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.
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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. But oth
er sites such as www.bigwords.com
and StudentMarket.com are a dime
a dozen and tout big savings and
great selection, merely to offer a min
imum of both.
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