Making Connections
Textbooks - another way universities milk the student cash cow.
Buying at the UBC bookstore is the last thing I want to do. The markup pricing there is ridiculous, all based on a faulty belief that the bookstore is a monopoly, which is untrue because there are other alternatives to get a cheaper textbook. However, textbook publishers are just as guilty, changing around the page numbers, adding a few extra words (such as "the" and "a"), and calling the textbook a whole new edition and justification to charge another ludicrous premium.
So if I'm sure I exactly what textbook I need to get, I go to Amazon.com and look it up. But I don't buy directly from Amazon itself; I go to that little link that tells you how cheap you can get the same textbook, from an independent dealer listed on Amazon Marketplace with a pretty good user rating. You can usually get a brand new copy of your textbooks for cheaper. And if that's not cheap enough, you can get the "European Edition" for even less, where the only tradeoff is that they're usually softcover, and there is no color. Oh, boo-fucking-hoo, my Boston Consulting Group Strategic Business Unit Positioning Matrix only comes in black and white.
If I'm still not so sure exactly what textbook to get, or if I don't want to wait for it to be shipped, I go to the "used" textbook store in The Village plaza at the edge of campus. They sell used & new textbooks for much less than the UBC Bookstore. In fact, I have no idea why so many people are dumb enough to still shop there. I can tell by their textbooks that they're not clueless first years, and most of those textbooks are also sold in the "used" textbook store. Rich kids.
So today, I did just that, going to the The Village to get my financial accounting textbook. As expected, what could've been a $110 textbook sold for $100 brand new, but I one-upped and found a used one for $70.
After making my purchase and leaving the checkout line, this (bleached) blonde Yugoslavian girl, who was waiting in line in front of me, suddenly turns around and tells me that she has a copy of the same textbook, and offered it to me for $50. I was very surprised, not only because of my luck, but also because girls usually turn around to mace me. So I found myself waiting at the front door of her building, which was right next to the "used" texbook store.
A few minutes later, she comes down with the book, and we make the exchange. Before I know it, we were chatting, and I told her that me, my roommates, and our neighbors were going to this club called The Red Room on Friday for their Latin Night, and asked if she'd like to join us. She said that she'd be glad to, and we exchanged phone numbers and parted ways.
Now comes the task of returning the other copy to the "used" textbook store - not even fifteen minutes after I bought it.
At the store, the lady at the checkout asked me why I was returning it. Even the UBC Bookstore asks this question, and I guess they're trying to keep statistics for quality control purposes. For some reason, I felt a twinge of misplaced compassion, and didn't have the heart to tell her that I found another copy for way cheaper, believing for reasons beyond my understanding that it would hurt her feelings. Thus, the following awkward conversation ensued:
"What is the reason for this return?"
"Um, it wasn't the right textbook for my section."
(Interfaces with her computer a bit.) "But there is only one section for this course."
"Uhhhhhh...would you believe it if I told you that I leafed through the textbook and didn't think that this course is for me, so I'm planning to withdraw?"
At this point, she either gave up, or got sick of seeing my pathetic grin (probably both), so she just shrugged, processed the return, and let me on my merry way.
After finally getting every texbook need out of the way for the term, it was pretty much time for me to go to my first cost accounting class. Yesterday, I had my first commercial law class, taught by this lady who seemed to be quite experienced as a lawyer, and my first financial accounting class, taught by the token crazy east Indian guy, which every university apparently is required to have. Nevertheless, they are pretty good profs, and I was pretty happy with the way classes went.
So after the cost accounting class, I realized I could very well be the only person in the class to have a thick copy of the prof's notes, which he wanted us to print out and bring to class. Suddenly, everyone wanted me to go to make copies for them at the Staples store in The Village. So I took some names down, collected the cash, and even phone numbers.
While the copies of the 150+ page notes were being run through the copiers, we all had a pretty good "copy room" chat. So that was it. I now know more than half the class right off the bat.
Give me a couple of more months, and I will run this campus.
Buying at the UBC bookstore is the last thing I want to do. The markup pricing there is ridiculous, all based on a faulty belief that the bookstore is a monopoly, which is untrue because there are other alternatives to get a cheaper textbook. However, textbook publishers are just as guilty, changing around the page numbers, adding a few extra words (such as "the" and "a"), and calling the textbook a whole new edition and justification to charge another ludicrous premium.
So if I'm sure I exactly what textbook I need to get, I go to Amazon.com and look it up. But I don't buy directly from Amazon itself; I go to that little link that tells you how cheap you can get the same textbook, from an independent dealer listed on Amazon Marketplace with a pretty good user rating. You can usually get a brand new copy of your textbooks for cheaper. And if that's not cheap enough, you can get the "European Edition" for even less, where the only tradeoff is that they're usually softcover, and there is no color. Oh, boo-fucking-hoo, my Boston Consulting Group Strategic Business Unit Positioning Matrix only comes in black and white.
If I'm still not so sure exactly what textbook to get, or if I don't want to wait for it to be shipped, I go to the "used" textbook store in The Village plaza at the edge of campus. They sell used & new textbooks for much less than the UBC Bookstore. In fact, I have no idea why so many people are dumb enough to still shop there. I can tell by their textbooks that they're not clueless first years, and most of those textbooks are also sold in the "used" textbook store. Rich kids.
So today, I did just that, going to the The Village to get my financial accounting textbook. As expected, what could've been a $110 textbook sold for $100 brand new, but I one-upped and found a used one for $70.
After making my purchase and leaving the checkout line, this (bleached) blonde Yugoslavian girl, who was waiting in line in front of me, suddenly turns around and tells me that she has a copy of the same textbook, and offered it to me for $50. I was very surprised, not only because of my luck, but also because girls usually turn around to mace me. So I found myself waiting at the front door of her building, which was right next to the "used" texbook store.
A few minutes later, she comes down with the book, and we make the exchange. Before I know it, we were chatting, and I told her that me, my roommates, and our neighbors were going to this club called The Red Room on Friday for their Latin Night, and asked if she'd like to join us. She said that she'd be glad to, and we exchanged phone numbers and parted ways.
Now comes the task of returning the other copy to the "used" textbook store - not even fifteen minutes after I bought it.
At the store, the lady at the checkout asked me why I was returning it. Even the UBC Bookstore asks this question, and I guess they're trying to keep statistics for quality control purposes. For some reason, I felt a twinge of misplaced compassion, and didn't have the heart to tell her that I found another copy for way cheaper, believing for reasons beyond my understanding that it would hurt her feelings. Thus, the following awkward conversation ensued:
"What is the reason for this return?"
"Um, it wasn't the right textbook for my section."
(Interfaces with her computer a bit.) "But there is only one section for this course."
"Uhhhhhh...would you believe it if I told you that I leafed through the textbook and didn't think that this course is for me, so I'm planning to withdraw?"
At this point, she either gave up, or got sick of seeing my pathetic grin (probably both), so she just shrugged, processed the return, and let me on my merry way.
After finally getting every texbook need out of the way for the term, it was pretty much time for me to go to my first cost accounting class. Yesterday, I had my first commercial law class, taught by this lady who seemed to be quite experienced as a lawyer, and my first financial accounting class, taught by the token crazy east Indian guy, which every university apparently is required to have. Nevertheless, they are pretty good profs, and I was pretty happy with the way classes went.
So after the cost accounting class, I realized I could very well be the only person in the class to have a thick copy of the prof's notes, which he wanted us to print out and bring to class. Suddenly, everyone wanted me to go to make copies for them at the Staples store in The Village. So I took some names down, collected the cash, and even phone numbers.
While the copies of the 150+ page notes were being run through the copiers, we all had a pretty good "copy room" chat. So that was it. I now know more than half the class right off the bat.
Give me a couple of more months, and I will run this campus.
posted by Cosmic Ocean at 6:06 AM
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