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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textbook<br>
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1712<br>
http://www.ipg.uk.com/cgi-bin/scribe?showinfo=pp021<br>
The textbooks market does not operate according to the same economic principles as a normal consumer market. First, the end consumers (students) do not select the product, and the product is not purchased by faculty nor professors. Therefore, price is removed from the purchasing decision, giving the producer (publishers) disproportionate market power to set prices high. This fundamental flaw (called the �Broken Market�) in the market is blamed as the primary reason that prices are out of control. <br>
According to the National Association of College Stores, the entire cost of the book is justified by expenses, with typically 11.7% of the price of a new book going to the author's royalties (or a committee of editors at the publishing house), 22.7% going to the store, and 64.6% going to the publisher.<br>