Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Many students may have seen some of the postings on various FirstClass conferences offering an alternative to purchasing textbooks from the University Bookstore.
Thorval Munksgaard, a second-year philosophy major at the University of Maine, has proposed the sale of every textbook that the University Bookstore carries for exactly half the price.
Munksgaard, who lives in Bangor, could not explain in detail his sources for the textbooks, but he is hopeful that the business venture will expand as he gets more customers. His overreaching goal is not to create a profit for himself, but to provide textbooks at a lower cost for other students.
“Bookstore prices, even for used books, are way too high,” Munksgaard said. “Especially when I can get the books for cheaper.”
Since his FirstClass posting last Friday, Munksgaard has already heard from at least 10 students, including one person who ordered 15 textbooks for the spring semester.
While at the moment the business idea is quite small and operates primarily through private contracts between Munksgaard and students via e-mail, he hopes to launch a Web site to monitor his book sales and orders.
One of the many people who read Munksgaard’s posts was Bill Hockensmith, the director of the University Bookstore. Hockensmith was not phased by Munksgaard’s offer, saying that many students in the past have attempted such ventures.
“I really think that [Munksgaard] has just oversold his plan,” Hockensmith said in response to Munksgaard’s e-mail.
Hockensmith discussed the improbability that Munksgaard would be able to achieve his advertised 50 percent price reduction.
The University Bookstore has connections with used-book corporations nationwide, which allows Hockensmith to purchase used books for roughly half the price of new books. Hockensmith returns many unsold books to used-book companies. That action makes the University Bookstore a preferred customer, giving the university access to a wider catalogue of textbooks.
Hockensmith categorically denied that it would be possible to sell every title at half the bookstore price, as this would involve finding the books for less than 25 percent of their new price to come in at 50 percent of the used book price in the bookstore.
Hockensmith is considered to be a national expert on the used-book marketplace and has given many lectures to other college bookstores’ personnel on how to manipulate the market and lower prices for students. Since Hockensmith was made director of the University Bookstore three years ago, the used-book sales have grown to approximately 49 percent of the total sales in the bookstore. The national average is 22 percent.
The bookstore offers roughly 2,500 titles in textbooks alone, which can be broken down into several categories. About a quarter of all the books are new editions, which cannot be found used. Thirty percent of the books are readily available online and used.
About 15 percent of the books the university sells are not as easy to find. Hockensmith calls these books obscure or exclusive books. They include titles written by faculty members on campus, books that are printed on campus and several packaged sets, including electronics. These titles are not available anywhere other than the University Bookstore. Hockensmith believed it was nearly impossible that any student could provide them without resorting to theft or copyright fraud.
“It just isn’t possible to find exclusive books outside of the bookstore,” he said.
The vast majority of these exclusive books are updated annually, meaning they cannot be purchased used. Munksgaard responded to this dilemma with the claim that he could appropriate used exclusive books from alumni just as easily as he could find any other textbook.
Hockensmith remarked that students should beware of any Internet book sales but went on to say that he invites all students to purchase their books at the lowest price they are able to find.
“If this turns out to be legitimate, I’ll be his best customer,” Hockensmith said jokingly.
