2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial: Alternative source for book trading
Online local textbook trade eases costs and promotes the economic community
Issue date: 11/9/05 Section: Commentary
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Students are wrapping up registration for Spring Semester 2006. That means the scramble to sell back unwanted books and the hunt for cheapest books will soon be heating up the coming winter months.
This year students have one more source to add to the list of book-buying and selling venues, and this one has an added perk. Typically students would have a limited number of options for bargain shopping about campus. Some are more big-business like Barnes & Noble whom of course, buy back books but for a fraction of the original cost only to sell them back again as used books to turn some what of profit. Well what about the "broke college student" ideology: why don't we get any of that money?
That's where another option comes into play, the Accounting Club and their semi-annual book sale allows students to name their own price in hopes that a needy buyer will claim their book. Here, you, the student, reap the benefits and you have a good chance of getting more of your original cost back, some even turn a profit.
Well, the newest option to buy and sell books just hit the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University. Campusbookbag.com is a free online source created "for students, by students," as their website boasts. SMSU students can use this site free of charge to trade with other SMSU students.
One of the traits that sets this site apart from other, more widely known sites such as Ebay or Half.com, is that your money and your books go right back into the community here at SMSU. No pesky packaging regulations that drain money from your pocket as a seller. And you're not paying for something that has to be shipped half way across the country to get to your door, which only serves to impede valuable study time.
Campusbookbag.com allows students to post as many books as they like. Then when an interested buyer chooses the book, the contact information provided by each person will be sent via email to each other. Upon contact, the users meet in a selected "well-lit public place" (campusbookbag.com) at a convenient time. Badda bing you got your book!
So, shop around this year before you settle for the first found textbook, and exercise your right to choose. Keep our resources in our small community and its economy in a more convenient way than ever. This program can be spread to any school and any school club or local business can use this growing source of advertising to the college demographic.
The Spur attempted, in the short time we had after catching wind of this site, to discover the identity of the harbingers of this e-market, but remains unsuccessful. We would be interested, and feel that some of the student body might as well, in revealing the identities of this person or group in order to learn more about how SMSU became part of this entrepreneurship endeavor. A letter to the editor is always an easy way to communicate with the students and the community at large.
This year students have one more source to add to the list of book-buying and selling venues, and this one has an added perk. Typically students would have a limited number of options for bargain shopping about campus. Some are more big-business like Barnes & Noble whom of course, buy back books but for a fraction of the original cost only to sell them back again as used books to turn some what of profit. Well what about the "broke college student" ideology: why don't we get any of that money?
That's where another option comes into play, the Accounting Club and their semi-annual book sale allows students to name their own price in hopes that a needy buyer will claim their book. Here, you, the student, reap the benefits and you have a good chance of getting more of your original cost back, some even turn a profit.
Well, the newest option to buy and sell books just hit the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University. Campusbookbag.com is a free online source created "for students, by students," as their website boasts. SMSU students can use this site free of charge to trade with other SMSU students.
One of the traits that sets this site apart from other, more widely known sites such as Ebay or Half.com, is that your money and your books go right back into the community here at SMSU. No pesky packaging regulations that drain money from your pocket as a seller. And you're not paying for something that has to be shipped half way across the country to get to your door, which only serves to impede valuable study time.
Campusbookbag.com allows students to post as many books as they like. Then when an interested buyer chooses the book, the contact information provided by each person will be sent via email to each other. Upon contact, the users meet in a selected "well-lit public place" (campusbookbag.com) at a convenient time. Badda bing you got your book!
So, shop around this year before you settle for the first found textbook, and exercise your right to choose. Keep our resources in our small community and its economy in a more convenient way than ever. This program can be spread to any school and any school club or local business can use this growing source of advertising to the college demographic.
The Spur attempted, in the short time we had after catching wind of this site, to discover the identity of the harbingers of this e-market, but remains unsuccessful. We would be interested, and feel that some of the student body might as well, in revealing the identities of this person or group in order to learn more about how SMSU became part of this entrepreneurship endeavor. A letter to the editor is always an easy way to communicate with the students and the community at large.