High cost of books weighing you down?

SOPHIA RUFFIN

Attending college is an expensive venture. There’s the cost of room and board, class tuition and, of course, books to buy.

But two local companies are attempting to ease students’ burden, offering competitive alternatives to conventional textbook purchases.

Big Worm Books and Tri Texbooks Rental Inc., both located in Thibodaux, are going head to head with bookstores at Nicholls State University, L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College and the Louisiana Technical College.

Each semester, Nicholls’ bookstore manager Angelle Caillouet receives a list of books professors intend to use the coming year. That’s when she launches a quest for the best prices.

The Tri-parishes’ sole four-year institution is able to shop via wholesalers for price breaks, and Caillouet said selling used books helps students save. But when the bargain book selection is gone, students are forced to fork out big bucks for new editions.

Caillouet said rising book prices are out of the university’s control since publishing companies set their own prices.

“The school operates strictly on a countrywide standard that publishers set new book prices,” she explained. “Used book prices are 75 percent of (the original price).”

On the bright side, Caillouet noted that publishers generally limit raising prices to once a year in July.

Sensing a demand, local merchants have found success competing for college textbook sales.

Faced with supporting two college children, Carl Montiville Jr. opened Tri Textbook Rental Inc. on Goode Street in Thibodaux 22 years ago.

“My dad decided to open up a renting textbook store because it was costing a lot of money to buy books for my brother and sister while they were at Nicholls,” said Randy Montiville, who manages the store.

While his children were still in school, Carl Jr. launched a bit of research on his own. He began exploring what was needed to open a textbook rental shop.

According to son Randy, a number of students opt not to keep their books at the end of each semester, thus creating the store’s supply.

“Students can come in rent books for a semester and pay half the price of what it would cost to buy new books or used book,” he said.

And because Fletcher does not have its own bookstore, Randy Montiville said Tri Textbook Rental opened with a ready-made market. Students from the two-year institution flock to the Thibodaux store to rent textbooks.

And incoming freshmen at Nicholls State, already juggling multiple college expenses, are a prime focus, the store manager said.

“They know us on campus because of our orange stickers,” he said, pointing to the bright square advertising the Tri Textbook’s lower price. “But we mail out flyers to Nicholls incoming freshmen because we feel that with the kind of business we have and the prices we offer, once we serve them as freshmen, we can serve them for the next four years.”

What once was a seasonal job – higher foot traffic at each semester’s start is a given – has expanded. Randy Montiville said the store is now on call 24 hours daily.

“Anytime students want us, they can get us,” he said. “If we don’t have a book, we order it. The student prepays for it. And it will be there in a matter of five to six days.”

But students or professors who wish to hang on to their books aren’t excluded from bargains.

Dane Meeks, co-owner of Big Worm Textbooks, also located in Thibodaux on Audubon Avenue, fills that niche.

“We feel like we’re still student minded,” he said. “We always went to the bookstore and couldn’t sell back our books at the end of the semester. So, we wanted to offer a place where students can sell back their books for other students to use the next semester, if that class is using the same book.

“The students have an opportunity to get a good used book and save money,” Meeks added.

Big Worm Textbooks serves about 20 to 30 percent of Nicholls population, 80 percent of Fletcher students and a small amount of Louisiana Tech students, according to Meeks.

“We are here primarily for the students,” he said. “We have some gain, but our goal is to maximize the savings for the students.”

Eighty to 90 percent of Big Worm Textbooks have been previously used.

When Big Worm first opened, Meeks and his partner Dathan Chauvin looked at rentals versus the buying and selling option.

“With the way we do the buybacks,” he said, “we put every book in a scenario, and the buying and selling concept always won out. That’s why we decided to go with a purchase instead of a rental store.”

Big Worm’s inventory, much like campus bookstores or Tri Textbook, is not limited. If Big Worm doesn’t have the book in store, Meeks said he can link up with other bookstores to get the book for the students.

Big Worm Books and Tri Textbooks share several similarities. Both stores offer a deferred payment plan to students waiting on grant loan checks. And students have to show proof of the loan approval at both stores. Students simply write a check, which the stores hold until the loan is available.

“The students are still able to get their books,” Randy Montiville said. “We are here to help students, not hinder them. Anyway, we can help, we do.”

An advantage at Big Worm books, Meeks said, is students can sell books back to the store at the semester’s end. Tri Textbooks, on the other hand, strictly deals in rentals. They do not buy back books.

“As a rental store, we don’t do buy back books because we keep their own inventory,” Randy Montiville said. “We used to buy back books, but we hate to insult the students when they come in with a $100 book that is only worth $10 or $15.”

Caillouet said Nicholls’ bookstore pays students 50 percent of what they paid for the textbook, whether it is new or used.

“The best time to sell back books is at the end of the semester,” she said. “By then, you know what will be used the next semester.”

At Big Worm Textbooks, however, students can earn 55 percent of the price that they paid for it, Meeks said. Students do have to show proof with a receipt that they bought the book new or they will be given 55 percent of the used book price.

And even if a professor switches books, students can still sell the book back. Meeks said he works with several distributors that may need the book.

“We try to outsource those books that are not being used in this area,” he said. “Just as we may need a book, other places need books like that too. So far, it has work well for students and us.”

With classes already under way textbooks are a must. Nicholls State freshman Gabe Schultz (above) buys the last of his textbooks from bookstore cashier Beverly Mire. The university’s bookstore is a more traditional place to obtain needed books, but it’s not the only local option. * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN