Tag Archives: textbooks

How to Use Texts.com

texts.com
From Peter Frank ’12, the creator of Texts.com:

You inhaled our pizza on 4/20 last Spring, you studied for finals over paper bowls brimming with Costco snacks, and you’re currently spraying Sriracha onto your microwaved Easy Mac.  You’ve seen the stickers and have heard about Texts.com– now is the time to capitalize on the service!

If you’ve got books to sell, now is the time to get your best price.  Instead of selling to a typical buyback program for pennies on the dollar, Texts.com will help you find a student buyer who is willing to pay you a fair price.  Not only will they also be getting a discount, but the environment will appreciate the gesture, as well.

To add your books to Texts.com, just follow these steps–

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FEATURED
Interview: Peter Frank ’12, Former Owner of CollegeACB, Launches New Textbook Venture

“If a campus as tight-knit and progressive as Wesleyan can’t come together to defeat yesterday’s monopolist and incumbent powers, then maybe it just can’t be done.”

Peter Frank ’12, the famed Internet entrepreneur who ran the CollegeACB empire from his Fauver dorm room and made his way into the pages of TIME Magazine before selling the site in 2011 for an undisclosed six-figure sum, is back in the game with a new start-up. Not quite as juicy as the ACB (but probably far more useful), Frank’s latest venture is Texts.com, a “lean, green, student-first platform” for students to buy and sell textbooks to and from each other online. The start-up made its Wesleyan debut on Foss Hill around 4:20 p.m. yesterday; you’d be forgiven for assuming it’s a service that provides free pizza to stoned Wesleyan students at all hours of the day (that’s my new start-up idea, don’t tell anyone):

With help from Lisa Sy ’13 and Benjamin Halpern (a student at Mount Allison University in Canada), Frank aims to build a “commission-free, zero-fee, student-to-student textbook exchange” that eliminates the middleman.

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Amazon Starts Renting (Physical) Textbooks

THIS IMAGE IS AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR A COMPETITOR

Amazon announced today that it is now renting out physical textbooks, in addition to the online rentals it debuted last year.  Those of us who have purchased textbooks from Amazon know that it can “buyback” books you’ve purchased from the site, but it only pays you back in store credit (and not very much of it, either).  According to VentureBeat, most of these print books will rent at $30-$60 per semester (130 days + possible 15-day extension).

By renting out print books, Amazon’s entering a market that’s been growing more crowded lately.  Services like Chegg and Ebay’s Half.com rent books at similar price ranges, but The Verge posits that “Amazon’s ubiquity means it’s likely to make the practice more mainstream.”  Rent out your books before it’s too cool, and check out Amazon’s textbook rental here.  Fanhirs of the company may also want to check out Amazon Prime Student for free two-day shipping.

And how does one  get their textbooks without being ripped off?

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Wesbookssss

Ali Chaudry ’12 radios in:

Buy next semester’s books directly from other Wesleyan students at Wesbooks.org!

The WSA is pleased to announce WesBooks.org a platform for Wesleyan students to buy and sell books to other students. By dealing directly with other students instead of third-party dealers, students can save from 30-70% when purchasing books and receive more money for their used books.  Students determine how much to sell their books for and once a book is purchased, the two parties arrange for the payment and book exchange.  We encourage you to take advantage of this free service by posting your books from this semester!

Please email wesbooks2011(at)gmail(dot)com with any feedback. This website was created by a student group and is managed by the WSA.

With Chegg.com, Belltower books, Broad Street, and Amazon already on the scene, this bodes well for free-market competition. OH YEAHHH

WesBooks.org Announcement

So, given that nobody ever really reads WSA emails (hell, I barely check my inbox to begin with), it probably behooves me to reprint the following ‘cuz it’s pretty useful stuff:

The WSA is pleased to announce WesBooks.org, a platform for Wesleyan students to buy and sell books to other students. By dealing directly with other students instead of third-party dealers, students can save from 30-70% when purchasing books and receive more money for their used books.  Students determine how much to sell their books for and once a book is purchased, the two parties arrange for the payment and book exchange.  We encourage you to take advantage of this free service by posting your books from this semester!

Please email wesbooks2011(at)gmail(dot)comwith any feedback and we will continue to work on making WesBooks as user friendly as possible.  This website was created by a student group and is managed by the WSA.

Peace and crackers, and good luck with finals!

Textbook Tip

Another new semester, another huge bill for textbooks… Usually I don’t use Wesleying to promote stuff, but I have saved a lot of money and time by using a website that does the textbook comparison shopping for you, bigwords.com.  You don’t buy books from the website itself, it searches Amazon, Barnes and Noble and all the other bookstore websites to find the best deal (including shipping, coupons, etc.).  It saves your searches and directs you at the end to the cheapest deals for new and used books.  I saved over $120 on one textbook alone.  I think I’m (almost) ready for activities more intellectually taxing than analyzing Jersey Shore, hope you are all too!

Save Your Textbook Receipts and Get a Tax Credit!

As part of the recent stimulus package, the federal government will be granting college students and their parents a tax credit of up to $2500 to cover textbooks and any other qualifying supplies required by their classes.

textbooks

Find out more about the tax credit and how you can claim it on the WSA blog.

Broad Street Books’ worst enemy

The Maryland University System Board of Regents today unanimously approved a policy requiring professors to make information on textbooks, such as edition and ISBN, available to students well in advance of the start of classes to allow them to search for the best price. The Board estimates the policy will cut textbook costs 20 to 30 percent:

Faculty are encouraged to use the same books for multiple semesters so students can buy the books used. Bookstores will also have to carry unbundled versions of course materials so students can buy only what they need.

“The fact of the matter is, when you’re teaching 18th century American history, the material doesn’t change that much,” said regent David Nevins. “We are strongly encouraging faculty to use the same textbooks as long as they’re educationally sound.”

University presidents said they supported the policy. “It’s going to make a difference. It’s going to help students,” said UMBC [University of Maryland, Baltimore County] President Freeman Hrabowski.

Interesting. Sure, it only applies to public universities in one state, but could this be a sign of change on the horizon? Next year’s WesMaps should be up in a couple of weeks, and every course listing includes a spot for “Required Readings;” there’s no reason the ISBN of the required books shouldn’t be listed alongside the titles and editions. Now if someone would just bar publishers from producing shrink-wrapped books that can’t be returned if they’ve been opened…

Baltimore Sun: Md. college students to see reduced textbook costs