Online booksellers avoid UA store's costly text list

The Arizona Revised Statues allow the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Bookstore to charge out-of-state book retailers a "reasonable fee" for booklists, said Frank Farias, ASUA Bookstore director.

"The state of Arizona is one of few states in the nation that introduced a law. to assess a fee for public information for the purpose of commercialization," Farias said. "We concluded that $20,000 a year is reasonable."

Farias said at least three online text companies don't agree with his definition of reasonable, however. Bigwords.com, Textbook.com and Varsity.com all refused to pay the campus bookstore's price, he said.

The companies did not return phone calls last week.

Jeffrey Kuperman, co-CEO and co-president of The U-Zone, a Texas-based on-line bookseller, maintained the UA is trying to avoid competition.

"They're not willing to cooperate," Kuperman said. "If we come in, we'd break up the monopoly."

The company has yet to decide if they will cave in to the bookstore's demands, said Matt Ogden, co-CEO and co-president of The U-Zone. Having the booklist would allow the online company to market books specifically to a UA audience.

"It's hard to say what is reasonable," he said. "It was by far the highest value given to us."

Other universities nationwide have charged between a few hundred and several thousand dollars for the lists, but nowhere close to the $20,000 fee the ASUA Bookstore has imposed, Ogden said.

He added that the fee demanded by other universities included copying and shipping costs, while the UA's price did not.

Farias said it costs the university about $60,000 to compile the booklists, but they only charge one-third of that figure to cover bookstore expenses.

"We have to do a lot of work to confirm the information," Farias said.

Time investments by department personnel, equipment and maintenance comprises the remaining $40,000.

The on-line company received a letter from Anna Wilkinson, administrative assistant for decision and planning support, stating "you (The U-Zone) could collect the necessary information...at your own time and own expense."

The online bookseller asked 20 to 25 UA departments for booklists but none provided the documents, Kuperman said.

"Nothing compares to the problem we've had at Arizona," he said.

Local book retailers, however, pay only the cost of copying the booklists, at seven cents per copy from Fast Copy in the Memorial Student Union.

Heidi Canfield, Fast Copy's manager, said only Rother's Bookstore, 501 N. Park Ave., and Arizona Bookstore, 815 N. Park Ave., purchase booklists from the copying service.

Despite the online companies' difficulties with the UA's bookstore, Tucson book sellers maintain that the campus store has offered good service.

"The (ASUA) bookstore has been very fair," said Gale Elliot, manager of Arizona Bookstore.

Farias said the university enjoys a "reciprocal" relationship with local retailers. When some campus departments bypass the ASUA Bookstore and order directly from off-campus retailers, the stores give the campus vendor the information.

"We have an understanding that whatever information they have they will provide to us and we will provide information to them," Farias said.

He added that any profit made from the sale of booklists would be earmarked for scholarships, club funding and graduation ceremonies.

"Our money is recycled back to the students in various forms," he said.