Georgia Southern Students Now Have a Way to Trade Textbooks with Each Other

Students at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, like at many other universities, have grown accustomed to obtaining their textbooks through the campus bookstore. But wouldn't it be great if they could just sell directly to other students - the bookstore takes a substantial cut of all sales. By trading, selling, and buying directly with each other, students can save lots of money. I did this when I could, but I often didn't know anyone in my immediate friend group who needed certain books I had. So I had to resort to selling them back to the bookstore, sometimes at a huge loss.

A Student-to-Student Textbook Marketplace At GSU

This is not the case anymore. This site (BookTrapper.com) was created to be a Craigslist type marketplace specifically designed for used textbooks. Students at Georgia Southern can sign up (through Facebook) and post the books (by ISBN) that they are selling and those that they need per semester. BookTrapper's search algorithm will match them with other students at their school with whom they can do the most business. It's designed to connect people who would like to perform a transaction - they can meet up on campus, trade books, and save a lot of money by undermining the money grubbing campus bookstore.

With the cost of tuition constantly increasing, students need to take advantage of every opportunity to save money. I hated spending one hundred fifty and sometimes two hundred dollars on one book for a class that I spent too much money on as well. Getting the best price for used textbooks can make a students feel like they have a little more change in their pocket - even if that money is probably going right back to the school in one way or another.

Used Books and Buyback Rates

If you're like me, you always try to get your books before everyone else does at the beginning of the semester - more used books are available and they sell out fast. The bookstore keeps a careful eye on inventory, and I'm sure they use supply and demand to maximize their profits. Likewise, you need to sell your books fast at the end of the semester or the buyback price will drop precipitously. My point is this - BookTrapper provides an alternative. It's a tool students can use to sell and buy apart from the campus bookstore, that is in most cases a monopoly.