Brigette Honaker  |  April 24, 2020

Category: Education

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Student holding Barnes & Noble textbook

A recent class action lawsuit claims that Barnes & Noble and other textbook retailers conspired to increase college students’ book prices.

Plaintiff Austin Warman argues that he and other students have been forced to pay high prices due to a conspiracy between on-campus bookstore operators – Barnes & Noble and Follett – and textbook publishers – Cengage, McGraw Hill and Pearson.

Warman notes that student loan debt has become a “crisis” in the United States, with 45 million Americans acquiring student loans and the country amassing more than $1.5 trillion in total student loan debt. In 2017, college graduates owed an average of $28,650 in student loan debt.

According to the Barnes & Noble class action lawsuit, a significant factor in growing student loan debt is the increasing cost of course textbooks and materials. The College Board has revealed that an average college student spends $1,200 on their textbooks and materials each year.

“While students purchase and use the textbooks, the decision of which textbook will be used in any particular class is up to the professor, his or her department, and/or the university itself,” the Barnes & Noble textbook class action lawsuit notes.

“Students are required to buy that textbook in order to do the readings and complete the assignments for that particular class, and there is no alternative option.”

In an attempt to reduce their textbooks expenses, students may have previously been able to look towards third-party sellers to buy their textbooks. Sellers such as Amazon and Chegg may have provided new, used, or electronic versions of textbooks for prices much lower than those found at campus bookstores.

Although these sources “increased competition, reduced textbook prices, and saved students money,” Warman claims that these sources “resulted in decreased profits” for the defendants. In response, the companies reportedly developed their “Inclusive Access” conspiracy.

Inclusive Access is a platform that allows students to access textbooks and course materials such as reading assignments, homework problems, and quizzes. There are no substitutes for Inclusive Access and students can not buy the textbooks elsewhere, according to Warman. This reportedly forces students to purchase their course products directly from campus bookstores.

“The Publisher Defendants use Inclusive Access to require every student in an Inclusive Access course to pay for electronic access to the course textbook,” the Barnes & Noble textbook class action lawsuit claims.

“Without Inclusive Access, many students would purchase a used version of the textbook on the secondary market, and the Publisher Defendants would not receive any money from those sales.”

As a result of this scheme, the defendants have allegedly eliminated other competition and secured a tight hold on the textbook industry.

The publisher defendants reportedly hold a market share of more than 90 percent in the Inclusive Access market. Similarly, the retailer defendants hold a market share of more than 50 percent in the on-campus bookstores market – allegedly securing them a “very high” market share in the overall Inclusive Access market.

“The Publisher Defendants had substantial market power in the Inclusive Access Market,” Warman argues in his Barnes & Noble textbook class action lawsuit. “The Publisher Defendants had the power to maintain the price of Inclusive Access materials at supracompetitive levels, and to do so profitably without losing substantial sales.”

Warman argues that there is no real benefit to using Inclusive Access, referencing consistent technological problems and expiring access to course materials. Instead, the products allegedly function only to secure the defendants profits.

In his Barnes & Noble textbook class action lawsuit, Warman seeks to represent a Class of undergraduate and graduate students who were required to purchase their textbooks or course materials through Inclusive Access.

Warman seeks a variety of monetary relief including compensatory damages and trebled damages.

However, the plaintiff also seeks injunctive relief and an enjoining order.

According to Warman, these measures would prevent the defendants from gaining an even larger monopoly on the textbook industry.

“If the Defendants’ actions are not enjoined, the Inclusive Access Market is likely to take over more and more college textbook and course materials sales, resulting in higher prices and reduced choice for more students on more campuses and in more of their courses,” Warman argues.

Have you purchased expensive school books from Barnes & Noble or other retailers? Share your experiences in the comment section below.

Warman and the proposed Class are represented by John Radice of Radice Law Firm PC; Tyler W. Hudson and Austin P. Brane of Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP; and Brennan P. Fagan of Fagan Emert & Davis LLC.

The Barnes & Noble Textbook Price-Fixing Class Action Lawsuit is Warman v. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers LLC, et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-04875, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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22 thoughts onBarnes & Noble Class Action Alleges Spiked Textbook Prices

  1. Paula Barry says:

    I have been in school for the last four years and there have been several courses where I had to purchase inclusive access textbooks for my classes.Also while I was attending community college, before I started U of I, textbooks are generally included in tuition except for Inclusive Access, which we had to purchase ourselves and this makes it even worse because since most textbooks are included we didn’t get our booklists until right before the semester started and then surprise here is an Inclusive Access text that is usually very expensive that you have to buy and didn’t even know about until the last minute.

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