In two weeks, students will be able to buy and sell textbooks online through ASUU.
The online book exchange is part of the new Web site created by the Associated Students of the University of Utah. ASUU plans to launch the book exchange on Dec. 1, in time for students to exchange books for Spring Semester.
“It’s going to be a great interactive service for students,” said Mike Nelson, ASUU vice-president. According to Nelson, updating and improving the Web site was one of the promises made during his campaign.
“We wanted to make a lot of improvements on the Web site,” Nelson said. He said once his administration began looking at other colleges and universities, members saw the online book exchange as a service they could add to help students.
Once launched, the book exchange will allow students to post the information and price of textbooks they want to sell, along with the seller’s contact information.
Other students can then search for a textbook by clicking on the department they need and emailing the bookseller if they are interested in buying the posted textbook. Students can also submit a request for a textbook that is not posted, and the Web site will e-mail them if a student submits the wanted textbook for sale.
“The success is dependent on how many students utilize it,” Nelson said. “If students utilize it, it will save them money. As college students, we are all about saving money.”
Other universities already have online book exchanges, and U students have asked for this service in the past.
“This idea has been around for a long time,” said Spencer Angerbauer, technology board director for ASUU. “I think students haven’t taken the initiative to create one?the focus maybe has been, in years past, on different things.”
Angerbauer has gotten at least a dozen emails asking when the exchange will be online, and he hopes that once students know about the service, more will want to use it.
“I’m thinking it will directly influence every student at the U,” he said. “We do want every student to know. I anticipate that once students know about it, it will be a real success.”
ASUU is waiting until Dec. 1 to make the book exchange available to students for promotional reasons.
“We felt that if we got it out too early, people might forget,” Angerbauer said. “We have a plan to do a lot of marketing, we’re getting a lot of people involved to actually go out and speak to the people and let them know that it’s available.”
Shane Girton, the textbook sales manager at University Bookstore also thinks the exchange will be successful, although he does not anticipate it will change the Bookstore’s business.
“I don’t foresee a big impact to the way we do business,” Girton said. “I’ve talked to other textbook managers; it doesn’t directly impact the way they do business.”
According to Girton, other book exchanges have failed in the past from lack of student support, but the direct communication the new book exchange offers may ensure its success.
“This offers student-to student, seller-to-buyer [communication], and that’s going to be successful,” he said.
Girton said 10 percent of used books are books U students have sold back. He expects students will still sell their used books to the Bookstore.
“We buy back tremendous amounts of textbooks, probably a couple hundred thousand dollars every semester,” Girton said. “I think they’re still going to resell them back to us because that’s guaranteed money for them.”
Girton supports ASUU’s efforts to create a book exchange, and the Bookstore is providing ASUU with course information to keep book exchanging up to date.
“I think it’s great, it’s just going to allow a good opportunity for students to maximize the amount they get from a book,” Girton said.