Why do books cost so much?

me ^ | November 19, 2001 | Me

[JoeSchem]

Anyone else notice that the price of books is getting absurd? I mean, a paperback that sold for $.50 in the seventies will now go for $7 or $8. That's way out of line with the general inflation rate.

Then you've got the 'trade' paperbacks, which run to $14 on average. It's been a long time since I've bought a new hard cover, but I believe they're going for $25 on average.

It's the free market -- or is it? You would think that the Computer Revolution would drive down the cost of publication, but it seems to be going the other way!

[RaceBannon]

because of the limited numbers printed.

[daviddennis]

Curiously enough, a bestselling book will often go for $15 or so after gigantic discounts, which is not much more than hardcovers cost years ago.

It's true that books are expensive, but there is one silver lining: They are a lot more easily available than they were in the good old days. Darn few bookstores ten years ago were even half the size of a typical Borders or Barnes & Noble. Tis a pity about the prices, though :-(.

D

[Vigilanteman]

Just a couple of observations:

1. There is a much greater variety of books now than in the 1970's with generally smaller print runs. Quantity is a huge factor in comparing prices.

2. If you compare the run of a typical paperback best-seller in the 1970's to a trashy romance novel today (around $3 or $4), the inflation rate is cut in half.

3. People are willing to pay it, so they can get away with charging it. Much like the reason that rent on a trashy apartment in Malibu, California will pay for a gorgeous house in Des Monies, Iowa . . .

[janus]

Books don't grow on trees you know.:^))

[MistyCA]

You are right about the text books. I have paid a fortune for the books my daughter needed for college!

[goodnesswins]

I buy most of my books USED. REALLY saves MONEY! Course college books would be another thing...that does seem to be quite the racket. But, I thought there was going to be an online bookstore for college books that was going to help reduce the prices....guess it's not working?

[Rodney King]

How about your average $100 college textbook?

That's because you are a captive buyer. You HAVE to buy the book. In addition, you generally HAVE to buy it at the monopoply campus bookstore, although that is partially changing with the internet.

[Darth Sidious]

What's a book?

[Sgt_Schultze]

Some idiot publishers pay non-authors up to $20 million dollars per couple to write books about topics which for years they have testified they have no knowledge.

[Fraulein]

I have found many rare classics and philosophy books on Ebay. You might want to give it a try.

[aimhigh]

Here's your answer. Prior to Jimmy Carter, publishers could print several million copies of a book and depreciate unsold, warehoused copies, which would eventually sell. In Jimmy's administration, that deduction was taken away, and book prices skyrocketed as a result. Liberals can say they are pro-education, but the results speak for themselves.

[Dat]

Now that drives me nuts. They will sell it again for 10x what they pay for it. There must be a way to remedy this situation, most textbooks are identical for similar courses yet different instructors use different textbooks, which they change from year to year.

[Neets]

I purchase books for the Academic Department I work for. I have found great bargains on used books through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. They also have a listing of places that sell used books that you can contact directly.

[DrNo]

How about your average $100 college textbook?

Ironically it is to a large extent the result of the explosion of the used book market.

Instead of being spread over 3-4 years, all the costs of a new book have to be recouped in one semester. After that, the used books take over.

The bookstores invest nothing in the production of a book, pay the students returning a book 1/3 to 1/2 the value of a new book, and then charge 3/4 of the price to new students buying it.

The author and publisher, who produce the book, get nothing from the sales of the used books.

Only the bookstores profit from this system.

[ScottinSacto]

$8 million advances to former first ladies, and the bunk produced will be at the outlet malls for $2.95 before anyone blinks. The other "mainstream" books have to make up for the losses on these "ventures" in literature. But I must admit I am always the first in line at Costco to get the newest Clancy novel. Other than that I get a ton of stuff cheaply on EBAY.

[randog]

My science texts cost $150 - $200 per book.

Science textbooks generally are more expensive because there's actual useful information contained in them. I paid $150 - $200 for my engineering textbooks and still have (and use) them. Compare that to $100 for some textbook on Comparative Hungarian Furniture and I consider it a deal.

[Hazzardgate]

Don't buy CDs~!!!

Buy a CD burner, download what you want and burn it on a blank cd (cost about $0.75 a piece)

To He!! with the music industry.

[Torie]

Actually, there is almost no profit in book publishing. It was traditionally a family owned hobby prestige business. There is real concern now that book publishing as we know it will fail as an industry. The problem is that most books lose money, and the authors of the blockbusters extract most of the profit to themselves. So if it is all controlled by liberal Dems (actually Random House is now controlled by a German concern), rather than greedy, they are just stupid, at least when it comes to money.

[Lizzy W]

I paid $190 for absolute BS -- "Societal Factors in Health Promotion". The prof changed the book the next semester, so no buy back. I do admit that the cash I dropped on my "Molecular Biology of the Cell" book was worth it.