E-commerce has become a household name, or at least any word with the letter E in front of it has. This year companies are pushing their on-line stores more than before.
From toys to Wall Street, it seems that anything can be purchased on-line. Books have also entered into the E-commerce war. Companies such as Amazon.com, Bigwords.com, Varsitybooks.com, and Ecampus.com have all been competing for the loyalty of students by boasting that their books cost 40% less, or by throwing comical images of Tom Green around.
These companies may promote better bargains and fast delivery, but many times a book is out of stock for a couple of days, weeks or an indeterminate amount of time. Of a list of eight books, for theology class, physics, sociology and criminal justice, four of them were out of stock at Varsitybooks.com. Ecampus.com had only two in stock, five of them could be sent in three to four days, and one was available in a week or two.
However, this does not count for the time which it takes to have the books delivered to the student.
Ecampus.com charges $5.95 for two day multiple-item delivery, and $14.95 for overnight. At Varsity books.com overnight shipping is $19.95 and two day shipping is $4.95 through UPS.
Though places like Bigwords.com and Ecampus.com offer free delivery, but there is no sure way to know when the books will arrive.
Shipping and availability, however, are not the main issues.
The price of the book is what matters.
The prices for each site vary, and the savings may not be all that great once shipping is included.
With large text books there is usually a suitable price difference.
For example, engineering physics entitled “Physics For Scientist and Engineers” cost $112 at the campus book store.
At Varsitybooks.com it cost $101.41 at Bigwords.com, $103.19; and at Ecampus.com, $132.38.
Many times the suggested price is not the same as what it actually cost at any campus bookstore.
The previous physics book, which cost $112 at the SLU Barnes and Nobel, was listed as costing $155.75 at Ecampus.com.
This is not the only instance of the “suggested” price not being the same as the actual price in the book store.
“There was one book they (Varsitybooks.com) said the manufacturer’s price was $3.60, but they sold it for $2. I went to the bookstore and, the manufacturer’s price was $1.” said Emily Alman, a computer science major at Washington University.
These sights are not just for buying books. Many of these sights offer more for a used book than the campus bookstore.
Some sights will buy books back for 50% of the original price and pay for the shipping.
In return for the books a student receives cash back or credit for future use at that site.
To aid students in their search for the right book at the right price the SGA has put together a committee to measure the cost of SLU’s campus bookstore and on-line buying.
The SGA Task Force for Text Book Cost Reform plans to take the top 25 classes at SLU and compare the cost of books at the bookstore to what it would cost to buy on-line.
The task force plans to have a report, which will be available to all students, by midterms.
“There is a better deal out there,” said senator Nick Fagan, a member of the committee.
Even though there is support for buying books on-line, many students are worried that their books will not make it on time or that their personal information may be spread throughout the internet.
Some students prefer going to a place where you know what you are going to get and can actually see what is being purchased.
“Sounds like too much of a hassle,” said Keith Beatty, the owner of the previously mentioned physics book.
Buying anything on-line has become a common practice in this age.
It seems people have the ability to purchase anything, from a two hundred-year-old end table used by their second cousin, five times removed, of the Arch Duke of France on to a physics book.
