Why Are Textbooks So Expensive? By Henry Roediger

The Illusion of Used Textbooks

This article, “Why Are Textbooks So Expensive?” by Henry Roediger reveals the truth of why textbooks are so pricey. He shows how textbooks prices are costly not because of inflation, corporate textbook companies, and frequent revisions, but because of the sale of used textbooks. The article is elaborating on why used textbooks are the real culprit as well. One main point that is highlighted is that used textbooks are resold for many years. The initial selling of the textbook is the only time the author will make a profit, but the bookstore will make a profit every time they resell a used book. It is essential for the author to raise the price to compensate for the loss of money when dealing with used textbooks.

491). The inflated prices of textbooks contribute to the used textbook industry because the bookstores get nearly double the price of the author. If the bookstores don’t sell the copies, they send the left over books back to the company and get a full refund. The bookstores have nothing to lose and they are making a substantial amount of money because of the resale value. I agree that textbooks are overpriced because of the claim Roediger makes when stating that textbook prices are too high for students to afford. The bookstore has nothing to lose because they do not lose any money if the books are not sold, while the students are suffering. The bookstore loses no money if students don’t purchase the book because if there is a large number of books left over, the bookstore sends them back. Roediger says “If books are not sold, they are retuned to the company for a full price refund. It’s a no-risk business” (Roediger, pg. 492). He recognizes that this textbook company is a no risk business and the side benefitting from this company is the one making all the money; the textbook companies are constantly winning. On the other end of things though, students need their textbooks to learn and have to pay the price listed for each textbook. An average full time college student enrolls in 15 credit hours which balances out to taking around five classes per

This tactic portrays how used textbooks are the real culprit, and I agree that this topic feeds into the reason why textbooks are so expensive. In theory, the buyers of the used textbook think they are getting an amazing deal but in reality, buying a used textbook only raises the price of new textbook. In this article Roediger says “One major dissimilarity in these cases are pirated movies and music are legal and used textbook market is legal” (Roediger, pg. 490) The used textbook market is unjust to the company and the author, and it demonstrates that the industry is at fault. While the act of pirating movies and music is illegal the concept of selling used textbooks directly correlates with the idea of textbook resale without the author profiting. From Roediger’s perspective the used textbook industry has been portrayed in an undesirable light. Roediger speaks negatively of the used textbook industry by saying, “they are true parasites, deriving profits with no investment while damaging their hosts” (Roediger, pg. 490) I agree that the used textbook industry is greedy because they are benefitting from work that never belonged to them. The authors are doing the heavy lifting while the used textbook companies profit