CU students create website for buying textbooks

Stu’s Books is a website created by CU students for CU students that serves as another venue where students can buy and sell textbooks.

The website was created by five CU students and fraternity brothers, ranging from sophomores to seniors, who said they were fed up with bookstores’ exceedingly high prices.

“Logan was pissed off at the bookstore right, and then he came to us,” said Matthew Saverin, a 19-year-old sophomore business finance major. “He started originally with Tommy Benning and then he came to Sameer and myself because we’re all fraternity brothers. So we all said we want to do it lower for a more cost efficient way of doing it.”

Saverin said it was anger which initially started the idea.

“It was basically just the fire and the passion from hating the way the bookstore rips everyone off,” he said. “So that’s kind of how it started.”

Saverin said the website, which launched last August, is rapidly growing.

“Stusbooks.org got over 1200 page visits so far this month,” he said. “This is an improvement from the past, so Stu’s Books is rapidly growing.  Stu’s Books will soon be the number one way to get textbooks, and the bookstore and Amazon will have to make some major changes just to keep up with us. Once everyone becomes aware of the site, and starts using it, people will understand the savings, and continue to come to us first.”

Saverin said the site has around 100 users. However, the number of users, exclusive to CU, changes every day because new people sign up daily.

“We’re averaging 44 new views everyday,” Saverin said. “Those are organic views meaning these people have never visited the site before. And they’re coming online and they’re checking out Stu’s Books.  The amount of people that sign up [is] averaging about eight to nine people a day so I’d say it’s progressing pretty well. We have around a hundred users.”

The creators said the website originally had a very plain layout.

“Originally we worked up a craigslist theme of just having the most simplistic layout for users like the other websites we own and operate,” Saverin said. To get it to where it is today it’s taken probably, I’d say, about three more weeks of work. Our main focus has been putting our time into this website. So in those couple weeks we learned different ways to improve landing pages to get it to where it is today.

Kassidy Benson, a 22–year-old senior political science major said she feels the site needs to grow.

“I am satisfied with the site in that now students have an alternative choice to avoid the scam of the big bookstores but it can’t be successful until more students join the movement and refuse to continue to get ripped off at the bookstore,” Benson said.

Saverin said the website can make CU seem more like a community.

“I like to describe Stu’s Books as a website that allows you to use all the students at CU as a resource in which to find your textbooks,” Saverin said. “A lot of people think going to a large school that it is not a personal experience, and they are screwed over right and left. But Stu’s Books helps make CU more of a community.”

Saverin said the website is a non-profit venture.

“We’re a nonprofit website,” hevsaid. “The whole aim of the website is it’s by the students for the students. It’s a service that’s out there for the students to save.”

Saverin said the goal of Stu’s Books is to cut out the middleman.

“Basically what Amazon and the bookstore do is they’ll take a cut,” Saverin said. “So I mean our theory is why should they get your money. If you can go do it a different way where I just sell my textbook to a specific person then I mean there’s no middleman so there’s no cost there. We’re not taking a profit, so basically the students are keeping all of the money instead of the bookstore.”

Benson said she has tried other avenues, but she prefers Stu’s Books.

“I’ve tried other avenues such as craigslist, which never really worked because students don’t look for books there, and Amazon but the shipping makes it very pricey,” Benson said. “Stu’s Books is perfect because you don’t have to worry about shipping and you get the best prices on textbooks.”

Saverin said the goal is saving money for students.

“If you sell directly to other students you’re going to get a lot more money back and they’re going to get it for a lot cheaper than in the bookstore,” Saverin said. “So that’s the main incentive to do it that way.”

Saverin said they haven’t done any research at this point to find out if they are cheaper than other book-buying options.

“I mean we haven’t done actual surveys or anything; however, you consistently hear friends talking to other friends, like do you have this book,” Saverin said. “So students know it’s the cheaper way of doing it. It just hasn’t been formed into a company until now.”

Saverin said their advertising, thus far, has consisted of fliers and pop-out signs set up during exam week.

“Exam week was our big crunch time for advertising,” Saverin said. “We went around to every table and put up fliers and pop out signs that said stusbooks.org and gave a little brief description of what we do. Our page views just skyrocketed when we starting doing that.”

Rebecca Preston, a 21-year-old senior sculpture major, said she had never heard of Stu’s Books.

“I have never seen any advertisements for Stu’s Books,” Preston said. “I think their advertising needs to be more blunt and with bling because I would totally love to participate, but I didn’t know about it.”

Saverin said they have more advertising planned for the future.

“Currently, we ordered a bunch of supplies so we can go and advertise again to raise awareness and make people understand that this is a good way to do it,” he said. “We are in the works of making a YouTube video to help our advertising. Also we plan on going to orientation for the freshman for this upcoming semester. They’ll actually hear about it so once they’re in CU they don’t think the only place they get books is the bookstore.”

Saverin said they would like to expand in the future.

“We all have friends at different universities so if we become a success in Boulder we have possible expansion plans to other universities,” he said.

Saverin said they hope the site continues after they graduate.

“We’re trying to get the most passionate individuals involved in the process,” Saverin said. “For example, a friend of mine that’s a year younger, he’s a business finance major. When I graduate if he is still as passionate as I was about the site I would love to pass it down, and hopefully he knows somebody who’s just as passionate as him.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Lindsay Wilcocks at Lindsay.wilcocks@colorado.edu.