Sell your old books through CampusBooks
I picked up this thread from Ashish who covered CampusBooks in his blog. As the name suggests Campusbooks wants to provide a platform for students to get textbooks without shelling out a fortune. There is no users fee or commission to use the site. The user can create a online account and list the books which they want to offer. Prospective buyers can contact the seller in campus or in the city. It pretty much works like a listing site. This initiative is being led by Kiran Kumar and Rahul Pissay.
They are trying to spread the message of saving environment (with a predominant green logo) by reusing the textbooks. They are currently targeting colleges campuses in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. The site generates revenue through page views (Google Ads). There is a similar site named Adpost catering to the same need. But here the seller send the books to the buyer by post/courier.
While researching on this subject. I found out some interesting facts about used textbooks. Buying and selling used textbooks is largely a unorganized sector in India. The price of a used book is almost 50% lower than the original price. Some colleges do have used book stores and book banks to help the students. Reusing textbooks is not a new phenomenon. And the book publishing companies have realized that this unorganized sector is eating up their profits. Publishers have found ways to counter this issue. They release new editions of the textbook with a little change and considerable price hike. And they convince the college/university authority to select the latest edition of the book. But how frequently does universities in India change the syllabus remains a question.
The next obvious target for Campusbooks will be to roll the site out to all the major cities. The site needs to get the attention of the students. They may have to find ways to popularize the site using social networking sites. They can also work with students to popularize the site.
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Email from Kiran-
Hey thanks for the fantastic write up. I am extremely pleased with they way you have written it and analyzed the second hand book market in India. You are right that its a uncharted territory we are trying to tap into. When I was a student I was shocked with the prices of new text books, especially for a huge student population in India that do struggle to make ends meet.
Once again, thanks for the excellent write up!
Regards,
Kiran Kumar
Founder, Campusbook.in