I find it doubtful that my knowledge of any part of LSU's financial arrangement with vendors will help me with prepayments, discounts, or future negotiations. LSU's collection is unique and I tend to believe that their discount rate, service charge and all other financial arrangements are every bit as unique. I would also like to add that there are a number of other European vendors not mentioned in the article that are offering discount rates and benefits for prepayment including, for example, Casalini, Martinus Nijhoff International, and Everett. I'm sure others could add to this list. Unfortunately, Mr. Hamaker has confused the interest received from prepayments with actual discounts.
Prepayments often yield interest for customers.
As such, many people apply this interest to their bill. But the discount that is received for a title is a separate matter and often remains constant even though the overall bill is reduced through prepayments. In many cases, prepayment does not reduce the cost of the title. It provides a return on one's investment that allows one to get more for the dollar. As several points I attempted to make in my previous column were apparently not very clear, I welcome this opportunity to answer Mr. Goins's concerns.