Discount Textbook Website a Roaring Success
www.booksforschool.ca a hit amongst students

Michael Sitayeb (With files from Amy Chung), Excalibur (York University)

 

 

 

TORONTO (CUP)—As a Ryerson student two years ago,
Mike Levine—like most students

 

was looking to save
every last penny on books by reselling old ones and buying
used copies. When he tried selling his $115 textbook back
to the bookstore, he was offered just $23 after a 35-minute
wait.

Three months later, just in time for the 2004-05 aca-
demic year, Mike Levine, Paul Levine, and Lawson
Hennick co-founded www.booksforschool.ca, now
Canada’s largest free, online textbook exchange service.

Already, thousands of students are posting hundreds of
textbooks online. University bookstores tend to devalue
the price of used books and then bump up the resale price
to make a profit on each transaction. The website allows
students to save on books by eliminating the middleman
and providing the means for students to sell directly to
each other, thus reducing overhead costs and the book-
store’s profit requirements, according to Paul Levine.

While York offers a form of free book exchange on its
website through postings and email contact,
www.booksforschool.ca already has a higher number of
users and more features to get students in contact with
each other. The web site offers instant messaging and
member profiles to facilitate transactions between
members.

According to Paul, the website includes an endorse-
ment feature that would help users identify shady vendors.

“For security reasons, the rating system helps users see
if the person selling the book is good or bad,” says Paul.
“Sometimes, books are pictured on the site so buyers can
feel more confident when they are purchasing the book,”
he adds.

Furthermore, there is a watch list on the site that allows
students to type in the ISBN number of the book so the
buyer will know when the book becomes available.

According to co-founder Lawson Hennick, the website
has also established a social network between the users
where there is a feature entitled “mentors and protégés.”
Mentors are upper-year students who offer advice to
younger students regarding the courses they plan to take.

Depending on your luck, the website can indeed offer
some amazing savings.

Fundamentals of Physics 7th Edition, for example, is
available at the York bookstore for $125.95. Amazon sells
it for $113.35 and UniText for $119.65. At
www.booksforschool.ca, a copy was located for just $70.

“Tf a student cannot find a desired textbook, there is
also an option to purchase brand new books at prices that
are not marked-up like university bookstores,” said Levine.

 

 

 

 

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