This is in response to Matt Hughes' letter on the price gouging by bookstores ("Publishers, bookstores 'manipulating' students," Jan. 13).

Hughes writes that "bookstores should be ashamed for manipulating the cost of knowledge and taking advantage of students for profit."

Why do the booksellers take advantage of students? The answer is simple: students like Hughes are letting them. If a book costs up to 50 percent cheaper overseas, then buy the book from an overseas seller. Shipping will cost you $5 to $10. But for a 50 percent discount, that is nothing. Another way to lessen campus bookstores' influence is to not sell your used books back to them. There are many outlets for students to sell their books such as Amazon and Half.com, where you will get 50 to 100 percent of the purchase price back, not the paltry 10 to 20 percent that local stores offer. Bookstores aren't going to listen to whining about prices.

They will only lower prices when it becomes a necessity to them.