DeKALB | For some students, walking into the Holmes Student Center University Bookstore to buy textbooks might feel a lot like finding a hole in their pocket.

It’s easy for a student to cringe at the price of that geology book they need, knowing they’ll receive only a fraction of that price back at the end of the semester – if they can even sell it back.

For many students, it’s hard to imagine that the University Bookstore isn’t cashing in on the expensive books. When asked how much profit the bookstore makes off textbooks, many students answered high numbers.

“I think the University Bookstore makes way more than the [Village Commons Bookstore],” said Cristine Barrera, sophmore family, consumer and nutritional sciences major. “I would say 25 percent because sometimes I see books at VCB that are cheaper than the University Bookstore.”

Barrera said she spent about $430 in books this semester.

“I’d say 25 percent,” said sophomore nursing major Clar Sarangay. “It’s probably that high because they have to pay for the books and the people that work there.”

According to Don Turk, manager of the University Bookstore, the answer is closer to 20 percent. The figure, however, doesn’t account for labor or freight charge, he said.

“Freight costs 2 to 3 percent, and foreign books are much more,” Turk said.

Textbooks account for about 80 percent of the bookstore’s sales, but the profit never leaves the building. It funds student services such as the Huskie Den and the computer labs.

“It helps keep student fees down,” Turk said.

The books are sold at list price, Turk said, and any profit comes from discounts publishers give the bookstore.

Turk has managed the bookstore for seven years and said it has always made a profit on the textbooks. For some students, even the low-profit margin is too high.

Sarangay spent more than $450 on books this semester. She says that, from now on, she is shopping online.

“It’s just too expensive to buy books anywhere else,” she said.