Word: coops
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...last possible add-drop dates for classes approach, a few still prowl the aisles at the Coop--some students are scrambling to buy books for classes they've only just joined, some are returning piles of dull novels after giving up on a course and then there are some who visit the bookstore again and again in order to draw out the pain of watching money trickle into the Coop's cavernous pockets. I must confess to belong to this last group of students. I buy only a couple of books at a time, hoping that perhaps next time there...
Despite the maturity of this tactic, I decided to play "investigative reporter" and discover what's up at the Coop. I wanted answers. Why are sourcebooks so ludicrously overpriced? Why, when other bookstores carry the same books as the Coop, are they often cheaper at the bookstore--even in the same edition as those the Coop carries? For that matter, does the Coop make an extra effort to order the most expensive edition of everything? Rumors float around hinting that Harvard refuses to release book lists to other stores; the word "monopoly" blanches the faces of the multitudes of economics...
...primary issues was my sourcebook. It was revealed that the problem lies not so much with the Coop or even Book Tech, which makes those lovely bound books with tables of contents and page numbers, as with the copyright laws. According to Mo Shepard of Book Tech, 50 percent of sourcebooks costs are copyright fees. Whether such stringent copyright laws are valid or not is debatable, but the laws are enforced and it is understandable to obey them. The other 50 percent is profit and expenses. "We're not making $100 sneakers with slave labor in Taiwan," Mr. Shepard reminded...
However, the story does not end there. Once the Coop receives the sourcebooks, it marks them up an additional 30 percent. This seems a little on the steep side, but we can't protest to our neighborhood Coop. The price mark-up is set by Barnes & Nobles, which bought the Coop and now, hand-in-hand with Starbucks, is well on its way to taking over the world. Somehow such a vast corporation seems too formidable to confront about my sourcebook price. So, placated by the copyright law, I let the sourcebook question rest...
...Coop should be a co-op first, a tourist gift shop second. We are not afraid to say that we do not like the Coop. If it does not shape up, we will look forward to its demise...