Why doesn’t the store pick cheaper books?
The store is not involved in textbook selection. Your professors spend many hours reviewing dozens of books to find just the right ones for your courses. The professors then tell the bookstore which books to order. The bookstore does put a lot of effort in keeping textbook prices as affordable as possible, like encouraging faculty to make their book decisions early so that the store has time to obtain more used copies. But novels and other books don’t cost as much as textbooks. Textbooks are not like novels or general-interest books, which can be sold to broad audiences. Most textbooks are specialized and will be purchased by only a relatively small number of people. Also, textbooks require considerably more time and effort to develop. To ensure accuracy, they must undergo rigorous academic review and fact-checking, and must be updated every few years to stay current. Some textbooks are shrink wrapped with extras I don’t need or use. Why does the store make me pay extra for these? Thes
