Expensive College Textbooks
Why are college textbooks so expensive? Is it the premium, glossy paper and the hard cover? Is it to pay the distinguished authors who spend months researching and writing on their subjects? Maybe the fact that college students can afford anything?
I used to have no idea why, but after taking Microeconomics 101 last semester, now I know. College textbooks are very inelastic goods, meaning that the higher they are priced, the more money publishers make. From your daily life, you experience things that do not behave like this. If a Walmart normal store starts charging more, people shop elsewhere. I have finally realized that Walmart prices only go down, along with the living conditions of its workers. The only difference is, there are no alternatives for college textbooks. They’re chosen by professors, and you have to buy them! Because of this, publishers can charge whatever and get away with it.
College bookstores are monopolies. They set the price high. Recently, more people have been shopping online, but they are still in the minority. The hassle of delivery and not being able to get your books instantly is a major turnoff.
And this is why college textbooks are expensive.