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Re: textbook prices (was jaw dropper)



Dewey says...

Actually in the 80's at the prices then current, it was estimated by the
publishers that the used book resales required them to up the price of a
new text by $7 - $10, because they had to amortize the cost of production
of the book over a shorter new book sales life. This of course allows the
used book folks to charge more, too.

Very interesting, but still I think the sale of used *promotional*
copies has a negligible effect on prices.

Do we really think it costs as much as a used book price to bring that book
back into the market? If so, then the new books are not outrageously
priced; it seems to me.

I actually think the prices of typical introductory textbooks are fairly
reasonable, considering how large these books tend to be and the full-color
printing (perhaps superfluous for physics, but wonderful for astronomy)
and so on. The books that are outrageously priced are the upper-level
undergraduate textbooks, which aren't even that much affected by used
book sales. These books cost much less to produce. They sell only a
few thousand copies per year, which is rather low, but even this is no
excuse for the high prices. Since I was in college about 14 years ago
the cost of living has risen 60% while the cost of upper-level physics
texts has risen about 150%. This increase has occurred even for books
that have not been revised during this time! It's entirely a matter
of what the publishers think they can get away with.

-dan