Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches, Texas. For years, there have been only three main sources for college textbooks: Varsity Books on East College Street, Kampus Books right next to Varsity Books, and the University Bookstore on campus in the University Center. Now there is an alternative source for the students at SFA. SFAbooks.com is the newest most innovative venue for exchanging college textbooks.
SFAbooks.com does not keep an inventory of books. The site does not sell books or buy books, its users do. The website provides a system for connecting students selling books with students looking to buy books. When the semester comes to an end, students march to the bookstores to return their used textbooks. When the new semester starts up, back to the bookstore for high priced books. Why not skip this step and sell the book directly to another student? Think of the books as factory-direct. Skip the middle-man and buy from the source.
A Sample Transaction at the Bookstore
It's the beginning of the semester and a student buys a book from the bookstore for $100. As the semester comes to a close, the student goes back to the bookstore to sell the book back. A savvy-seller may take the book to all three bookstores and find the best offer. Let's suppose the bookstore offers $40 for this book (that's pretty optimistic). The student basically paid 60 bucks to rent the book. This happens semester after semester on such a large scale. There is a lot of money going around, but most of it ends up in the pockets of bookstore owners.
A Sample Transaction at SFAbooks.com
The story starts out the same way as our Bookstore example, except this time, instead of following the exam-fatigued students to the bookstores, the student posts the book on SFAbooks.com and holds on to it. When the next semester starts, the student starts to receive emails and phone calls from other students that need the book. The student agrees to sell the book to the other person for $70. They meet at the University Center and make the trade. The seller walks away happy because the he made $30 more dollars than what a bookstore would have given him. The buyer walks away happy because he saved $30 off the price of the exact same used book at the bookstore.
The website works, hundreds of books have been bought and sold since its inception in 1999. If each book listed only saved students 20 bucks, then the savings are easily over $68,000! Not bad.
SFAbooks.com is not officially affiliated with Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU), any organizations at SFA, Kampus Books, Varsity Books, or University Bookstore. This article was written by Josh Kryzak.
