Frustrated by the costly process of buying and selling textbooks, a UW-Madison student has founded a new Web site, set to launch today, to offer an alternative to other bookstores on campus.
According to UW-Madison sophomore Josh Mateffy, the founder of MadtownBooks.com, the Web site will serve as a meeting place where students can find the books they need and purchase them directly
from other students.
The idea developed last year when Mateffy sold books to friends for the next semester and made twice what he would have made selling them back to a bookstore, he said.
""It's frustrating paying $300 for your books and selling them back for a fraction of that,"" he said. ""There is no reason to pay twice as much when you can cut out the middleman and save 40 to 50 percent.""
The service is free of charge, so there is no profit for Mateffy. But there are plans to provide space for advertisements on the Web site in the future, he said.
""It is my hope and goal that this site become the standard in book procurement,"" Mateffy said.
Troy Gerkey, co-owner of the Underground Textbook Exchange, 664 State St., a bookstore established in May 1999 as an alternative to University Book Store, 711 State St., said book-selling propositions operated by students have often struggled in the past.
""This was not because students are not capable, but because often for full-time students, their education is a main priority,"" he said.
According to Gerkey, an operation like this requires an extremely large amount of organization and effort in order to be effective.
""This Web site might be huge success, but it also requires a huge commitment,"" Gerkey said.
Another option for textbooks is the Book Swap, organized and sponsored by the Associated Students of Madison and the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group. For the first two weeks of every semester, students can give their books to organizers of the sale, set their own prices, and buy other books at stands in Memorial Library.
""We thought we'd start this to give students more bang for their buck and hopefully decrease the cost of education,"" WisPIRG State Board Chair Megan Fitzgerald said of the service that began in 1997.
