This is a follow-up letter from the underprivileged classroom to which we donated new books in October 2009. The real ‘thanks’ goes to our customers, who make all our contributions possible.

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Dear FreeTextbooks,

I cannot thank you enough for your generous gift to my classroom. My students and I are sending letters of appreciation to show how thankful we are. I hope you see how bright and fun my students are through the thank you notes.

When we received the materials that you donated to our classroom I immediately opened the box. My students said “Who are those books for?” I told them “you all.” After I opened up the box and started showing our new books to my students, the classroom was filled with oooo’s and aaahhh’s. They said things like, “Cool!”, “Oooh, I want to read that one!” and “Mrs. H will you read that right now?” The students were bright-eyed and were mesmerized with the new books they could use in our room. I also told them that someone was kind enough to give our classroom new books. They thought it was very thoughtful that someone we do not even know would spend their money to give our classroom new books to read. I told them that there are wonderful people in the world that care about their educational success!

My students love to sit and listen to me read them books. We have rug reading time everyday after lunch. They loved all of the books that you donated to our classroom. We hope you enjoy reading our thank you notes as much as we enjoyed writing and decorating them. Thanks again for your generosity and I hope this inspires you to make another dream come true for a truly thankful teacher!

With gratitude,
Mrs. H.

Announcing the winners of our December ‘Buyback Giveaway’, where we randomly included prizes such as movie tickets and gift cards with buyback payments. See official rules here. Didn’t win this year? We’ll ‘up the ante’ for buyback rush in May & give even more away!

iPhone 3G: Kayla Lisenby, University of Alabama

$50 Best Buy gift card: Scott Hardin, University of Georgia

$25 Best Buy gift card: Jeff Hajek, University of Auburn; Amanda Huey, Middle Tennessee State; Jennifer Johnson, University of Georgia; Emory Martin, Samford University.

$25 iTunes gift card: Hannah Weber, Samford University; Beth Erwin, Samford University.

$10 Best Buy gift card: Arthur Strauss, Samford University; Bradley Patton, Samford University; Matthew Worley, Samford University; Keith Jones, Samford University.

$10 Starbucks gift card: Amanda Dail, University of Tennessee; Jennifer McMinn, Samford University.

Fandango movie ticket: Caroline Hussey, Jordyn Elrod, Jen Taylor, Ashley Hester, Randi Hughes, Rachel Vonfeldt, Alecia Davis, Jordan McMullan, Kathryn Nuwayhid, Sarah Andrews, Allie Bradshaw, Maggie Bridges, Taylor Marie Kardoes, Angelica Moore, Christina Dixon, Rachel Snyder, Emily Arthur, Natalie Heard, Michelle Godwin, Kim Weatherstone, Grant Sides, Ryan Manning, Lelia Shipp, Ashleigh Walker, Landon Hair, Anna Shell, Carolyn Bryant, Devyn Keith, Kirk Carver, Christopher Putt, Eric Bergquist, Victor Hart, Keighlee McCaslin, Caroline Bradshaw, Nicole Walker, Brett Bentley, Jude Thompson, Kelsey Welch, Thomas Oliver, Rufus Gaines, Ben Meadows, Mary Byers, George Mardre, Kosta Vangeloff, James Allen, Cara Lu Royse, Jessika Anderson, Jason Olson, Sara Gardner, Margaret Kloess, Steven Tate, James Edwards, DeShawn Oravetz, Robert Rosenbleeth, Rachel Hoffman, Britni Combahee, Parker Holt, Arden Hadwin, Bill Glenn, Kerry Hervey, Caitlin McManemon, Mitesh Patel, Brooke Trundle, Margaret Holland, Wesley Pond, Kristin Hopkins, Alex Rowedder, Stephen Lynn, Amy Fowler, Damon Frost, Kris Peterson, Alexandra Coenraad, Alex Schilling, Rick Boyd, Steven Grade, Karla Hansen, Savanna Davis, Megan Villaume, Sara Beth Melick, Morgan Glenn.

Students often ask how they should decide whether to buy or rent their books. As a result of answering this question fairly often, I thought we should add a post here that compares the differences & how each student should decide which option is best.

First, what is a rental? What do you do after a semester is over? How do you return it?

FreeTextbooks now offers textbook rentals on thousands of titles, which can be a cheaper alternative to the usual ‘buy & resell’ method. This gives students another great option for finding textbooks, and also makes FreeTextbooks the only site that lets you compare buy & rent prices side-by-side, all while finding your books by course. Know your schedule? Find your books, compare buy/rent prices, get ‘em fast, earn cashback – only at FreeTextbooks.

Here’s how rentals work:

1. Rent your books - Once you find the books you need, select the amount of time you’d like to rent it (semester/quarter/60-days), add it to your cart, & checkout.

2. Get your books - During checkout, select your shipping option. We offer low, flat-rate expedited delivery via FedEx Ground or USPS Priority Mail, plus FedEx 2-day & Overnight rates for books that are confirmed in stock.

3. Use your books – Read your textbook & complete assignments for your courses as normal. You are not allowed to write on the pages. Feel free to highlight, but keep it to a reasonable minimum. If you return your book in a condition that prevents us from renting it again, your card will be charged the replacement cost.

4. Return your books – Visit your ‘My Account’ page toward the end of your rental period to find your FREE FedEx return shipping label & packing slip. Put your books in a secure box or envelope, attach the label, and drop off at any FedEx location. Books must be postmarked by your due date or a 25% late fee will be assessed.

Now for the buy/rent comparison…

Buying Books

Pros:

-better option if book is needed for more than one semester/quarter

-you get to sell it back at the end of the semester/quarter

-you own the book, which means you can highlight, write/mark-up pages, etc

-owning the book also means you can keep it if desired

Cons:

-can be a higher initial cost

-sometimes, students are dissatisfied with buyback value

Renting Books

Pros:

-can be much cheaper if book is only needed one semester/quarter

Cons:

-must return via mail by due date or late fee/replacement cost will be charged

-no writing allowed & limitations on how much you can highlight.

-more expensive if book needed more than one semester/quarter

Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any questions – we’re here to help! contact@freetextbooks.com

One of the most frustrating, incomprehensible things about textbooks occurs during end-of-semester buybacks. You take a book that you bought brand new from the bookstore for $140.00, walk up to their buyback table, hand it over & wait for the offer…

“We can’t buy this book.”

“What? Why? I paid $140 just four months ago!”

“Sorry, it’s going out of edition”

If you’ve ever been a college student & sold your textbooks at the end of a semester, you’ve at least heard something comparable. It may be that the book is changing editions, that the bookstore has reached their max-allowed quantity, or that the professor isn’t using the text anymore. But regardless, the bookstore won’t buy it back & as a result, there’s an extreme distaste for selling textbooks. Everyone talks about it around campus, on Twitter & Facebook, and in blogs or news articles.

“Selling textbooks is a rip off!”

“You only get pennies on the dollar.”

“My book was worth $140 in August. Now it’s worth nothing?”

Admittedly, sharing this frustration is what led me to start FreeTextbooks. I couldn’t figure out how, in a free market system & with other buying choices, the majority of Samford University students would file into such a tiny bookstore, stand in line for hours & pay full price for their textbooks.

Problem is, this is the situation at campus bookstores across the United States. So why do bookstores continue to get so much student business? Answer: location and peace of mind. You see, most students wait until they actually attend class to buy their textbooks, then they’re stuck when their professor says, “You need your book by the next class.” That doesn’t leave you many buying choices, does it? It’s Monday & you need the textbook by Wednesday? “Oh well, I’ll have to buy it at the bookstore.”

Back on topic – why is a book purchased four months ago worth practically nothing?

Because publishers frequently issue new, updated (often sparingly) editions. Why? To combat the used textbook market. Think about it – if a new Human Anatomy textbook is published in January 2010 and is adopted by 500 professors around the U.S. with an average class size of 50, the publisher will sell 25,000 copies. By August 2010, many of those 25,000 books are on the market as used, cheaper copies, which means the publisher may only sell 10,000 new copies. By January 2011, there are about 35,000 used copies floating around, causing publisher sales of new books to fall further. This repeats for the life of the book & publisher sales continue to decline each semester. So, in order to sell more books, the publisher puts out a new edition & makes sure those 500 classes adopt the new one. It’s a constant game of cat-and-mouse.

That tells you why books go out of edition, but it only leads us to the most important part. If you purchase a book for $140 and it’s worth nothing four months later, it’s mostly your fault.

What in the…? Are you serious?

Unfortunately, yes. Because that $140 book you bought at the bookstore was available elsewhere for MUCH less. How can you be sure? If it’s not worth anything, then it’s going (or already is) out of edition. If it’s going out of edition, it’s been in print for at least three semesters. If it’s been in print that long, there are plenty of used copies available all over the internet. How much are they? A fraction of what the bookstore charges.

Here’s an example:

Mario Triola’s Elementary Statistics updated to an 11th edition just after the start of the August 2009 semester. For many colleges, the 10th was required for fall classes, as the 11th wasn’t in full distribution yet. Your bookstore’s new price was $149, and it’s used price was $99. But the market for the 10th edition was sinking in anticipation of the upcoming 11th edition, which means it’s real value was closer to $35-40. In August, FreeTextbooks sold the 10th edition for $33. At time of writing, the 10th edition had a used marketplace price of $11.79, but if the 10th edition is still required this January, your bookstore will still be selling it for $149 and/or $99. Why? Because bookstores adhere to strict pricing strategies no matter what the market conditions are (see previous blog post, How Your Campus Bookstore Makes Money).

We anticipate getting a lot of questions about how books are valued during buybacks this year, so I hope this helps answer some of the most common questions. Some of our angriest customers are those that purchased books at their bookstore, then get furious when that expensive book is only worth $8 or so at FreeTextbooks. Well, $8 > $0 & our price was a lot less to begin with. Since our prices are set by the entire used market, you always get the “best-case-scenario” for buying & selling books.

In closing, we know it’s frustrating. Very frustrating. But we’re here & trying to help by selling for less and buying for more. Plus, tell a few friends and get $5 per referred buyback. There’s an easy way to boost your total…

Beat your bookstore. Use FreeTextbooks.

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Coming up next, we’ll revisit how books are valued, what drives buyback values, and most importantly, how FreeTextbooks beats your bookstore & other online buyback sites.

Questions or comments? Let us know below!

Resuming from Part 1, posted earlier this week…

From London, it was on to Hong Kong. Thankfully, this was an overnight flight, so I was able to get some rest & make my tight connection. Arriving to Hong Kong was pretty seamless – I hopped the Airport Express & my hotel was right off one of the stops. After resting up, I had to get my Chinese visa the next day. I’d read a few forums & travel advice beforehand, which mentioned that the Visa office was closed daily from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. (quite a lunch break). I arrived early enough, but even with the rush express service, the visa wouldn’t be approved until the next afternoon. I had meetings immediately scheduled in Shenzhen, which is just across the Chinese border from Hong Kong.

The next morning, I caught a few HK sights & got to the visa office early to be at the front of the afternoon line. I’d packed only a small bag with a toothbrush & extra shirt, as I thought I’d need some extra room to bring items back. From the visa office, I left immediately & had three hours filled with metro subway systems, customs officers, and swine flu checkpoints. Finally in China, I met my translators & guides – Eric & Maggie (not their real names, obviously).  We hailed a taxi and headed straight for the scheduled meeting. Conversation in the taxi was fun – they each had so many questions for me.

For the sake of privacy & future planning, I’ll only say that we see huge potential in working with this OEM. They have a few multi-featured e-reader models under development, so we were able to discuss different features, projected cost, completion deadlines, as well as suggest improvements, revisions, and usability adaptations. I was unable to bring a sample home, but expect one later this month, as production of the first model is wrapping up.   Thinking back, the language barrier was funny (but difficult) to experience. Often, I would start talking too fast & realize I’d lost them. So, we’d backtrack & I’d slow down, using better pronunciation and hand gestures, then I’d lose them again. All in all, it was a very beneficial first meeting & one that wouldn’t have been nearly as productive without the face-to-face opportunity from British Airways. I can’t imagine having that meeting over the phone or email.

After our meeting, I strolled through Shenzhen with my guides, including a dinner at KFC.  I had another meeting the next morning, and unfortunately, I couldn’t head back to Hong Kong due to my visa guidelines. I’d applied for a double entry visa & going back for the night would’ve killed my second entry. I’m definitely planning a trip back by the first of 2010, so I had to find a hotel in Shenzhen for the night. The next morning, I walked through the local computer markets, most notably the SEG, which spans over six floors. I met with a few manufacturing contacts there, primarily regarding processor & memory supply, while comparing prices to American wholesalers. As we pursue an e-reader, we’ll need strong connections for built-in NAND flash memory, or at the very least, expandable mini-memory cards.

Moving forward, I’m staying in constant communication with their product development and waiting on model samples. It will be very important to test each function, offer criticism & improvements, and then get back to work. Time will tell, but we’re all very excited about the possibility of offering our very own, customized e-reader, as well as an expansive list of digital titles, to our growing customer base. The e-reader market is getting crowded quickly, but we’re confident that investing in continued product development and setting a lower price point will give us a considerable advantage.

All in all, thank you to British Airways for this amazing opportunity. The experience has positioned us strongly for future growth, but with so much more to accomplish (and on a tight budget), we’ve also applied for a British Airways Business Opportunity Grant. We are keeping our fingers crossed, working hard, and are very excited to see what the future will bring. Stay tuned, and thank you to our wonderful customers for continuing to support our ideas.

- Jonathan