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Swap to compete with Bookstore
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Students have complained for years that the Bookstore charges outrageous prices on textbooks and then gouges students on the buyback. ASBSU’s new Bookswap Coordinator Erin Anderson hopes to provide students a forum where they can name their own prices for books. The idea for the Bookswap first came about when ASBSU President Nate Peterson ran for office with Rachel Wheatley in 2000. While the program did not get off the ground last year, student leaders are hoping this year’s program will be a success. “Our goal is to give students an alternative way to find core books and other books that tend to be used every semester,” Peterson said. “Basically, we’re going to try to save students money every year.”
Anderson explains that the Bookswap is not a swap in the traditional sense. It is a forum where students can name their own price for texts. For example, if the Bookstore is willing to buy a text back for $50, and then resell it for $75 ” and if a student is able to sell the book at the Bookswap for $65, both the buyer and seller will be turning a profit. “The theory is to cut out the Bookstore from the purchasing of books through students,” Anderson said. “You’re going to still have to buy your new books from the Bookstore, but used books will be able to be sold and bought at the Bookswap.”
The swap will also enable buyers to decide which price they will pay for a text. If there are 10 people selling the same text, Anderson said, then a student will be able to decide which price they are willing to pay. Though Anderson said it is her goal to cut out the Bookstore from the process of buying back textbooks, she does not think the Bookstore is intentionally jacking up prices. “The Bookstore is really giving you the lowest prices they can with what they’re given,” she said. She cites staffing and additional costs as the reasons why the Bookstore must inflate prices. The fact that this is a student-run program will eliminate those extra costs. “Because this is a student funded program, we don’t have to charge extra for staff,” she said. “All students are actually going to be paying for is the actual books from each other.” To increase awareness of the program, Anderson has been distributing bookmarks with information about the program. Next month, she plans to begin advertising in earnest, to see that there are as many students participating as there are majors and classes on campus.
Though she says the Bookstore has been supportive of the new program – a high official at the Bookstore even sits on her committee – she admits that there could be some problems with the Bookswap for students. “The Bookstore is really convenient. I hate to say it, but the Bookswap is not going to be as convenient as the Bookstore. It’s not a guarantee that you’re going to sell your book, like at the Bookstore, but you are going to make more money if you do sell your book. Anderson says that the Bookstore is providing information about what texts professors will require. She says she hopes to make the process as much like the Bookstore as possible The first Bookswap will be held Dec. 17 ” 20. After that, there will be Bookswaps on the first and last weeks of the Spring Semester. There is currently not a plan for Summer Semester The program is set up to run annually, however next year’s ASBSU president may decide against running the program. Anderson says that in its first year, she’s not idealistic about a smashing success, but hopes to get students aware of the program and to give people the knowledge that there are alternatives to selling books back through the Bookstore.
Sean C. Hayes