In the first week of the spring semester, Associated Students of Madison, in collaboration with the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Chadbourne, plans to sponsor a textbook exchange to help alleviate the financial hit students take when they buy and sell books at the bookstore.
The swap's plan is modeled on a program already run by UW-Madison's Polygon Engineering Student Council where students drop off their books for sale in the morning and pick up their cash at night. The books would go on sale in the afternoon for a price set by the seller when they drop them off.
Though the attempt to save students money is noble, the plan poses problems that may cost the students more trouble than the couple dollars they would save is worth.
For one, the price of the books will be set by the sellers when they drop them off, which leaves no room for the negotiation that would make the sale profitable for both the buyer and the seller. Jessica Pavlic of ASM's Academic Affairs Committee told the Wisconsin State Journal books would probably go for 60 percent to 70 percent of retail, however with no system to set the price higher or lower, students on both the buying and selling end may lose out.
The exchange will not be able to provide the benefits the bookstore offers in terms of a return policy and a variety of books. Because the variety of books at the sale depends on how many students attend the sale, a chicken-and-egg situation results as to whether students will participate.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the plan, however, is that if student sellers do not pick up their money or books by a designated time, ASM or Chadbourne will keep them. This will be a bigger disadvantage for students than selling the book back to the bookstore would be.
The idea for a textbook exchange among UW-Madison students could potentially save students a substantial amount of cash. The sponsors of this exchange should consider setting up an online site for UW-Madison students to sell to others. This would allow the buyer to regulate the price, the buyer to make bids, and would allow both to hold on to their property until a bargain is struck.
