When Sang Park sold his used books last quarter, he did not have to leave his dorm.
The Communication freshman used Belltower Books, a national company created by two Cornell University students as a way to conveniently buy and sell textbooks. Park made an appointment with one of Belltower’s campus representatives, who came to his dorm and bought the used textbooks, he said.
Weinberg sophomore Cari Romm worked for Belltower during Reading Week and Finals Week after responding to a flier she saw on campus. Many Northwestern students contacted her to sell their textbooks, and she had more appointments than she could handle on some days, she said.
“During Reading Week most people wanted to hold onto their books, so it was pretty slow in the beginning,” she said. “During the last few days of Finals Week, things got really crazy.”
Romm said she was one of six campus representatives hired by the company. In addition to posting fliers around campus, representatives spread the word to their friends and other student groups.
Selling books to Belltower instead of Norris Center Bookstore or Beck’s Book Store provides several advantages, Romm said. Belltower buys books regardless of whether NU professors would continue to use them, which often prevents Norris or Beck’s from buying them back.
“We would come to you, which is better than having to schlep heavy books through the snow or the cold, so there is definitely the convenience factor,” she said.
Weinberg junior Shannon Kitzer had not heard of Belltower but said she would consider using it this quarter. She said she usually sells books to Norris, Beck’s or Amazon by entering the ISBN number of her textbooks online to compare prices before deciding which company to use.
Romm said Belltower’s prices are nationally standardized, not individually tailored to NU’s campus. Representatives scan the books using a device from Belltower to determine how much the student would receive.
“The machine doesn’t know if the book is new or used,” Romm said. “I know sometimes we offer a few more dollars for a book than (Norris or Beck’s).”
For Park choosing Belltower was all about convenience.
“I didn’t want to walk all the way to Norris or Beck’s,” he said. “For people like me who are lazy, it’s really useful.”[email protected]
