Preview

Cost-Effective Way of Acquiring Textbooks

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
5058 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cost-Effective Way of Acquiring Textbooks
Final Project
Research to figure out the most cost-effective way of acquiring textbooks

1. Executive Summary
The purpose of our research is to figure out the various ways of acquiring a textbook for the University of Cincinnati students. We want to help students minimize the cost of textbooks by helping them compare different options. We also want to find out what are the different options of selling the book afterwards. Our goal is to help students stay cost efficient but also find out convenient and easy methods of attaining the book as well as getting rid of it afterwards. From focus group discussion and interviews, so far, we have found out that the majority of students prefers to buy them online and used, and prefers to resell them afterwards as opposed to renting or other alternatives. We plan to execute more research studies, such as an online survey, to find out more details about what more students prefer and help our classmates with making the right decision.

2. Research Purpose & Objective
The purpose of the study is to figure out the various ways of acquiring a textbook for the University of Cincinnati. Our objective is to help students minimize the cost of textbooks by helping them compare different options, and save money. Specifically, the research objectives are to * differentiate ways how attain the textbook at lower costs * provide a basic information what´s the best option to resell books afterwards

Research question 1
Do you always buy all required books for classes and if yes what do you think is more cost effective buying and reselling a book, renting it or buying an e-book?

Research question 2
What do you do with the books after the class is over if you don’t need it anymore? Do you keep them or resell them?

Research question 3
Did you change your habits in buying books throughout the past few years because you gained experience?

3. Focus Group
We wanted to know what students think about the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    You should always try to purchase used textbooks. The cost of new books is high. With the increasing cost of tuition, it is important to pinch pennies everywhere you can. Search for second-hand text books online and in local text book shops. Buying used books is a surefire way to save money.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Textbooks can take a huge toll on your wallet. Fortunately, you now have many options to save money. For example, you can rent textbooks online. Another option is to purchase online-only access to required textbooks. While you won't have a physical book to take notes or highlight in, you will save money in doing so.…

    • 420 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    SOC 308 Week 4 Quiz

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Consider digital options for your textbooks and reading materials. E-readers are quite affordable and easily accessible. Downloading books is far cheaper than purchasing print and easily takes up less room. Granted, there is not a resale option for the digital textbooks; however, there is a lot to be said for having reference books after the fact.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    You can order the books for your class and it also has a buy back program.…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rising costs of textbooks

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The prices of everything are constantly rising due to inflation. Not too long ago, gas prices reached four dollars a gallon. The highest in history. With prices going up in nearly every category, the price of textbooks were affected and raised as well. It seems that publishing companies and authors are taking advantage of students, due to the fact that they have to buy textbooks, across the country just to make as much profit as they can. How much profit do they even make off of one textbook? Some textbooks required for class are over a hundred dollars to rent. Not even to buy and make your own, to rent and return after the semester. And that's if its not damaged in any way, which will cost you more. Some courses like math, only require one giant book. But,…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main reasons why college textbooks are so expensive is because they are overpriced. The publishers set the prices. The bookstore has no control. The publishers of the textbooks are in the habit of bringing new editions quite frequently. Most students hesitate to buy old editions fearing that they will miss out on something. In fact, many professors list a new edition in their book list every semester,( Experiencing Psychology textbook for example), purchased at the DCC bookstore for $112. The upside of that is that it’s a wonderful book, but the downside is that I don’t even use the book in class. Most textbooks are overpriced because they come in packages, which might include CD’s and supplementary materials which are really not required ( Ruszkie /How to Write Anything $121.48,DCC bookstore ); however, students are forced to give more money because of the extras. The majority of publishers do not do anything about the high cost of college textbooks. Why would they? Because college textbooks are one of the most profitable sectors for the publishing industry. A Government Accountability Office report found that in the past two decades, college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation. In academic year 2003-04, students and their families spent more than $6 billion on new and used textbooks.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Abc

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Students examine uncommon places where books are sold and create proposals to sell and/or display particular books in local venues. Students read an article from the New York Times in conjunction with this project.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sun City Opening Session

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Keaun Williams states that textbooks are less costly to our educational system. Keaun Williams does not present much evidence to support that claim. Dr. Akua Adu can say that e-textbooks are the best way to teach and it is the best way for students to obtain the most recent updated information there is out there to our students. Dr. Akus Adu provided us with a couple of studies we can look up for information to support the claim that e-textbooks is the best way to spend the monies allocated by…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bookstore

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In the last five years with the increase in the use of internet, book purchase through the medium of internet also increased. From fiction to comics, from textbook to novels, book purchase on internet has become the easiest and cheapest method for buying and selling books. On campus bookstore is popular among students in book purchase, but for most sellers the medium of internet is most preferred medium for selling.…

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Christianbook.com is the online sales distributor of Christian Book Distributors. This is a company that originated several years prior to the implementation of the Internet. The company was started by two brothers who were 19 and 14 years of age. They started this company from their parents home in Lynn, Massachusetts. After the two brothers graduated, they were able to relocate the business from their home to its first facility in Peabody, Massachusetts.…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Textbooks are long lasting and durable. They can fall from your desk or slip out of your hands and when it hit the ground it does not crash or have a black out moment. You pick them up and they are ready to continue from where you left off.…

    • 2144 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The customer value proposition of the traditional textbook format are that traditional textbooks are valued more amongst students. Many students valued that with a traditional textbook they have ability to highlight and take notes in the margins of the book. Students also like that idea that they could sell their books back to the bookstore at the end of the semester and or purchase other used textbooks for a much cheaper price. Students also valued that they did not need the Internet and a computer to access their textbooks and also that these textbooks where available in their library. The customer value proposition of an etextbook format are also greatly valued amongst customers. Many customers valued that the price for an etextbook was less expensive. Customers value the convenience of being able to have their textbook or books on there everyday electronic…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The government spends Rs.2400 million from the National budget allocation annually for distribution school text books to the hands of school children at the end of the final term of the year, which would be used by them in their new next class. Although a non-profitable service this is identified as a “Business” and as a “Marketing venture” by the researcher,…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Textbooks constitute a major proportion of weight in a school bag. There have been voices from parents that textbook publishers are the ones to blame. In average, the number of pages in a secondary school textbook is 200. Despite the fact that students have to bring 200 pages to school (for one subject only), generally teachers only go over about 20 pages per month. By easy calculation one can conclude that bringing such a think textbook is both pitiful and absurd. Actually, there is one practical and beneficial solution. Textbook publishers should separate the textbooks into different booklets, each covering a discrete topic. Since teachers usually lecture in a topic-based approach, students will only need to bring a thin booklet to school under the new arrangement. Not only do students benefit from a lighter load, but the publishers will gain as well. The use of loose-leaf binding in textbooks will need more pieces of paper in total, because cash booklet will have its own cover and functional pages such as content and index pages. The extra cost should not be significant as it will be averaged out by mass production, but the publishers can lift the price a bit as long as customers are willing to buy a textbook using a better binding method. The publishers will have nothing to lose but profit to gain, so why should they delay…

    • 703 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    COMM 470 Week 3 DQS

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Check out all that your campus library has to offer. These libraries contain everything you need to be successful in your classes. Familiarize yourself with the librarian so you will have someone to ask about books you may need for classes. They also have resources for procuring or selling used textbooks.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays