Texts.com Blog

An inside glimpse into our bootstrapped startup.

[textscom]

The Cost of Textbooks is Too Damn High!

Texts.com Founders Peter Frank and Ben Halpern with Jimmy "The Rent is Too Damn High" McMillan

Background on Costs, The Oligopoly, Tactics

CollegeBoard estimates that the average student at a four-year public college spends $1,200 on textbooks per year.[i] This problem has been building for decades, with the price of textbooks rising steadily since the 1970s. Studies have shown that the price of textbooks has risen by 812% in the past 35 years. That rise is three times the average increase for goods and services broadly.[ii]

The industry is essentially an oligopoly, with the top five publishers controlling about 80% of college text sales. These publishers include Thomson, Wiley, Houghton-Mifflin, Pearson and the McGraw Hill companies.[iii] Like any oligopoly, these companies have the luxury to suppress competition, keeping prices high due to the immense demand and limited supply.[iv]  

Noting that they are losing money in the used-textbook market, publishers are increasingly bundling their textbooks with online content and one-time access codes.[v]  Another tactic is “upgrading” editions with cosmetic changes or adjustments to problem sets, forcing students to purchase a new version. 

New Suite of Student Options

The used-book market is serviced by a fleet of new companies such as TextbookRentals.com, ValoreBooks.com, and Chegg, in addition to the old-guard of Amazon and Half.com.  These services provide students choice on the open-market, and frees them from the monopolies of campus bookstores.[vi]

Additionally, students are increasingly making use of digital alternatives from companies such as FlatWorld Knowledge and Boundless.  These companies provide textbooks – often bundled with digital content – at a much lower price point than traditional publishers.  There are also a number of initiatives to develop free and open-source textbooks, though their widespread adoption is likely at least a few years off.

Though renting and digital alternatives are a great, cost-saving option, there exists a more immediate and efficient solution for today’ student: buying and selling books with on-campus peers.  Though much attention is given to the cost of textbooks, seldom covered is the paltry buyback market.  It’s common for students to sell back their books, after just a few months of use, for only 10-20% of the purchase price; sometimes, these books are even deemed “worthless” at the campus bookstore due to an edition change.

Texts.com’s Solution

Texts.com hosts a free student exchange where students are able to buy and sell books with their on-campus peers.  There are no fees or commissions for student deals, and the platform is seamlessly and securely designed to work with verified on-campus networks (all users must authenticate with their .EDU e-mail).

When there are no student listings available, Texts.com employs a price-comparison engine to find deals at a wide range of retailers.  These used, rental, and new options, will usually save students up to 70% off the list / bookstore price.

By coupling these options: a free exchange platform, and a price-comparison engine, Texts.com is able to provide students their best-possible textbook buying/selling options in one place.  It breaks the monopoly of the bookstore, empowers student-sellers to find buyers at a fair price, and opens the free market of textbook options to the buyer.  If you haven’t already, search for a book on Texts.com and prepare to be blown away by the speed, simplicity, but mostly the substantial savings. 

- Thanks to Chando Mapoma for providing substantial background research and providing the first draft of this post.

[i] https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/college-costs/quick-guide-college-costs

[ii] http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/12/the-college-textbook-bubble-and-how-the-open-educational-resources-movement-is-going-up-against-the-textbook-cartel/

[iii]http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/aug2009/bs20090826_069900.htm

[iv] http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/12/the-college-textbook-bubble-and-how-the-open-educational-resources-movement-is-going-up-against-the-textbook-cartel/

[v] http://blog.boundless.com/2012/04/8m-in-funding-and-a-lawsuit-to-boot-game-on/

[vi] http://college.usatoday.com/2014/01/15/college-bookstores-pull-out-all-the-stops-to-stay-competitive/

[textscom]

Texts.com Product Improvements

As we approach back-to-school season, we wanted to post a quick update to show off some of the major improvements we've made over the last few months.

Simplified Navigation:

The site has been slimmed down and simplified.  We are now focusing more than ever on our core-competencies, described below:

Find Books:

Our price-comparison technology continues to become more powerful and reliable.  We are now including coupon-deals directly alongside the prices so that you can make the best possible decision when buying books.  Of course, student listings still show up wherever possible so that you can always find on-campus deals whenever available.  In the same token, it's now easier than ever to...

List books for sale:

We've revamped the process to add books to your listings.  It now takes just a few seconds per book, and you're able to tag the listing with a description, the course/professor it was required for, and any other information that might be helpful.  You can share your personal listings through a convenient public link, and you'll receive inquiries directly from that page -- all messages between confirmed/matching .EDUs.  All campus listings are viewable on the...

Improved Campus Exchange:

You can now view all local deals in one convenient page.  There, you'll be able to search not only by ISBN/Author/Title, but also by any/all relevant tags: professor/course, condition, etc.  It is a much cleaner page to restrict your searches only to on-campus deals, and will add a lot of clarity to the student deals available.  This new listings page is part of our expanded...

Campus Hub:

Student governments around the country are now able to co-host and promote their very own textbook exchange.  The campus hub homepage will serve as the main portal to adjust specific on-campus messages, welcome e-mails, and the like.  Texts.com is proud to be working with a growing set of SGA partners going forward, and the campus homepage will serve as an important first-stop for our new network of associated schools.

Conclusion / Next Steps:

Be sure to sign-up / log-in to experience the changes for yourself

Start listings books in preparation for the Fall semester

Interested in promoting Texts.com at your school?  Drop me a note: Peter -at- Texts.com

[textscom]

Thanks, Wes

One year ago, we launched our scrappy startup to hundreds of elevated and ravenous students on Foss Hill. As the hordes descended on the 60 pizzas, I pondered the difficult road ahead.

The simple fact is that a student textbook exchange is NOT a novel concept. There have been literally hundreds of attempts, and few if any have survived with anything resembling meaningful success. It's difficult to overcome the chicken/egg problem of the two-sided marketplace, and college students are generally unwilling to play ball with a shoddy technical experience.

I knew that we would need a critical mass at Wesleyan in order to prove the concept, guide our direction, and smooth the bugs from our first release. And boy were there issues to address. We launched our Version1 after only ~75 days of development. It was breakneck and stressful, and our site was over-complicated and under-tested.

But the community responded with enthusiasm, fantastic feedback, and an overwhelming amount of trust and support. To date, over 1,000 users in the Wesleyan network have listed more than 900 books. We've helped facilitate hundreds of transactions; in each of these sales, sellers have earned more, and buyers have spent less. We've sold over 75 books directly to current students to benefit financial aid, and we'll have raised several thousand dollars when all is said and done.

Though it's been (rightfully) satired, our singular goal is this: give the people what they want. It's why we choose to market with Sriracha, pizza, and study snacks. It's why we've drawn a hard line in the sand that student-to-student transactions will always be free. It's why we gave away Doritos and set up a munchie easter egg hunt. And it's why we've undertaken two additional projects to further our mission--

WhatIsMyTextbookWorth.com -- this straightforward site compares buyback offers, allowing you to quickly appraise the true value of your books. We break down the simple process to sell your book online, or give you the option to seamlessly list your books on the student exchange.

Bookstore-Enhancer.com -- this lightweight Chrome plugin adds student listings and price-comparison functionality to any bookstore website. You can now browse for required materials at Broad St without being limited to their selection and inflated prices.

Thank you for sticking with us as we addressed bugs and searched for our direction. For the encouraging words, feedback, and offers to help. For the unreasonable support and trust in this difficult undertaking. Thank you for helping Wesleyan become one of the first schools to ever successfully embrace a textbook exchange.

It's been a demanding but fantastic year, and we're excited for the road ahead. As always, please reach out with any questions or comments.

Best, Peter Frank '12 and the Texts.com Team [email protected]

[textscom]

Tech Improvements: New tabs on book pod add some solid functionality

I'd say this is still in beta since I think I haven't tested it like crazy, but now all the info for each book is available in tabs right on the book search result pod and this is going to be super helpful I think.

I know for a fact that there is an edge case or two where that number under buyback prices just won't update upon new prices loaded, but I figured I'd push it up anyway because I really like this feature, and work on it later.

[textscom]

Tech Improvements: Adding a listing more seamlessly

We are trying to improve the user experience as much as possible, so now you can add a listing in seconds right from the search page. You can still add from the profile, but this option will surely save you some time.

The mantra is always "simple things easy; complex things possible" and I continue to work on everything.

Click "create listing":

Form slides down:

[textscom]

Help Stop the Madness

Each semester, college bookstores and buyback companies around the country buy droves of books at rock-bottom prices.  Their captive market is stressed by finals, eager to head home, and just wants to get rid of the books.  The immediate cash and convenience overpowers the distaste of being obviously underpaid.

These companies re-shelve the books and then sell them at a dramatic premium, usually to that same community.  The turn-around is usually just a month of Winter Break, and they'll easily snag a sale price that is oftentimes 5-10x the cost they offered at buyback.

This book has been sold ~10 times at Wesleyan's campus bookstore.  Each sticker represents a unique cycle where Broad Street bought back and subsequently sold the same book.

                            The constant cycle of buy, sell, buy, sell, ad infinitum, is a system that rewards bookstores and penalizes students.  Student A sells their book for $15; Bookstore re-stocks and waits a month; Student B buys that book for $90.  Student A and Student B might very well live on the same hall.

Help break this cycle by refusing to under-sell at the end of this semester.

At the least, inform yourself by viewing the best buyback prices for your book.  This will help you properly appraise the offers you'll get from the bookstore and on-campus buy-back groups.

To view the relevant prices, use this URL structure (using the pictured book above as an example):

Texts.com/b/9780872203945 OR Texts.com/b/Peloponnesian War Lattimore

Time-saving tip: you can always search within the URL in this fashion.  Spaces won't break anything.

Remember: if you hold strong now, instead of selling to the bookstore, you'll soon be undercutting the bookstore.  You'll make way more, and you'll still be offering your classmates a better deal.

[textscom]

Texts.com Improvements

We've spent the Fall semester improving Texts.com, and we're excited to show off some of the changes.

Clearer Homepage Messaging

The new homepage quickly outlines the core value-proposition of the Texts.com platform.  "buy textbooks from classmates" OR "find the best prices on the web".  When you can't find a student listing (which will be cheap, green, and local), you can compare across Amazon, Chegg, and those other sites you know you should be checking.

Detailed Price Comparison

We now display every market price in a clear list format.  You can identify the best deals, and sort by condition and vendor to filter down the results.  It's clean, quick, and easy to find your best option.

Quick-Add and Buyback Info for Sellers

We've made it as easy as possible to add the books you want to sell.  Simply search by title, author, ISBN, etc. and select your book.  We list all of the market prices and buyback values so that you can make an informed decision when deciding on the price.  The whole process takes just a few seconds per book.  You can also decide whether you want to restrict the listing to your campus, or whether you're open to selling to students across the country.

One-Click E-mail to Student Listings

You may have noticed that student listings appear in the price comparison view above our vendor partners.  This ensures you'll always see the student deals before going "off-site" to buy your book.  You can now e-mail the seller with one-click, right from the same page.

E-mail Tools

In the footer of every e-mail sent through our site, you'll find three things.

1) A link to the book page which lists the relevant market and buyback prices.  This gives context to both the buyer and the seller, and makes it easy to agree on a fair price.

2) A link to easily remove the book listing.  It takes just one click to end the selling process.

3) Advice for on-campus safety tips or our best practices for accepting payments and shipping books between networks.

Address Bar Search -- Texts.com/Any Book Name

If you just want to quickly search for one book, we've built a quick-search function to help you out.  We process your search query directly from the address bar to save time.  Looking for Economics by Paul Krugman?  Just type Texts.com/Economics Krugman (spaces are cool) to rapidly pull up the best prices.  This will work for any title or ISBN you might need.

We hope that you enjoy these improvements.  As always, if you have any suggestions or comments you can post them to this update, or drop me an e-mail to [email protected].

Thanks for reading!

[textscom]

The Astor Place Tech Triangle

Astor Place, a central hub of traffic in the East Village, NoHo, Greenwich Village areas of NYC, is soon to welcome two new tech giants to the area.

Facebook has signed a 10 year lease for 100,000 square feet at 770 Broadway.  They'll be paying roughly $70/sq/foot, and the new Frank Gehry designed digs will feature a cafeteria, and all that goodness that is a super-funded-and-ipo'd startup turned behemoth.  (details via WSJ).

Twitter is getting into the action with 100,000 square feet of its own at 51 Astor Place, the new Death Star.  They're eyeing rents in the neighborhood of $90/sq/foot, and would be by far the biggest tenants of this new building trying its best to carve out "Midtown South."  (details via Crains)

Though Twitter and Facebook might be massive public companies that are worth $22bn and $114bn respectively, we beat 'em to the area by about ten months, having moved into the snazzy space of Sunshine Suites back in January.  While we don't have an open office plan, a professionally designed cafeteria, free massage chairs, or any of those other perks; we do have two cramped seats in an (oftentimes) noisy cubicle farm, $8 Ikea standing table-desks, and a Trader Joe's stocked snack ledge.

Sure, each day, we get blinded by a reflection for a cool 30 minutes.  But at this stage, we really wouldn't have it any other way.  It's a distraction-free (and cheap) place where we can stay heads-down building a tool that will hopefully make the world suck a little less.  Maybe one day we'll be balling out with our own $100/sq/ft loft office; but for now, the co-working life is treating us well.