Book lines disappear with one click

Monday, October 5, 1998

Book lines disappear with one click

TEXTBOOKS: With tons of websites

to choose from, more

students are buying their textbooks on the Internet and saving
money at

the same time

By Pauline Vu

Daily Bruin Contributor

There is just one place to buy textbooks for many students: the
UCLA Store.

And there’s just one way to do it: wait in one long line at the
book check, wander aimlessly around sections in seemingly
alphabetical order, then wait in another long line for the cashier
to lift his hand and call out, "Next!"

Students now have another option, as both new and used textbooks
are being sold online – presumably at cheaper prices – with
companies like bigwords.com and burningbooks.com.

The wait times students endure served as the inspiration for
Bigwords, according to John Bates, director of marketing. An
alumnus, Bates has specific memories of the textbook store.

"The wait was the thing I hated most. I always thought, ‘what a
drag,’" he said in a heavy voice.

Although there have been other online textbook buying sites in
the past, sites today have much more to offer.

Burningbooks, for example, is a site especially for UCLA
students. Classes are organized by department, and students need
only to click on their classes. If Burningbooks has the required
textbooks, a list of those books will appear. If it does not have
the books for a class, however, or if it only has half of the books
for the class, it does not mention the missing books.

Students also have the option to rent their books, instead of
purchasing them and then trying to sell them back. The book rental
is what Bates calls "a guaranteed buyback."

When a student rents a book, a pre-paid postage box comes along
with it and the student is charged the full price for the book.
When the book is returned, the student is credited back to their
credit card 40 percent of the original price.

In the past, buying textbooks online has worked with other
companies, such as textbooksonline.com. Second-year
business-economics student Eva Tang used bestbookbuys.com last
quarter to compare prices of books from different companies. She
bought a math book for $80 which was selling for about $100 at the
UCLA Store.

"I think it’s cheaper if you can do it ahead of time," she said,
whose only concern was that it it takes longer to receive the books
bought online.

Different companies, however, determine the shipping periods.
Bigwords guarantees that their books are delivered in three to five
days. The wait for UCLA students who order from Bigwords could be
even shorter, since the company is based in Santa Monica.

Julie Deng, a second-year physiological science student,
recalled that the life science book she purchased online last
quarter only took 24 hours to be shipped to her.

"I was really surprised," she said. "I didn’t think they could
actually do it, but they did. It was a good deal, too." The book
was at least $10 cheaper than at the UCLA Store.

Not everyone, though, agrees that online textbook buying is
necessarily better than buying books from a store.

"I went and checked on Amazon for one of my books and it was
actually a couple dollars more," said Christina Lin, a second-year
undeclared student.

Jacques Freydont, the director of academic support for ASUCLA,
said that any discount students receive from buying online would be
offset by the delivery charge.

Bates claimed the exact opposite. Although delivery charges for
Bigwords depends upon how many books a student orders and their
weight, he cited $10 for four books as an example of a delivery
charge.

Students might also be concerned with the quality of used
textbooks bought on the Internet. Although Bates noted that
Bigwords works with used book distributors and only sells used
books in good condition, this still might not satisfy most
people.

"Textbooks are best sold in a big, self-service atmosphere, like
a warehouse. Students like to look through used textbooks to get
the best," Freydont said.

Carolyn Van Wingerden, a second-year English student, worried
also about returning books.

"What if I drop a class or I’m wait-listed and I don’t get in
the class?" she wondered.

"Ordering by phone and mail is always a hassle," she added.

She has another concern: the UCLA Store is selling her science
textbook, a paperback published in 1997, for $72.

Van Wingerden looked at Bigwords and was presented with four
different editions of the same book. The prices ranged from $15 to
$56.

Also, none of the International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN)
matched the one to the book her professor has assigned.

Van Wingerden still doesn’t know what to do.

"I’m not sure which book would be the right one for class," she
said.

Another visible trend in the two to three years that textbook
companies have formatted on the Internet is that these companies
often die out fast.

"Most people drop out when they see how difficult it is.
Textbook selling isn’t a money-making business – it’s a service,"
Freydont said.

"The entrepreneurs are people who generally know more about the
Internet than textbooks," he added.

Textbooksonline.com, which advertised heavily on campus last
year, is one example of this. Its website now announces that it has
been forced to close due to supply problems.

"Our suppliers have been unable to fulfill their delivery
promises, and hence, we have been unable to fulfill ours," it
says.

Bates assured that Bigwords could never close for this
reason.

"We worked for over a year before we opened to be prepared for
this. We also have a huge warehouse in Fremont. A lot of companies
try and work out of their basements," he said.

In its short lifespan, Bigwords has been a huge success. By its
second day it went international and had much of its sales along
the East Coast, where it did not market at all. It has already
fulfilled orders at over 60 schools, from UCLA to Boston
University.

"We received much more volume than we thought we would and have
greatly exceeded our expectations," Bates reported.

In the end, is buying books online much better than buying them
in person at a textbook store?

Bates said that the founders of Bigwords graduated from college
recently themselves and care about the plight of college students,
from the long wait times for textbooks to the high prices found at
bookstores.

"We think it’s a good thing for the whole college textbook
industry, and we’re committed to taking it to the 21st century," he
said. He added that Bigwords would like to work with college
bookstores.

The online textbook industry hasn’t made a dent in ASUCLA
textbook sales in the past, and Freydont said that it is too soon
to tell if it has done so this quarter.

However, ASUCLA is closely following the online textbook
industry.

"We tried selling textbooks online before, and it didn’t take.
But the minute we think this is a good thing to do, we’re going to
do it," Freydont said.

Whether or not buying textbooks online is better than buying
them at textbook stores, it is still a new business, and students
are obviously still used to buying books at the textbook store.

Deng, who was pleased with the service she received last
quarter, still bought all her books this year from the UCLA
Store.

"I just got lazy, I guess," she said, laughing.

"But I still have my receipt, so maybe I’ll return them and buy
them online," she added.

Comments, feedback, problems?

© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board