Students plan to launch site for textbook sales
Mike Baldwin
Issue: 5/21/08 Section: News
For most students, the experience of buying and selling textbooks can feel like a punch to the stomach.
Students spend hundreds of dollars to buy the books after waiting in long lines, and usually only get a few dollars in return when selling the books back less than three months later.
Three Seattle U seniors are aiming to make that experience of selling back books a much more satisfying one.
On May 27, Tyler Cook, Christian Mejia and Marvin Larios plan to launch campuslinkup.com, an online forum for students to buy and sell books from other students at Seattle U.
The idea originally came about when Cook was running low on money and had a hard time affording hundreds of dollars of textbooks. After asking around to other students to see if there was an easier, more affordable way to purchase textbooks for classes, Cook realized there was a need for an easy-to-use tool where students could cut out the middle man and buy and sell books directly to one another.
"I thought, 'why don't we meet in the middle,'" said Cook, "but there was no tool."
After sitting on the idea for a couple of years, Cook decided that it was time to create the site. He recruited fellow finance major Mejia and computer science major Larios to help and the trio began an exhausting process with the goal of launching the site before graduation. Four months and thousands of hours later, the group is ready to go public with the site.
"It's been an exhausting experience," said Larios. "I barely sleep anymore, but hopefully it will all be worth it."
The site will allow students to post books for sale under a specific course number. Then prospective buyers who need the book can simply look under that class' course number and pick the best price.
Because the site is Seattle U specific, students can then sell the book, in person, that same day, an advantage over sites like Amazon.com, where shipping can take anywhere up to two weeks and satisfaction is not always guaranteed.
Students spend hundreds of dollars to buy the books after waiting in long lines, and usually only get a few dollars in return when selling the books back less than three months later.
Three Seattle U seniors are aiming to make that experience of selling back books a much more satisfying one.
On May 27, Tyler Cook, Christian Mejia and Marvin Larios plan to launch campuslinkup.com, an online forum for students to buy and sell books from other students at Seattle U.
The idea originally came about when Cook was running low on money and had a hard time affording hundreds of dollars of textbooks. After asking around to other students to see if there was an easier, more affordable way to purchase textbooks for classes, Cook realized there was a need for an easy-to-use tool where students could cut out the middle man and buy and sell books directly to one another.
"I thought, 'why don't we meet in the middle,'" said Cook, "but there was no tool."
After sitting on the idea for a couple of years, Cook decided that it was time to create the site. He recruited fellow finance major Mejia and computer science major Larios to help and the trio began an exhausting process with the goal of launching the site before graduation. Four months and thousands of hours later, the group is ready to go public with the site.
"It's been an exhausting experience," said Larios. "I barely sleep anymore, but hopefully it will all be worth it."
The site will allow students to post books for sale under a specific course number. Then prospective buyers who need the book can simply look under that class' course number and pick the best price.
Because the site is Seattle U specific, students can then sell the book, in person, that same day, an advantage over sites like Amazon.com, where shipping can take anywhere up to two weeks and satisfaction is not always guaranteed.
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