Bookstore prices are a common complaint among students each semester, but the Hornet Bookstore has not seen a steady decline in sales, even with the introduction of online competitors like Amazon and Big Nerd.

“In fall we saw a decrease of one-tenth of 1 percent in unit sales compared to Fall of 2003,” Julia Milardovich, the director of bookstore services.

Last semester Associated Students, Inc. signed a contract with Big Nerd with the goal of bringing students lower book prices.

Shane Barker, campus director for Big Nerd, said ASI has allocated $2500 to promoting the Web site on campus.

James Shelby, vice president of finance, said advertising has not started yet because the focus will be for the fall semester.

Advertising will begin this semester, to let students know that there is an alternate place to sell back their books for a higher price than they would receive from the bookstore, Shelby said. This way Big Nerd will have a good supply of the books that Sacramento State students will need for their classes, so they can compete better with the bookstore.

Barker said the company is currently working on contracts with the Los Rios Community College District.

He said that there has been a good response so far from Sac State students buying and selling books online.

Big Nerd is a Web site where users can search for books by title, author, ISBN or seller. The search brings back a list of new and used book options from sources including Amazon, so students can choose which price they prefer.

It also allows students to sell their books directly to other students, which helps them to avoid the middleman.

“I bought my books on Amazon because they were cheaper, and once the semester is over, I can sell them back for more than at the bookstore,” sophomore Refugio Gomez said.

This was the first time that Gomez had used an alternate source to purchase his books. He said he compared prices before purchasing his books and found that at the bookstore one of his books was $80, but he was able to buy it used for $30 on Amazon.

“I shopped around on other Web sites too. I looked at campusi.com and Big Nerd, but Amazon worked better for me. My roommate bought his books from campusi.com,” Gomez said.

Many other students, like Erick Kale, an international relations student, have said that they like the convenience of the bookstore and do not usually shop around for their books.

Milardovich said it will be difficult to tell if sales are impacted by Big Nerd directly because the bookstore has so many competitors.

The bookstore has in recent years given students the option to purchase their books online for added convenience. By purchasing online students do not have to wait in the long lines during the first few weeks of school and they can be sure that they are purchasing the books specified by their professors.

Even with these added conveniences, the bookstore receives criticism for selling books at prices too high for its student consumers.

“It is more difficult for us because we are not buying from individuals, but from manufacturers and we are buying in bulk, which is more expensive. Buying one book, compared to hundreds, makes a big difference,” Milardovich said.

Milardovich said she knows students have other options for purchasing their books, which is why the bookstore tries to get the lowest prices for students.

Some of the ways Milardovich said the bookstore tries to help students is that they negotiate lower prices for books that are being discontinued or that have newer additions available. The special prices for these books are listed on the walls in the bookstore.