The other day, I swung by an off-campus bookstore to sell a book I'd ordered on Half.com for a class that I'm taking this summer, only to realize that it wasn't required for my section. The book was brand new, still in plastic, and cost around $48, including shipping. This was a decent savings over the bookstore's price—$55, before taxes.
Although the book was unused and in plastic, the off-campus bookstore was only willing to pay $16. Needless to say, I was peeved. I knew that the on-campus price would be no better, so I resolved to sell the book online.
Even though I'm embarassingly geeky, I'm something of a Luddite. I remember it took me months to make the switch from Netscape Navigator 3 to Navigator 4, even after 4 had been on my computer for a while. It was the same story for switching from Navigator to Internet Explorer, and Internet Explorer to Mozilla (and recently, Mozilla to Firebird).
In much the same way, I took several months to get my own email address, in spite of my friends' repeated urgings. I was also reluctant to download a AOL Instant Messenger, and was quite skeptical about Napster (yeah, I was around in the days when you found mp3s by web browsing...old school). So although I've heard nothing but good things, it took me a long time to buy books from Half.com, and now, to sell books.
I don't know what took me so long: the process of putting something on sale was simple. In fact, the hardest part was shipping—figuring out how to mail books using Media Mail or Priority Mail. And boy did I ship.
I put some old books on sale on Saturday. It's early Wednesday morning now, and I've made sales on every day in between: one each on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The system at Half.com is great, simply because overhead is so low: buyers and sellers don't have many of the concerns conventional bookstores have to deal with, which translates into lower prices at which to buy your books, and higher prices for selling them back. It's a win-win situation for students like myself, and it leaves me wondering how traditional textbook retailers will compete.
Hey, how quick are the books shipped to you if you purchase them from half.com? I was thinking about ordering my books online. The only thing holding me back was the fact they have to be shipped and I might fall behind in class readings.
Technically, up to 10 days, though I like to give myself more time than that.
Why don't you email me the classes you're taking (including section number and CRN)? I can head down to the bookstore and find the ISBN's of the books you need, so you can order early.