In response to the rising costs of textbooks, students are exploring alternative retailers such as Amazon.com and Half.com in hopes of finding a better bargain.
The average student will pay $600 for books this year, according to the AU admissions Web site.
A July survey commissioned by eBay, which also runs Half.com, shows that about half of college students have bought books online. Half of students buy textbooks without loans or financial support from their parents.
The survey included 500 college students between the ages of 19 and 25.
At AU, students take advantage of both Internet retailers and the campus bookstore for different reasons.
Freshman Andrew Violante said, "It's easy to get exactly what you want by checking the ISBN numbers."
Junior Daniel Guarnera buys around 75 percent of his books online in order to reduce costs, he said. Despite the potential hazards of incorrect orders and shipping blunders, Guarnera has only experienced one instance of not receiving supplements with an order, he said.
However, freshman Colleen Smith prefers to use the bookstore.
"You can still order your books online, and all you have to do is pick them up at school," she said.
AU Campus Store Director Bob Blake acknowledged the Internet retailers as competition, but was not overly concerned with their offers of savings. He said that while students were increasingly using the Internet as a tool to facilitate book purchases, the Campus Store had experienced a 34 percent increase in sales from last year. The store now handles roughly 3,000 orders per year, he said.
Blake said that one of the biggest advantages of the bookstore is getting "the right book, at the right time, at the right price."
Sometimes shopping online can make it difficult to determine exactly what is being sold just by looking at graphics and titles, Blake said. Many textbooks come with workbooks and supplements that students may or may not need, depending on the preference of the professor.
The Campus Store guarantees that students will find the correct books and supplements they need for their individual courses, Blake said.
The Campus Store has initiated various advertising campaigns, such as recent ads in The Eagle, aimed at discouraging students from buying through online retailers. The store also plans to create a bookstore committee through the Office of Campus Life so students may giv
