http://theblacksheeponline.com/article/folletts-bookstore-in-trouble-raises-price-of-average-book-to-10000
3 replies (most recent on top)
Follett actually does follow this through LCF and COPAR pricing adjustments. They are always adjustments up and never down. Schools are none the wiser except for a few who have complained. Captive audience/buyers=higher prices
James’s story is not uncommon, as many students are having trouble finding money for books now that college textbooks are overpriced, often resorting to selling off cars, clothes, and drugs. When Junior Carl N. got the book list for his classes, he quickly realized that he needed to find a lot of money fast. “Since I’m a Computer Science major my books are usually more expensive than others. I know that college textbooks are notorious for being a little pricey, but when I’m looking at a cool $800,000 for my books I realized how lucky I am that I’ll be getting my full security deposit check back from my landlord in a couple weeks. At least there are some people on this campus that aren’t trying to screw you out of money!”
Tragically, most students are beginning to take out bank loans in order to pay for their books, often leaving them with crippling loans to pay off after graduation. Robert Easter, president of the University of Illinois, made a statement last week expressing his disgust at an institution doing such a disservice to its customers.
Along with textbooks, both stores have also raised the price of their spirit wear, a move which has alienated many customers who have always relied on official university apparel as cheap and affordable clothing items. “I wanted to buy an orange Illini shirt the other day and the desk clerk berated me when I protested its $20,000 price tag,” Freshman Billy B. said. “He kept telling me that orange was an expensive color as it doesn’t appear in nature very often. I asked him if that was true, and he said that if I didn’t know that then I probably couldn’t afford the shirt. I ended up getting the shirt and a shot glass, which forced my parents to apply for a second mortgage. When I asked if I could at least get a free lanyard the desk clerk slapped me across the face.”
This kind of blatant disrespect has become more common now that the bookstores on campus have assumed complete authority over the students. Many students report being harassed when they approach the checkout with a small amount of merchandise. “I went into Follett’s to use their bathroom. First, it’s $30 dollars just to get in the door, but then they make fun of you if you don’t buy anything. One desk clerk told me that if I didn’t buy any books then I probably don’t know how to read and that I’m a virgin with no friends. I ended up buying a used copy of Genealogy of Morality by Friedrich Nietzsche for $5,000 just to shut him up. I flipped through the pages and found most of the text to be a bit over my head. When I asked if they had a CliffNotes for the book they laughed at me and pretended to jack themselves off,” Senior Jeff K. related.
Since these changes were implemented Follett’s has reported to having one of the most successful semesters of its history. “We are doing well, yes,” a spokesman for Follett’s told us. “However, we still have a long way to go. We learned that the Illini Union Bookstore has begun implementing a required minimum amount of books to be purchased upon entering. I think they have it at around 35. We will need to implement something similar. Maybe we’ll put the minimum at around 36 or something. We also realized that some students have been successfully returning books for some extra cash. We’re gonna have to put a stop to that right quick.”
Follett’s has also reported that they are looking into state and federal laws concerning private detention without trial and extortion laws. One can only speculate what is next for Follett’s business decisions, but we can only cross our fingers and hope that we don’t have to resort to buying our books on Amazon.
For the past few years, Follett’s bookstore, a longtime staple of Green Street shopping, has been going through a rough patch. In 2010, Follett’s responded to a decline in book sales by removing the textbooks from their shelves in order to exclusively sell spirit wear apparel, which is the equivalent of a grocery store removing food from its shelves in order to focus on Reader’s Digest subscriptions.
“At the time it seemed like a good idea,” Follett’s representative Steve W. Said. “For years we were unable to keep up with textbook sales over at the Illini Union Bookstore, so we decided to just go into our own market and sell Illinois apparel. It was a stressful bi-weekly meeting when it was brought up that the Illini Union Bookstore also sells Illinois apparel. Needless to say, when the shelf space that used to house a $250 book held a couple $2 key chains, we began hemorrhaging money.”
With nothing else to do, executives at Follett’s decided that the only thing to be done was to close up shop. The store was scheduled to close in early May of this year, that is, until a solution came from an unlikely source.
“It just came to me one night,” cashier Robbie K. said. “Why don’t we start selling college textbooks again, but then make them super expensive? It was so simple, yet so perfect. There’s always a few rich, lazy college kids who refuse to buy textbooks at the beginning of the semester. If we want to stay in business, let’s just cater to them. Let’s make them unnecessarily pricey. Like, outrageously expensive. I honestly don’t see how this could be a bad business decision. Right then and there I took the pistol out of my mouth and called up the floor manager.”
After crunching some numbers, Follett’s announced that they would need to be selling books for $10,000 to $250,000. “That was the number which we decided would make us satisfied here at Follett’s. I know it might sound expensive for books, but I don’t really see what choice the students have anyway. Are they gonna buy their books online? Yeah right, have fun paying those shipping fees!”
The Illini Union Bookstore has responded to this business move by raising their prices, and making a few other changes as well. Starting next year, visitors to the IUB will have to pay a cover charge for entering the store. “We’re thinking like 20 bucks or something. That wouldn’t be for everyone, we’ll generally let any Engineering Majors or people with glasses get in for free. Hey, if you don’t like it, good luck getting books for class,” Bouncer Mike S. was quoted as saying.
Student reaction to this news has been largely negative. However, students have since resigned to the fact that they have no choice but to spend such outrageous prices for college textbooks. “Yeah, it definitely hits the wallet pretty hard. But what are you gonna do, you know?” Sophomore James K. Said. “I was thinking about just buying my books on Amazon, but my free Amazon Prime ran out and I felt that it would be mean to Follett’s to buy books somewhere else. I just sucked it up and sold my car when my professor wanted us to read Much Ado About Nothing.”