Dodging thrown books, enduring verbal abuse and reading the mind of professors are all in a day’s work for an employee of the Fairfield University Bookstore.
As the year comes to a close students look to sell their books back for financial reserves until that summer job starts.
“I look forward to a little extra cash at the end of the year,” said Mike Wray ’04 “I just don’t understand why I get so little for books that cost so much.”
Many factors go into the price assessed each book when a student goes to sell it back to the bookstore. The main determinant is whether the professor has submitted a book order for the next semester. Students automatically get half the price of the book back when a book order is placed stating the book will be used the following semester. Without a book order students get the wholesale value of the book back, which is significantly less.
For instance, the book “Essentials of Managerial Finance” costs $112.50 new, but without a book order from the professor the student would get only $30 back from the bookstore. The professor that uses this book has already placed a book order for next semester, which includes this book. Therefore students can sell it back and receive $52.25.
Only a quarter of all book orders were received by the bookstore when the Mirror went to press. Consequentially, the bookstore does not know if these books will be used again next year and are unable to buy them back for half price. With better response from faculty, students would get a great deal of their money back for their books, thus saving the employees of the bookstore much of the harassment they endure over the next few weeks.
“The end of the year is busy for the professors, reading papers and giving final exams, which may be the reason for the low numbers,” said Mary Mowery Bookstore Text Manager. “I just wish students would understand the position we are in.”
The Fairfield Bookstore is a member of the larger Follett, who works with many universities across the country. Follett establishes wholesale value for each book, which is the price used by the bookstore. The value is based on the edition and the demand for certain books.
In 2001, Follett gave a break-down of where money goes when books are bought. According to Follett, 13 percent of the price of each book is designated to the bookstore. Of the 13 percent about 75 percent of that pays the salaries of employees and the other 25 percent pays for earnings and expenses of the bookstore. Employees of the bookstore do not work on a commission basis where the amount of money given a student per book affects them financially.
“Something should be done to get all parties on the same page,” said Sean Easton ’02 “Maybe implement a new system to increase these numbers so that all involved are satisfied.”
A faulted system does not justify the actions of some students, which include throwing books at employees and regular use of profanities.
“You would be surprised at some of the things students will say to employees when they sell their books back,” said Dona an employee of the bookstore, “Most of which is not worth repeating.”
Leave a Reply