Barnes and Noble

I read an article yesterday about Barnes and Noble and the education side of their company. As I read this, the problems they are facing are VERY clear and something that needs to be addressed, but interestingly enough, probably not on the Barnes and Noble side of things. 

The article noted:

Barnes and Noble Education reported results for their fiscal first quarter, a seasonally "low activity" period. Sales keep falling -- at $319.7 million, down $18.2 million from a year ago, or 5.4 percent lower. They registered declines across all three business segments: College stores, the textbook wholesale business, and their digital student solutions. The announcement celebrates that general merchandise sales comps rose 4.9 percent (gaining $5.9 million) -- yet course material sales fell 11 percent (down $13.7 million) and trade book sales declined 11.8 percent (falling $1.2 million). There you have the essential problem of this entire enterprise. (Publishers Lunch)

Here is the big problem with schools and education today. It is all about funding. Due to the way the U.S. Funds schools, money is becoming an increasingly large issue. K-12 schools are stuck with left-over funding, bonds and levies to keep things flowing. Still, teachers and administrators are finding every way they can to cut costs. 

What do we see? Schools cutting textbooks entirely and moving to Open Source texts because these are "free." 

Teachers, in an effort to "save money" and "cut costs" are putting together custom books that are loose leave and run through the school copy centers. 

And why is that? The publishers have realized that they have the schools in a bind.

• Schools need books
• Publishers have the only source
• They can charge outrageous prices.

I have two kids in college and both just dropped roughly $300 each for a semester worth of books. This is just for 3-5 classes each. 

So now, what are kids doing? A) running to used books; or B) renting books.

While these ideas certainly sound like great alternatives, there are huge drawbacks. The first is the impact on the publisher. There is no money being made here. I have talked about this before when we talk about book sales. Used book stores are great but the money only stays at the store and never makes it back to the publishers or authors. Because of this, they have to find ways to make that money in other ways, and, unfortunately, it is raising the price of the books they know they have control over. In this case - textbooks.

The other drawback is for the student. Used books run the risk of really being "too used" which make studying hard. Rentals limit what you can do. Essentially, not marking the books up. 

To put it bluntly, publishers have jacked the prices so high that they are running themselves out of the market.

A similar thing is happening at Disney right now. Crowds are just not there at Disneyland and the thought is, they finally hit the threshold of what people can truly afford.

Look, I fully get making money requires spending money. I get publishers have to charge something. But when it comes down to it, books costing $80, $90 and up to $200 might be pushing it. 

Just a thought.