It’s the beginning of the school year and student budgets are being stretched to the limit by costly course materials. The SAC Book Exchange is a new service that offers students a chance to buy used books at discounted prices.
The book exchange is part of the SAC strategy to introduce more student services. “We take care of the advertising, the money, and run the space for them” said Howard Tam, vp for student affairs at SAC and organizer of the book exchange. “This is one way students can see where their money is going.”
The SAC designated Wednesday and Thursday as drop-off days for students wishing to sell used textbooks. Once the books were priced and organized, the book exchange began on Thursday, running for a total of three days.
The event was advertised in frosh kits and on the downtown campus, where SAC representatives sent out about 4,000 flyers. They also advertised at several classes at Convocation Hall.
Puja Karmaker, a first-year student in Environmental Studies said she heard of the event at class in Convocation Hall. “Considering it’s their first year it’s very good,” said Karmaker. “I’ve saved $70 and bought three books.”
Jonathan Cheung, a fourth-year engineering student hadn’t seen the ads for the event, but was passing by Hart House when he had the chance to browse the exchange. “I think it’s a good opportunity to get cheaper books,” he said. He hopes to see a broader selection of books and more advertising at future book exchanges.
Students agreed that the conditions of the books were generally good. Tam believes that one of the benefits of the book exchange is that students get to see the conditions of books before purchase.
SAC hopes to continue this event as a service offered to students. The short-term goal is to repeat the event next term in December. In the long term, SAC hopes to eventually provide students with a permanent space for book exchanges and to improve the collecting and selling with a better tracking system.
Sales are done on consignment, and a minimum charge was levied on successful sales. The charge covered the expenses of hiring staff and other costs. After the book exchange, owners collect either money from successful sales or their unsold books.
The turnout for the exchange was relatively high on Thursday and Friday, with a quieter day on Saturday. “People were lining up Thursday morning before we opened,” said Paul Bretscher, who organized the event with Tam. Book sales reached up to $12,000 by the end of the exchange.
The majority of books sold were used course textbooks. The books were organized according to the subject matter, ranging from Computer Science to Anthropology to Commerce.
