Students Going Online to Save Money on Textbooks

Victoria, BC (PRWEB) August 18, 2005

America’s students will show their distain for highly priced textbooks by going online and purchasing discounted and used textbooks in record numbers during the current back-to-school season, according to Abebooks.com – the world’s largest online marketplace for books.

Abebooks.com expects to sell more academic books in August and September than any previous back-to-school season as increasing numbers of cash-strapped students turn to Internet booksellers. In January and February 2005, the website saw textbook sales increase by 400 percent on 12 months earlier, and that trend is set to continue.

List prices for new textbooks often exceed $ 100 and students studying medicine, engineering, the sciences and niche subjects are confronted with price-tags over $ 150. According to a report* from the Government Accountability Office released Aug. 16, textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation in the past two decades and the average student spends almost $ 900 on textbooks and supplies.

Abebooks.com offers millions of new and used textbooks, and its average used textbook price is $ 27.

A common title such as Organic Chemistry by TW Graham Solomons and Craig Fryhle (July 2003 edition) has a list price of $ 141, yet used copies of the exact same edition are offered for $ 89 on Abebooks.com, which also has used older editions for $ 1.

Abebooks.com has a dedicated section called "Textbook Central" to help students find their books easily and quickly. It also includes a buy-back program where students can sell their books to recoup funds, as well as contests to win a Tablet PC, gift certificates for posters, CDs and iPods.

“Previously students had no choice but to purchase their textbooks at list prices from their own campus stores or large local bookstores,” said Sue Connors, Abebooks director of bookseller community. “In the last 18 months, the Internet has dramatically changed that situation and now price-conscious students can choose between new and used editions at cheaper prices by simply spending a few minutes online.”

About Abebooks.com:

Abebooks.com is the world’s largest online marketplace for books, with over 70 million new, used, rare, and out-of-print titles listed for sale by more than 13,000 independent booksellers from around the world. Abebooks has millions of registered customers who collectively purchase more than 25,000 books a day from its five global websites (Abebooks.com, Abebooks.co.uk, Abebooks.de, Abebooks.fr and Iberlibro.com). A true internet success story, Abebooks.com has been selling books online since 1996, and is a private company based in Victoria, B.C., Canada, with offices in Germany and Spain.

Contacts:

Richard Davies, PR & Publicity Mgr., Abebooks

Office Ph: 250-412-3238

*Published by the Government Accountability Office

http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/repandtest.html

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CollegeWeekLive BACK TO SCHOOL Virtual Event Brings Special Offers, Tips for Success for College-Bound Students & Parents on Thursday August 5th

Boston, MA (Vocus) July 14, 2010

CollegeWeekLive, the worlds largest college fair and admissions website, today announced CollegeWeekLive BACK TO SCHOOL, a one-day online event presented by Intel offering tips and special discount offers for college-bound students and their parents.

CollegeWeekLive BACK TO SCHOOL is designed to answer commonly asked questions as teens and their parents count down the days to dorm move-in day. The event offers a chance to prepare and learn through entertaining and educational video presentations on everything from tech needs to finalizing financial aid to ways of dealing with stress and anxiety. Parents and students will have a unique opportunity to ask questions of leading authors and experts through CollegeWeekLives unique live event platform. Planned presentations include:

The Top 10 Technology Tools for College
Decorating Your Dorm on a Budget
The Biggest Mistakes Students Make in Managing Money
The Naked Roomate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into In College, with Harlan Cohen
The Best Majors for Getting a Job in 2010
Tools & Tips for preparing students with learning disabilities for college
Incoming freshman and returning college students and their parents who register and attend CollegeWeekLive BACK TO SCHOOL will be eligible for a chance to win a free Toshiba Satellite L500 laptop computer, powered by the smart performance of an Intel

PBS 'National Parks' Documentary Project Offers Rich Digital Education Resources to Enthrall and Inspire Students

Arlington, VA (PRWEB) October 5, 2009

Digital media resources from Ken Burns's highly acclaimed documentary series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," including on-demand video, lessons plans, student activities, and historical archives, are now available through PBS Teachers

Students Launch Canada’s First ‘Textbook Exchange Through Social Networking’ Web Site

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) August 22, 2005

A group of enterprising university students has launched ‘BooksForSchool.ca’: Canada’s first free textbook exchange web site, based on a social networking concept, which links students within similar schools and courses. BooksForSchool.ca helps reduce the costs of post-secondary textbooks by creating an online community of buyers and sellers.

Motivated by concern over the high cost of education, rising tuitions, living expenses and onerous textbook fees, student developers were anxious to find creative ways to manage the accumulating student debt load. As a result of the hard work put into the development of BooksForSchool.ca, students now have a convenient system to save money and time with the free online textbook exchange service.

An online textbook exchange service is a web site that facilities the direct exchange of post-secondary textbooks between students. Members may buy, sell or exchange their new and used textbooks without surcharges.

"Textbook fees continue to rise and schools continue to devalue buyback offers on used textbooks," said Lawson Hennick, press coordinator of the BooksForSchool.ca web site. "BooksForSchool.ca allows students to determine the price of textbooks without the added expense of the middleman."

BooksForSchool.ca matches students with others across Canada who have the textbooks they need. Web site tools automatically inform students by email when a required textbook becomes available. BooksForSchool.ca is completely free to buy, sell or trade textbooks so students can retain much more of their initial investment when selling their textbooks online.

"Since BooksForSchool.ca is a national initiative, books which may be outdated in one province may retain full value in another province," explains student web developer Paul Levine. "We are very excited to share this cost saving opportunity to students across the country.”

Founded in 2003, BooksForSchool.ca pioneered the country wide online textbook exchange service in Canada. In 2005, BooksForSchool.ca combined textbook swapping with social networking, enabling students to decrease their expenses and make it easier to buy and sell new and used textbooks.

BooksForSchool.ca is a completely free service for university and college students. The BooksForSchool.ca web site can be accessed by visiting: http://www.booksforschool.ca.

Contact/Interview Requests:

Mike Levine

press@booksforschool.ca

416-414-6810

1054 Centre St. Suite #262

Thornhill Ontario, L4J 8E5

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Textbooks Cited by College Students as a Worrisome Expense

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) August 24, 2005

With the cost of textbooks rising at double the rate of inflation¹, the findings of a recent survey by Half.com shouldn't be surprising: about 55% of college students this year will dip into savings to pay for textbooks. Moreover, students cite textbooks as a worrisome expense as they head back to school for fall semester.

Other findings from the survey include:

Almost half (45%) of college students are managing their finances for the first time

Forty-three percent of parents require their children to cover the costs that go beyond their college allowance

Close to 75% of students work either full- or part-time during the school year, yet nearly two-thirds (65%) still consider themselves to be "financially breaking even" or "flat broke"

Most (56%) students have avoided purchasing textbooks for their classes because they were too expensive. One in six students surveyed avoided taking or dropped a class because the textbooks were too expensive

Almost 70% of students say that they are responsible for paying for their textbooks

Nearly half (43%) of parents surveyed said their children are allowed to keep any money they save if they spend less than their college allowance

"Students have plenty of pressure at college, from exams to living away from home and managing finances for the first time," said Greg Fant, vice president and divisional merchandise manager, eBay and Half.com. "Our survey concluded that the cost of textbooks sometimes prevents students from buying them. No student should have to take a class without the necessary resources."

This national survey was conducted by Survey.com in August 2005. Five hundred college students between the ages 19- to 25 participated in the survey as well as 500 parents with children currently enrolled in college or graduate school. The margin of error was +/- 4.4% (95% confidence interval).

¹A study conducted by the General Accounting Office released on August 16, 2005 revealed that in the last two decades, college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation. Increasing at an average of 6 percent per year, textbook prices nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004, while inflation was at 74 percent.

About eBay:

Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world. Through an array of services, such as its payment solution provider PayPal, eBay is enabling global e-commerce for an ever-growing online community.

Media Contact:

For more information about Half.com or the survey results, please contact Lauren Baum at 212-221-1713, ext. 324 or laurenb@kaplowpr.com.

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CampusBooks.com Inc. Announces Record Number of Students Buying Textbooks Online

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) August 26, 2005

With the back to school season in full swing, CampusBooks.com announced today that a record number of students are buying textbooks online this year. According to Alex Neal, President and Founder of CampusBooks, website traffic and online textbook sales have more than doubled over last year.

According to Neal, "Our business has grown exponentially over the last three years. We are seeing more and more students buying textbooks online. As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) study pointed out last week, textbook prices have been rising at twice the rate of inflation. The average first year college student now spends over $ 900 on textbooks. Coupled with the fact that college students today are very Internet savvy, and it’s easy to see why more and more students are buying books online."

College textbook costs have been rising rapidly due to the widespread industry practice of "bundling" (where book publishers bundle their textbooks with software CDs and other extras and then mark up the price significantly). Additionally, new editions of the same textbook are released virtually every year, with little new content but higher retail prices. This practice discourages the sale of used textbooks that undermine textbook publisher profits.

"The best way to save money on your textbooks is to buy used," adds Mr. Neal. "It’s like buying a used car. Let the original buyer take the depreciation hit, and get more books for your buck. Also buy older editions if possible. Check with your instructor first, but typically the content of a new edition is not much different from the previous edition. The biggest difference is the price."

CampusBooks is a free online textbook price comparison shopping service that searches over 40 bookstores for the lowest prices on new and used textbooks. The site searches all the top bookstores on the Internet, including Amazon, BarnesandNoble and many others. Additionally, CampusBooks operates a used book marketplace where students can sell their books directly to other students.

According to Neal, "The average student saved over $ 180 buying their books on our site, and sold their books for $ 24 more on average than what they would have gotten at the campus bookstore buyback. Using the Internet to buy and sell books is really a win-win for college students."

Mr. Neal founded CampusBooks Inc. in 1998 during the height of the dot com boom. Originally an online textbook reseller, CampusBooks evolved into a textbook comparison shopping site in 2000 and continues to grow.

For information: http://www.campusbooks.com or

Contact: help@campusbooks.com

Phone: 858-569-5009

Fax: 858-569-0359

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Finally, an Income Paying Fund-Raising System for Community College Students

Houston, TX (PRWEB) January 3, 2011

Now community college students can earn weekly income (between classes) to pay off crushing student loan and credit card debt, and rising college tuition fees. How? By simply raising money for their community college's fund-raising program.

Income For Volunteers, a Houston, Texas-based marketing consultancy, has partnered with an Inc Magazine top 500 international corporation in order to attack two problems that are weakening the foundation of the American community college system. The devastating effect of student loan debt on the present and future lifestyles of community college students. The reduction in government funds and grants available to community colleges.

This extreme fund-raising system is a 21st century hybrid of traditional cause marketing and the proven AARP subscription model: With an income generator for volunteers. Before detailing the system here's a little background on traditional cause marketing from Wikipedia.org:

Cause marketing or cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit...

An excellent case study of traditional cause marketing that highlights the urgent need for an updated fund-raising system for today's economy is The Cause Marketing Forum's 2010 Halo Awards. And we quote from Advertising Age 06.02.10:

"As the business winner this year, Macy's is being recognized for expanding its cause efforts despite the recession and supporting them with substantial promotional budgets. Its partnerships with the American Heart Association, Feeding America, Make-a-Wish Foundation, National Park Foundation and Reading Is Fundamental, among others, raised more than $ 36 million in 2009, up from $ 32 million in 2008."

Notice that Macy's and the 5 non-profits received increased income, "despite the recession." My question is why weren't the volunteers for those 5 non-profit organizations compensated by Macy's, "because of the recession?" Look at this way. If Macy's had allocated 10% of the funds raised in 2008 ($ 3.2 Mil) to pay the volunteers for their 2009 fund-raising efforts, that would have equated to $ 3.2 million going back into the economy and may have increased the 2009 fund-raising amount even more. The unemployed may have stormed those non-profits to 'volunteer.'

In case you think that $ 3.2 Million is not such a big deal, The 2010 Halo Awards had 22 categories of recipients. All major corporations with budgeted fund-raising dollars and non-profits with unpaid volunteers. Not one fund-raising award for a community college and major corporation combo. Note: General Mills received an award for Box Tops For Education-The Power of One.

No income offered to non-profit volunteers? Why? One possibility is: Its always been done this way. Review the anti-creativity checklist link at http://incomeforvolunteers.ws/abundantliving (blog post #2) for more possibilities.

That is, until now. Community Colleges and their students can now earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in weekly and monthly cash flow: Based on the sheer numbers of colleges and students who are sick and tired of struggling financially and the availability of funds from this corporation: Despite the recession.

No guarantees, of course, of how much you will earn. Too many factors beyond our control. Complete details at: http://incomeforvolunteers.ws

If you are in need of the influx of more cash flow from your fund-raising campaigns, please visit http://incomeforvolunteers.ws (The only firm in America that advocates for paid non-profit volunteers)

Do It NOW, while it's fresh in your mind. Also you can email roebucksears(at)yahoo(dot)com with your questions.

Community College fund-raising coordinators can text or call Sears Roebuck at 832-880-6214.

Sears Roebuck is a retired sales and marketing professional. Who says the real education took place during his 40 year curriculum in the school of hard-knocks.

Now he is supporting the idea of paid non-profit community college volunteers because, "Without debt free, educated, positive-minded, and ethically oriented young people to run our country in the future, America will no longer exist as we know her."

Join us today in this historic effort to unshackle our young people from the chains of debt at http://incomeforvolunteers.ws

Disclosure: The word "program" has replaced the name of the corporation in the attached testimonials. More than 1500 additional testimonials are available for viewing on the corporate web site.

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Online Broker TradeKing Invites Students to Generate New Thinking at the Intersection of IT and Finance During First-Ever $100K API Campus Challenge

Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) August 03, 2011

Online broker-dealer TradeKing (http://www.tradeking.com) today announced the TradeKing $ 100K API Campus Challenge. This challenge is intended to drive a unique collaboration between academia and an industry leader like TradeKing to foster creativity and drive awareness about innovative entrepreneurial possibilities around Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Born out of a groundbreaking pilot program conducted in Spring 2011 at the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola University Maryland, the Fall 2011 semester-long TradeKing Challenge will provide undergraduate business/finance and technology students across the U.S. with real-life experience developing investment-focused Apps and User Interfaces using TradeKings API. The Challenge will be open to as many as 20 universities; already, a number of schools from across the U.S., ranging from large public universities to smaller independent colleges, have registered to compete. The deadline for schools to register for the Challenge is August 15.

The TradeKing Challenge uses the innovative concept of classroom crowdsourcing to encourage students to develop new web and mobile applications using the TradeKing API, potentially combining the TradeKing API with other APIs from websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google. Submissions will be judged by a panel including senior TradeKing executives; Professor Paul Tallon, associate professor of information systems and operations management at the Sellinger School; Jason Heltzer, Principal, OCA Ventures; Brian OMalley, Partner, Battery Ventures; and Greg MacSweeney, Editorial Director of Wall Street & Technology magazine.

We want to encourage creative and transformational thinking, and have designed the TradeKing $ 100K API Campus Challenge to foster these core cultural values while benefiting students, faculty and our clients alike, said Don Montanaro, CEO and Chairman of TradeKing. Students will get the opportunity to work alongside seasoned technology professionals to experience a real-world software development lifecycle and test their skills. Faculty can leverage the Challenge to enhance course content by demonstrating the value of stimulating new creative ideas in a fast-changing and highly competitive online financial services environment.

And for our clients, we expect the outcome of the Challenge will be a wide variety of apps and optional customized trading experiences along with TradeKings commitment to provide the industrys best service and support. We believe this is the first-ever use of crowdsourcing in partnership with academic institutions by a brokerage firm in the U.S., and were proud to take a leadership role in bringing the Challenge to life, continued Montanaro.

Feedback from my students who participated in the pilot Challenge at Loyola was overwhelmingly positive, and I thoroughly enjoyed guiding them through the process, said Professor Tallon. Students were challenged to draw upon a diverse body of knowledge spanning both IT and finance in creating a next-generation App. They had to think in new ways and collaborate under a strict deadline, knowing their classmates were equally driven to move their ideas from concept to execution. I encourage all universities to take advantage of this valuable opportunity for leveraging a new model for classroom learning.

Working with TradeKings API is particularly rewarding for out-of-the box thinkers, creative developers and technologists alike for a number of reasons, commented Dan Raju, TradeKings CIO. In addition to the deep functionality of our API, TradeKing is offering a high level of commitment to service, technical resources and simplified developer onboarding. Were particularly focused on creating an outstanding developer experience in accessing and building great systems and Applications on our secure API.

TradeKing will award up to $ 100,000 in total prize money in the Challenge, including prize money for winners from each of the 20 participating schools, divisional winners and a national $ 20,000 winner. The professors and schools where the winning students are enrolled will also receive cash prizes. The TradeKing $ 100K API Campus Challenge will kick off on September 12, 2011. Interested faculty and undergraduates can visit http://apicampuschallenge.com/ to learn more.

About TradeKing

TradeKing (http://www.tradeking.com) is a nationally licensed online stock and options broker offering simple, low cost online trading fees ($ 4.95 per trade plus $ .65 per option contract, $ 8.95 per trade plus $ .15 per options contract for nine or more contracts) with no hidden costs or account minimums.1 A pioneer in integrating new financial social media as part of its innovative online equities, options trading and fixed-income trading platform, TradeKing has received multiple discount broker awards from top industry sources and was rated best in customer service by SmartMoney2 Magazine, ahead of OptionsXpress, Scottrade, Fidelity, and TD Ameritrade. (June 2011 SmartMoney Broker Survey.)

Follow TradeKing on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TradeKing,

Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tradeking,

YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/tradeking,

LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/tradeking.

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. For more information, please review the Characteristics and Risks of Standard Options brochure before you begin trading options. Options investors may lose the entire amount of their investment in a relatively short period of time.

TradeKing provides self-directed investors with discount brokerage services, and does not make recommendations or offer investment, financial, legal or tax advice. The content of this press release is provided for educational and informational purposes only, does not constitute a recommendation to enter in any of the securities transactions or to engage in any of the investment strategies presented herein, and does not represent the opinions of TradeKing or its employees.

Online trading has inherent risks due to system response and access times that vary due to market conditions, system performance and other factors. An investor should understand these and additional risks before trading.

Multiple leg options strategies involve additional risks and multiple commissions , and may result in complex tax treatments. Please consult a tax professional prior to implementing these strategies.

Member FINRA/SIPC.

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BooksForSchool.ca Adds New Features to Help Canadian Students Save Money

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) August 21, 2006

Canada's largest online textbook exchange service just got a lot easier to use. BooksForSchool.ca, a free online textbook exchange service for post-secondary students, implemented the recently announced features which provide additional services and benefits to students.

Benefits include:

Internet Startup Launches Marketplace Studentbid.com for Boston Area College Students

Boston, MA (PRWEB) September 5, 2006 -

Craig Karger and Michael Buchbinder, current college students and founders of Studentbid, Inc., recently introduced Studentbid.com, a free, innovative marketplace for Boston area college students. Studentbid connects buyers and sellers on their own college campus, and presently serves seven major Boston universities with a total of over 80,000 students.

The world of internet auction sites is a crowded one which presents distinct obstacles to newcomers. However, large auction sites have yet to conquer the twin problems of: 1) ease of payment and 2) ease of obtaining items. By providing students with the ability to find items sold by their peers on neighboring campuses, their own campus, or even their own dorm, Studentbid.com surmounts both difficulties.

Studentbids function is that of an enabler. On the one hand, college students are always looking for ways to save money. On the other, often not possessing transportation or a means to find deals on such items as textbooks, students are forced to overpay at their college bookstore. By allowing students to discover previously unknown merchandise within their geographic reach, Studentbid taps into the buying and selling power of a concentrated community of peers. Rather than paying shipping fees, grappling with unfamiliar methods of online payment, or traveling with difficulty for far-away goods, a student may simply walk down the hall and complete a transaction with ease.

Studentbid is more than just an anonymous online marketplace; it provides a more personal atmosphere to connect students through buying and selling. Co-founder Craig Karger explains, It is the goal of Studentbid to create a trusting online community. We combine the successful aspects of social networking with our easy-to-use auction format. In an effort to offer a more personal atmosphere, Studentbid allows members to create a profile and post a picture as well as information about themselves.

Studentbid also provides student organizations, Greek societies, or even bands the ability to sell any items to a large group of individuals with greater efficiency through its group capabilities. This can be done to raise money for the organization or charity by providing an easier way to promote items for sale in an environment accessible to all college students.

With ever increasing concerns about website privacy and security, Studentbid only allows individuals with a valid college email address from a network supported school to register with the site.

About Us:

Studentbid was founded in July 2006 by Craig Karger and Michael Buchbinder, students at Tulane University and Emory University respectively. The site currently serves Boston College, Boston University, Emerson, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, and Tufts.

Studentbid can be contacted for articles, interviews, or other reasons.

http://www.studentbid.com

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