The Boston College Bookstore recently announced that it would begin accepting book returns. Many students, however, are turned off by the bookstore's buyback price, which are often a fraction of the original cost. Kara McNutt, A&S '09, campus manager for BooksOnCampus.com, has a solution.
The Web site was started in 2003 by a group of Brandeis University students.
"One day they were sitting around and one friend was complaining about how he had sold back his organic chemistry book and only got $20 for it," said McNutt. "The other friend complained that he had to pay $170 for the same book."
The students decided to trade among themselves and then decided to develop a business, first starting by creating a Web site.
The Web site features a simple layout with two distinct sections: "Sell Your Textbooks" and "Buy Used Textbooks."
If a student is looking to buy a book, all he has to do is log on to the Web site, type in the title, author, or ISBN, and click "Find."
The Web site will search and list related items. If he finds what he is looking for, he can click "Choose This Book." If someone on campus has the book, he will have to contact the seller in order to carry out the transaction. (The latter determines the price.) If he doesn't find the book he is looking for, there is a link to Amazon.com. This second scenario is the only way BooksOnCampus.com produces revenue.
"The Web site does not make money from people who buy books on campus," said McNutt.
Likewise, if a student is looking to sell a book, all he has to do is click "Sell Your Textbooks" and click "Go." He will then be prompted to enter the book's ISBN. After that, he will have to enter the books condition - ranging from "like new" to "very good" to "good" to "acceptable." The final step is to set a price for the book.
One of the most important things about the service is that it isn't not similar to or in partnership with Amazon.com.
"You don't sell your books to a company," said McNutt. "You buy them directly from a student. You don't have to go anywhere to get it. You don't have to pay shipping. It's directly person-to-person."
Three years after its creation, the service has helped Brandeis students save approximately $150,000 collectively.
Interestingly enough, when visiting BooksOnCampus.com for the first time, users will be asked if they want to log in via Facebook, the popular social networking iconoclast.
The partnership between the two Web sites started a couple of weeks ago, said McNutt.
"You don't have to give your e-mail address so you're probably more likely to join," she said. "In other words, you're not putting your contacts out for risks like junk mail."
Facebook, apparently, is not getting any monetary compensation out of the deal.
McNutt got involved with the BooksOnCampus.com while searching for jobs on craigslist.com.
"My parents made me spend my own money on books this semester so I spent a lot of what I made this summer," said McNutt.
Since 2003, BooksOnCampus.com has spread to several colleges, aside from Brandeis, including BC, Tufts University, Lehigh University, Bentley College, the University of Massachusetts, among many others. Because it has the capability to go nation-wide thanks to its partnership with Facebook.com, the founders are constantly looking to expand the service, said McNutt.
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