Blog Post

Skipping the Campus Store Means Skipping Out on Savings

Jennifer Libertowski • July 27, 2016

OBERLIN, OH, July 27, 2016 – Despite the myth that the campus store is always the most expensive place to buy textbooks and course materials, savvy student shoppers are heading to their local campus store to take advantage of the various money-saving options offered on textbooks and course materials. They know that today’s campus store offers competitive prices on course materials and a variety of choices such as rentals, used or electronic textbooks, custom course materials and low-cost print copies of open educational resources (OER). According to Student Watch™: Attitudes and Behaviors toward Course Materials 2015-2016 Report, 80% of students purchased one or more course materials at the campus store in fall 2015 while only 57% made a purchase at other retailers, including online sites.

Here are some of the advantages available to students through their campus store:

  • Nearly all campus stores offer used and rental textbooks as well as digital course content at prices that are comparable to online vendors. These options are often one-third to half the price of buying a new textbook.
  • Campus stores work with faculty to develop custom content—such as special editions with only the assigned chapters—so that students pay for only the information they need to succeed academically.
  • More than 350 campus stores across the U.S. and Canada offer price-comparison apps or online software to help students make wise buying choices. These tools compare the store’s prices on course materials (new, used and rentals) to those of a variety of online sellers. According to Verba, a provider of comparison software, when students compare prices using Verba Compare, approximately 80% of all items sold through the app are purchased from the campus store.
  • Some stores offer price matching, price guarantees, rebates, discounts for early reservations, and buy-now, pay-later options.
  • Most stores have flexible return policies that mirror campus deadlines. Students avoid any hidden shipping and handling fees and the inconvenience of having to ship materials back to multiple online sellers (and remembering where they got each item).

About The National Association of College Stores

The National Association of College Stores (NACS) is the professional trade association representing the $10 billion collegiate retailing industry. NACS represents nearly 4,000 campus retailers and approximately 1,000 industry-related companies that supply course materials and other merchandise and services to campus stores. NACS provides education and other resources that help its member stores support student success, the campus experience, and the academic missions of higher education institutions. NACS is headquartered in Oberlin, Ohio. Additional information can be found online at www.nacs.org.

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