Students selling unwanted textbooks at the end of the semester will soon be able to avoid even the short trek across campus to the University Bookstore. Beginning Nov. 26 they will be able to swap books for cash on the Student Association Web site without so much as leaving their dorm rooms.
SA President Christian Oliver compared the concept of the book exchange to eBay or a book swap, where no middleman stands between the buyer and seller. Prospective buyers will be able to log onto the exchange, select course texts according to class and the site will generate a list of students selling the text, along with contact information. The buyer will have to call the seller to negotiate a price.
Edmund Kaczynski, SA's Web design manager, called the process "very simple"; no fees will be charged to post books for sale or to search for texts.
Although the exchange should make buying used books cheaper and more convenient for UB students, it will not affect the new book market. Students will still have to go to the University Bookstore or off campus for new texts.
Greg Neumann, manager of the University Bookstore, said he was not concerned by the development of an online book exchange. Neumann worked previously at UCLA where a book exchange was in place, although not online. He said the local bookstore's business was not hurt by the book exchange.
"I don't think we're going to make any store bankrupt," said Oliver. "... We're here for the students."
Neumann pointed out that students who purchase textbooks via the online exchange may not be able to return the books later, if, for example, the course is dropped.
"In the textbook business there is a high percentage of refunds because it's just the nature of the beast," said Neumann. "I think a lot of factors could happen so I think that could be a snafu down the road."
According to Joshua Korman, SA vice president, the association offered a "more physical" book exchange in the mid-1990s. SA rented a room and hired personnel to staff the exchange, which required students to go to the room to place an order, a much more cumbersome process.
In the past, SA also offered a link to Bookswap.com, a national book exchange program.
"This book exchange will be more UB efficient," said Korman.
More information on the book exchange can be found on the SA Web site, http://www.sa.buffalo.edu.
