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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1999)
Book buying available to students at the click of a button ■ An influx of on-line textbook-selling sites gives students more options in the search for the best deal By Jessica Etheridge lor the Emerald Book buying may have become less cumbersome, painful and, most importantly, expensive. With the advent of certain com panies within the on-line college textbook market, the days of holding heavy books while waiting in line and potentially paying a ton may be over. But some of these companies may be too good to be true. Saving you money is the inten tion of companies such as U-Zone. The CEOs of the company are re cent graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, and they know how frustrating it can be to fork over your summer savings for books. “Students are paying a lot for tuition,” co-CEO Matt Ogden said. “They feel cheated when they have to simultaneously pay a lot for books as well.” U-Zone is the first company to sell new and used books over the Internet at cost, while at the same * time bypassing bookstore lines by directly delivering the books to your door. Profits are made from other sources, such as advertising and a U-Zone auction site. A visitor to the U-Zone site can potentially cater their visit to their individual campus. Upon its re lease in May 1999, U-Zone launched the individualized option at 115 of the nation’s largest univer sities, including the University. The sites at those 115 schools incorpo rate campus-event calendars, apart ment- and job-hunting resources and other local services. U-Zone is not the only private company out there. There are nu merous competitors, including www.StudentMarket.com, which touts 40 percent discounts as well as all the comforts of a bookstore. These offerings include plush rugs, picture frames and even in flatable furniture. Visitors can even apply for a credit card. But what really matters to col lege students is not the acces sories. It’s the money. Is buying through a private on line textbook company going to save money for the average col lege student? And how does this new competition affect the faith ful university bookstore? At campuses such as this one, the University Bookstore is fight ing back by launching an area on their Web site where you can pur chase texts. The bookstore is ex panding on its already available Early Duck program, which al lows students to order books early on-line using their credit card. The expansion will allow stu dents to eventually purchase nu merous products on-line, includ ing software and sportswear. On the bookstore’s site, a visitor is in stantly confronted with the book store’s campaign against private companies such as U-Zone. It reads: “Did you know that theotherguys.com only offered a puny percentage of the required books for spring term, never of fered summer term books, isn’t of fering law school books!! We offer guaranteed books.” Natalie Eggert, special projects leader at the bookstore, reiterated this point by stressing the conve nience of the bookstore. She cited many examples of how the book store offers not only convenience but also prices equivalent, if not lower than, the on-line companies. For example, the University has one of the few independent book stores. This means it can offer stu dents 10 percent off purchases. Often, that discount makes the bookstore’s prices equal to the on line companies, particularly when considering shipping and handling. Eggert also pointed out that buyers must know what edition of the text to purchase. The book store places specific faculty or ders, guaranteeing that the correct edition is available, usually by the first day of class. She also stressed the fact that when an on-line company says “list price” you don’t know their source. If the list price is directly from the publisher, it is often steep, making a 40 percent dis count look monstrous if you don’t do your research. Of course there is always the potential of purchasing the wrong book and having to deal with re turning a 50-pound dictionary and paying the shipping and han dling to get the correct one. “Students should support the bookstore,” Eggert said. “We are not gouging them. We are offering the best possible price, and it’s one-stop shopping.” Certain private companies have settled the rivalry between book stores and private companies by joining forces with the bookstores. For example www.efollett.com has partnerships with 800 col leges and universities. Ogden feels that the bookstores have been a sort of monopoly for so long that they aren’t used to competition. But in his opinion, the new competition benefits the student through the reduced prices competition brings. However, the University Book store claims that the emergence of private companies has not caused it to adjust its prices because it was already offering the 10 per cent discount. But what of the bookstores that claim the competition offers a re duced selection? That ultimately depends upon the private company the buyer chooses and the books they are looking for. 003823 “35 years of Quality Service” Mercedes • BMW Volkswagen • Audi German Auto Service • MERCEDES • BMW • VOLKSWAGEN • 342-2912 2025 Franklin Blvd. Eugene, Oregon, 97402 Resumes, Dissertations, Binding, Copies same day Folding, Cutting & Color Copies within 24 hours i Located in the EMU, Room 19 (next to the Computing Center) 346 - 4369 7:30am - 5:30pm Monday - Friday f Some of the more obscure books are more difficult to pur chase on-line. For example, searching for some of those ran dom literature texts can prove to be time consuming. But one on-line company — www.BestBookBuys.com — will do the dirty work. It will find the lowest price, including shipping and handling, by searching 25 on line bookstores. Until recently, it didn’t really cater to the college text market, but then the site added www.Classbook.com and www.Varsitybook.com to the list of sites it searches. An example of www.BestBook Buys.corn’s handy work is best exemplified through looking at a popular economics book, “Micro economic Theory.” It has a list price of $94.50, but BestBookBuy found it for $54.75. No matter which way one looks at it, the world of book buying is changing to mesh with the techno logical world. And if one is willing to spend the time necessary to find tt Students should sup port the bookstore. We are offering the best possible price, and it’s one-stop shopping. Natalie Eggert University Bookstore n books on-line, he or she may come out a couple bucks ahead. The on-line companies can also be useful if the bookstore runs out of a title. However, as Eggert put it, “Let buyers beware.” It’s important to do research when buying books on-line. Sites such as U-Zone and Best BookBuy are reputable sites. 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