are one of the most important spending that the students have to face during their studies after the tuition. What is the best way for students to spend less on their books' The students should unify themselves to create an association or a platform where they will be able to sell, rent or buy their books at affordable price to cut down their expenses. The cost of the books is a major expense, after tuition, room and boards, and meal plans. The problem is that when students are shopping for their books, the first resource that is available to them is the bookstore of the campus. It is convenient for the students because they do not have to go far and they have the possibility to pay the book without having to use their cash, but rather by putting all the expense on their student account. Even though it is convenient, the prices displays by the bookstore are high compared to regular stores available in the city or online. The students may not realize that because they put everything in their account, so they do not have an exact idea on how much they are paying for their books throughout the semester. The sale of overpriced books is an example on how colleges take advantage of the students during their studies. When the bookstore knows that some of the books used by the students will be needed the year after, they buy those books back from students who are willing to sell theirs. But the price they buy the books back is 80% less than the original price, and the bookstore resells those books back at least 60% less the original of the new book price. That leaves the bookstore with a certain profit in both ways. The students always lose because they still have to spend more money than they should than in a regular market To fight those overpriced books, some actions must be taken by the students if they want to cut down their expenses and spend their money wisely. One of the best solutions is that the students should create a platform like a special local college website where books will be easily accessible for every student. Some websites like Chegg.com, ebay.com, or amazon.com already provide those kinds of services, but it is still not convenient enough, because the students will have to go to the mail services to ship it, package the books, and it may also take a while to get the money if they want to rent or sell their books to those online stores. The best way to make students know more about the idea is by advertising it and by making it easy for them to be adapted to. Today we have the chance to live in a new century where we can be in contact with the world in only one click. Students should take advantage of those advanced technologies like social networking (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace …) in order for them to be able to make all the students of a same college connect to each other and create a link between them so they can know more about that new initiative. Once that network between students is established, it will be very easy for them to contact and share information, like email addresses or phone numbers to contact each other, when they want a book for their futures classes. In order for that idea to be established, all the students will have to help each other, because it will be all about solidarity and trust between them. The advantage is that it will be easier for the students to talk between them about the price, and in that case, everybody will be satisfied. The more students participate in that project, the easier it will be for them to find the right book that they will need for their future classes. Once this becomes habit, and this way of trading is smooth between the students, it will not be a pain to find books at affordable price or find a way to sell those books at price higher than the bookstore. Students should be happy if someone is willing to start that new concept because without leaders nobody will have the motivation to put the first stone in that project. Unfortunately, even though it is an idea that could change the life of a lot of students, the institution where they are studying may not allow the students to put that website as an official website affiliated to the school. The college or university will be against it because if it really happened, the bookstore, which is a considerable source of income for the school will get less income and the students will be more attracted by the other options that opened to them. Another problem that may occur is sometimes the teachers of some classes like to use the latest edition of the books for their classes. But most of the time, the books that the bookstore buys back are useable for several years before the professors of any class switch to new books. But students that are the soul of the college. The administration will not be able to stop the students from making this idea a reality. For the price they paid, they should at least care about the students and their life all along their 4 years of studies. If students really want to fight against those overpriced books from their campus, they should have the motivation to stand up and act because it would be all in their interest, and it is also one solution for them to save and make a little bit more money than they could have instead of selling their books back to the bookstore of their college.