Although holiday shopping is on the minds of some students, their thoughts soon will turn to Winter Quarter and a less appealing spending spree — buying books.
But students have a new option for getting cheaper books, thanks to the recently launched Web site www.GetCollegeBooks.com.
The site helps link textbook buyers and sellers. Users create an account by providing contact information. Then they can buy used textbooks posted by college students around the country or post their own books to sell.
Clicking on the “Buy it” option for a book sends an e-mail to the seller containing only the buyer’s e-mail address. It is up to the two students to communicate through e-mail to determine shipping and payment issues. Because students set their own prices for the books they post, the site can be cheaper than other online services, such as eBooks.com or Amazon.com.
The online service was founded by two Ohio State University students, Damon Owens and Hashim Wordlaw, both 26. They created the site simply to help students save money, Owens said.
“Bookstores have a monopoly forming,” he said. “We both are students, so we’re looking for a way to help other students.”
The site might be good news for NU students, many of whom said they are frustrated with the prices at Norris University Center Bookstore.
“I think a fair amount of prices at Norris are exorbitant,” said Weinberg sophomore Nicholas Ortiz.
Some students also said they are unhappy with low returns when selling books back to Norris.
“When I do sell (books) back (to Norris), I barely get anything for them,” said Helen Ho, a Communication senior. “It makes me mad.”
Management at Norris declined to comment on whether the store is concerned that the new Web site will threaten business.
Some students said they saw advantages to using Norris, rather than a Web site, to get their textbooks.
“I usually wait too long to buy my books and don’t have time to wait for them to come,” said Ron Adams, an Education senior. “I don’t like Norris, but I usually end up going to Norris.”
Other student concerns include hassles in shipping and ambiguity in book condition. When posting a book to sell, a student must choose one of six options describing its condition, ranging from “new/like new” to “poor.” This is not enough for some students.
“People’s concepts of what ‘barely used’ is vary from person to person,” Ho said. “It’s kind of hard because you can’t see what you’re buying.”
Despite such concerns, most students said they would try GetCollegeBooks.
“I think it would be a very successful program,” Adams said.
For now, the service is free to use, but a $2 book-posting fee might be instituted sometime next quarter, Owens said, though there will be no fee to buy books.
Now there are only 38 books posted on the Web site, posted mostly by students at Ohio State and Columbus State universities. Owens said he and Wordlaw only have sent a press release to Ohio schools, but, pleased with user feedback, they hope to expand publicity during the next quarter.
“Everyone we’ve talked to has loved the site,” Owens said. “It saves them money.”
