By Matt Adkins
U of L BookExchange is a new phenomenon that is helping students at U of L and other schools buy textbooks for less and get more money for books when they sell them.
“Students buying textbooks can buy them off of U of L BookExchange for a fraction of the cost at the bookstores,” said Nathan Fort, who runs the Web site here at U of L.
BookExchange is an online bookstore that allows the seller get more out of his books than a bookstore close to campus would offer. “U of L BookExchange is unique in that everyone wins. Students selling their textbooks back can name the price they want for the book, and generally they receive more for the textbook by selling it on uoflbookexchange.com than if they were to sell it back to the bookstore,” Fort said.
The buyer can also get old textbooks for a decent price on the Web site, said Fort. “Students buying textbooks are able to purchase books from uoflbookexchange.com at a reduced price, significantly lower than used prices at the local bookstores.”
A math book that is used for the Math Pathways classes is priced at $80 on U of L BookExchange, and is priced brand new at $132.15 and used at $99.15 at the on-campus bookstore.
The U of L BookExchange Web site was created Dec. 1, 2005 and was officially opened to students on Dec. 21, 2005. Currently there are 25 members on the Web site and 30 books posted. The site is open to U of L and JCC students only.
The Web site has been around for several years despite its late arrival to U of L. “The original began at the University of Kentucky three years ago,” Fort said. “Brian Raney founded the UK BookExchange and opened the site to students in 2003. I joined with Brian in a partnership in early 2005 and we began expanding to other schools such as U of L. UK has been up for three years and actively has over 3,500 active users.”
As of right now the University of Kentucky, Northern Kentucky, the University of Texas and U of L have the site available to their students. “BookExchanges identical to U of L are in the process of being opened up for most colleges in Kentucky. It is free to sign up,” Fort said.
“Uoflbookexchange.com is beneficial to students because unlike most Internet book sites, students are able to complete the transaction of selling or buying a book that day and on a local level. Students don’t have to worry about purchasing the wrong book offline and not being able to take it back,” Fort said.
So far, Fort said, students seem satisfied with the site. Students seem to be quickly catching on to the new idea. “For these reasons students continually come back to use U of L BookExchange and our services,” Fort said.
