After having 3 kids in college (not to mention my husband and I!) and one still in college, I am convinced that, for the most part, college books are all a scam! They really are highly overpriced, and I've had many classes where you buy the book and never use it, or use it once or twice. Just paid my youngest son's books for the semester. It was around 400$!
sundero
Tip: Have your son contact his profs just after he preregisters for classes and ask them for the list of books they are required to read. Then go to abe.com or another used book site and get them cheap. It worked for me.
You got it, it is a scam. I guess those professors really are a lot smarter than the rest of us. They must be, we know they are scamming us but we continue to play (pay).
My daughter just wrote a very well-received paper in her college Lit class on the issue of textbook costs. It will require action from local school authorities to address some of the abuse, but one way to lower your costs in the interim is to shop online. I just used Half.com and a couple of other sources for this semester's books for my two in college and we saved over 50% off list (and even bought some in mint condition).