While Independent college bookstores continue to be concerned about aggressive discounting by online startups, International Thomson Publishing has appeased these independents by announcing a uniform pricing structure. It is the first major publisher to do so.
The change, in essence, means that the additional discounts given to wholesalers (in some cases as much as 20%) will be eliminated. Libraries and online startups -- wholesalers' main clients -- will now pay the same price for books as do campus stores, which primarily order directly from publishers.
"We thought it was the cleanest solution," Ron Dunn, ITP's CEO of higher education and international markets, told PW. "These discounts were meant for libraries and others who don't sell directly to the students. Online booksellers were taking these discounts and selling directly to students."
The decision could spell the end of dramatic online discounts for ITP titles. But Varsitybooks.com CEO Eric Kuhn promised it wouldn't. "The reason we can discount so aggressively [Varsitybooks discounts new textbooks by as much as 40%] is not because of the terms we get from distributors but because of our overhead and business model." The extent to which the policy change will affect libraries is not known.
NACS, which has attempted to bring member stores into the online market with a program known as Courseweb, was satisfied with the move. "We're very pleased that ITP has made this decision," said Jerry Buchs, spokesperson for NACS. "ITP is a leading textbook publisher. We hope others will follow suit."
Just a few months ago, ITP angered NACS members when it announced an informal arrangement with Varsitybooks.com. Under the agreement, reps would presumably pitch the e-retailer to professors. In his discussion with PW, Dunn denied this notion.
"There's been a lot of confusion about our partnership with Varsity. We are not actively promoting Varsitybooks on campus." He added that reps were as likely to tell professors about Varsity as they were about other opportunities.
