Anyone who has taken an introductory economics course can rattle off the basics of the model of supply and demand: the price of a product is determined by how much demand exists among consumers and the supply available on the market. Demand decreases as the price goes up, supply increases with an increase in price, and equilibrium is reached when producers are selling the product at just the right price to keep supply and demand in harmony.
Competition in the marketplace is good for consumers; the price drops as producers compete for buyers’ business. Supply and demand requires some assumptions (the rationality of consumers and producers, the independent function of both supply and demand, constraints on the availability of a resource, etc.), but the model is considered by most economists to be the best way of explaining how market economies operate and how prices are set.
The market for college textbooks, however, is not an open market subject to the laws of supply and demand. For starters, the consumer doesn’t have a choice about which textbook he or she will buy for a given class – that decision is made by the faculty and professors, neither of whom are paying for the books.
Don’t get me wrong – the great majority of professors I’ve encountered think the prices of textbooks are as ridiculous as the students do. Most do make a concerted effort to use course books that won’t break their students’ budgets. But even professors are usually constrained by higher-ups in their department who determine the curriculum of the course. So there exists at least one and possibly two barriers between the producer and the consumer when it comes to textbook sales.
This means that textbook publishers (producers) have enormous power to set the high prices students pay for books. There’s no incentive for publishers to lower prices – why would they? The price of the book has no effect on the demand – it’s not as if students have any other option than to buy the book required for the course. Economists call goods like this “inelastic”; that is to say, a change in price in either direction has relatively little effect on the demand (but that’s a whole other can of worms).
The high prices of college textbooks have been exacerbated by the consolidation of textbook publishers in the last several years. Remember, competition among producers leads to lower prices, so when there are fewer competitors in the market, the remaining producers can charge higher prices.
How can students prevent forking over an arm or a leg at the beginning of every semester? Many buy used books, which are often far cheaper than new editions but may not meet class requirements. The growth of textbooks available online is also helping assuage the high cost of textbooks, but until the fundamentals of the textbook market are somehow changed, students will be shelling out hundreds of dollars every three or four months for the books they need for class.
Textbooks for college students are so comprehensive that the costs are high to produce and market them. Perhaps a self-help approach is in order. A more subject oriented book that addresses the main topics while motivating students to apply what they learn. My new book “Mastering Self-Motivation” is fun to read, provides a host of textbook knowledge but also adds a personal self-help touch. The personal self-help touch is geared toward motivating students. It took two years to research and write and is based upon my twenty years of business experience. Authors need to find a way to give away the knowledge, make a profit on the mass market, and lower prices.
Many people in industry choose not to write books because they will be giving away the business secrets for their success in a twenty dollar book.
The Mastering Self-Motivaion book will come with a 40 page complimentary workbook.
Is it possible that books can be shorter, addressing certain subjects with more volumes in shorter versions, and more user friendly for college students?