A new website helps students exchange, buy, and sell textbooks. The Book Exchange site was launched this summer by NEIUs Student Government Association (SGA). The site provides a local forum where students can post books they have for sale and search for books they wish to buy.
The NEIU Book Exchange is an online network for students similar to other online networking forums, such as Craigslist. Unlike online bookstores, the interactions are student-to-student. Along with book and course information, the site allows students to list their on-campus availability. Buyers and sellers are responsible for arranging to meet and set their own prices for books. The site also encourages the option to exchange one book for another similarly priced text.
Since its launch on August 15, there have been a few posts to the site. The available books are still limited by student participation. Sunil Mahadeshwar, SGA Treasurer, is working to change this. He says, “It’s not perfect yet, but we hope it meets students’ expectations.”
SGA members are advertising the site by posting flyers, creating Facebook groups, and requesting permanent links on the NEIU website and NEIUport. They are also asking professors to mention the book exchange during the first weeks of class as an alternative method of acquiring required course materials.
NEIU students often post “books-for-sale” signs on bulletin boards around campus. These signs are posted along-side a variety of other flyers. Mahadeshwar explains, “The website is more organized than the bulletin boards, and it’s easier to use.”
The SGA is not concerned about competition with Becks or other textbook buyback sources. “We don’t see ourselves as a take-over market. We’re just trying to make things easier for the student,” Mahadeshwar says. “Besides,” he explains, “there are books they won’t buy back. Students can sell books rejected by Becks by putting it up on the exchange site.”
There are a few reasons campus bookstores may not buy back a book, including the sale of newer edition. However, some students admit to using older versions of books in order to save money. Timothy Cho, NEIU junior, says he usually sells his used books on textbooks.com. “They give more money back than the book store,” Cho says. He says he would consider any alternative for cheaper textbooks. “The Book Exchange is a good idea and they should definitely put that out there,” Cho says.
Having a campus book exchange is not a new concept; it is currently modeled after a previous SGA Book Exchange. Nor is the forum singular to NEIU. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign created the Illini Book Exchange (IBX) in 2002. However, the IBX works in coordination with the Illini Union Bookstore, the official bookstore of the University of Illinois. There are several independent book exchange forums such as Campus Book Swap, where students can search different campus networks and find students who want to sell their used books.
The NEIU Book Exchange is not working in conjunction with Becks on this issue. It is uncertain the impact a free student book exchange would have on funding and support for the university bookstore. However, no one at Beck’s corporate offices was available for comment on the issue at the time of this publication.
Mahadeshwar’s explains the change from the old SGA Book Exchange model to the new student-to-student exchange forum. “It’s more about the university and less about the SGA,” he says. He admits that students will still need the traditional bookstore when they cannot find anyone in the forum selling the texts they need. Mahadeshwar also touts the benefits of the exchange forums and the campus bookstore saying, “You can get books quicker and save on shipping costs.” He says there is the convenience of “touching the book” and knowing exactly what you are buying, either at the bookstore or “when you meet the seller” through the Book Exchange.
The NEIU Book Exchange is still a work in progress. SGA members are planning to implement a rating system by which students can give feedback on the forum operations and on sellers’ etiquette. In the meantime, students are already networking, either online or in person, to find the best deals on buying and selling textbooks.
NEIU Book Exchange www.neiu.edu/~books