Internet competition forces bookstore into policy change
August 31Facing higher return rates and increasing competition from online booksellers, the Tufts University bookstore has revised its return policy. The new policy gives students less time to return textbooks for a full refund, reducing it from 30 days to two weeks from the start of classes. The change comes in response to the growing popularity of online booksellers, and is a direct reaction to inventory problems caused by students who order cheaper books online and then "borrow" the same books from the bookstore while waiting for their online copies to arrive. "A lot of students were holding onto their books until the end of September, so we reorder books thinking we were sold out of them when we weren't," said Tufts Bookstore Manager Amanda Chase. Chase explained that this leads to a book shortage while new ones are on the way, and then an overflow of returns when the new books arrive. Calling the impact of online booksellers at some university bookstores "huge", Chase said, "[Barnes and Noble] did it to combat Internet competition." "Returns have increased. They have been trending upwards consistently because students are buying the books online and then returning the books bought in the bookstore back to us when their online books arrive." This practice, according to Chase, has an adverse impact on students, the bookstore, and Tufts. The bookstore suffers because of the added stocking fees and payroll expenses associated with ordering and returning unneeded books. Additionally, the bookstore's sales are affected by this complicated catch-up game. "We run the risk of losing [sales] to the Internet, and that affects the University because a commission [from all sales] goes to it, which goes to scholarships and new buildings... We're just trying to keep the money in the University," Chase said. Some, however, including Varsitybooks.com on-campus promoter and Tufts sophomore Gordon Gaul, say Barnes and Noble is simply trying to protect its profit margin by restricting student choice. "What you're really looking at is [Barnes and Noble] trying to protect their market and them trying to lock you into buying their books," he said. The return policy comes from Barnes and Noble, which operates the Tufts Bookstore. For the first two weeks of classes, it allows students to return their textbooks for a full refund with a receipt. For the third and fourth weeks of classes (until Oct. 5) full refunds will be given only to students who return books within two days of the original purchase, or provide proof of a schedule change. All other returns during the second two weeks will be accepted, but only for a 75 percent refund. According to Varsitybooks.com Company Spokesman Sam Heitner, his website's return policy seeks to be as accommodating as possible to students, allowing students a hitch-free 30 days for students to return their books. "We understand that students change classes and that students drop classes, and that teachers change books," he said. "We've always put a premium on giving choices to students. We were founded because when we were in college there were long lines, and there was no competition, and you had no choice in the price." Chase believes that the new return policy will solve the shortage and overstocking problems without hurting students by making them return unwanted books in a timelier fashion. "We're not saying, 'don't return your books,' we're just saying 'could you do it sooner than in the past?'" she said, expressing concern that some students who need books might not be able to get them. The effect of online booksellers is hard to quantify. According to Chase, "Internet competition has had a little bit of an impact [at Tufts]. But there are other stores in our company that are being severely impacted." Gaul notes, "We've been marginally successful on the Tufts campus. Our main competition is Barnes and Noble, which owns both the bookstore and Bigwords.com, yet we are somewhere in the range of $100 million in sales last year nationwide." In a test to see how competitive the booksellers are with each other, the Daily examined two random students' courseloads and the cost of their books - new, not used - both at the bookstore and online at two leading Web sites: Varsitybooks.com and Barnes-and-Noble-owned Bigwords.com. The first student-needed nine books, and of those nine, two were cheapest at the Bookstore, three were cheapest at Varsitybooks, three were lowest at Bigwords; the bookstore and Varsity had the same low price for the last book. In total, the nine books bought at the Tufts Bookstore would cost $316.85. At Varsitybooks.com the books would cost $317.55, plus $4.95 for shipping and handling. And, at bigwords.com, they would cost $320.64, plus $24.94 for the standard shipping cost. The second student needed eight books for his five classes. His total cost at the Bookstore, excluding tax, was $439.70. The Varsitybooks.com total was $420.35, plus $4.95 for shipping. No valid total for Bigwords.com could be reached because one of the students' books was not listed. Of the three stores, Varsity had the lowest prices for six of the eight books, while Bigwords was cheapest for the other two. Despite the relatively similar prices among the bookstore and online booksellers, many students expressed disappointment and frustration with the change in the return policy and Bookstore prices in general. "That seems like an unabashed attempt to steal money from us. The logic behind that is beyond me. What if I don't realize until it's three weeks into the course that I don't need a certain book, that's money I lost," said senior Reginald Dorsey. "I would have bought my books later to protect myself," said sophomore Michael Torsiello. Chase noted that while anger at the change in the return policy could be expected, it is not really justified. "Thirty days from the first day of class was a very unique policy. I think that is why [the new policy] seems like such a shock." Most other Boston bookstores, according to Chase, have always had much less generous return policies. "For most universities that had a normal return policy, this new one is actually an enhancement... I think it's just a change, going from 30 days to two weeks is just an adjustment." Chase's comments seem justified as The Boston University Barnes and Noble bookstore offers a full refund with a reciept only up until Sept. 15, with no full or partial refunds after that date. Also, the Harvard Coop offers full refunds for returned books up until Oct. 10. While this is much later than Tufts' date of Sept. 16, Harvard starts several weeks later than Tufts does.
