Ohio State has its own version of e-bay – the online auction house.
The new Web site, campustrades.osu.edu, was created by Off-Campus Student Services in conjunction with Undergraduate Student Government. It allows students, faculty and staff to swap books, cars, appliances, computer software, furniture and more.
According to the Web site, anyone with an OSU username and password can buy and sell items. A seller can also choose to protect his or her identity.
An item can be posted on the site for up to 14 days. If the item has not been sold after two weeks, the seller receives an e-mail of notification and can renew the item’s listing.
Since its April 1 launch, 282 people have registered and 161 items have been posted for sale, said Dilna Cama, office manager for Off-Campus Student Services.
The Web site divides items to be sold into the categories of books, furniture, electronics, vehicles and house wares.
“House wares is very broad,” Cama said. “Someone is selling a guitar under house wares right now.”
The vehicle section has also gotten surprisingly big, Cama said.
“This is a free service we’re providing for students,” said USG president Mike Goodman. Built for free, the site’s costs come from advertising and marketing.
“It’s a good use of money because it’s really going to save students money in the long-run,” Goodman said.
A more effective way to buy and sell books was one of Goodman’s priorities during last year’s campaign, he said.
“This was one (item) on our platform and it’s one of the things we’ve been committed to,” Goodman said.
By dealing only with bookstores, students get little money back when they sell books and constantly have to buy new editions, Goodman said. The Web site gives students another option.
Complaints about book prices are common among OSU students. Shannon Conine, a sophomore in pre-health management, said she spends about $300 on books each quarter.
“I remember a couple books that have been teacher-specific. They were like $70 just for a paperback book,” Conine said. “You try and buy used, but it’s still really expensive.”
Conine said she would try to use the Web site as much as possible.
Shay Kennedy, a junior in pre-human ecology, posted a few of his books on the Web site to get more money out of them.
“I have several books on there that the bookstores wouldn’t buy back and I have no use for them anymore,” Kennedy said.
“I’ll keep putting my stuff on there,” Kennedy said. “It’s a lot easier than e-bay.”
The program was modeled after University of Buffalo’s student government book exchange Web site, Goodman said.
Cama said the addition of other products is unique and beneficial for students.
“Just having a Web site for textbooks would have been very successful, but combining it (with other items) has been very beneficial as well,” Cama said.
Participation in the Web site has been growing steadily since its launch.
“It’s just a matter of taking time and creating a diverse amount of resources (such as) books and products,” Goodman said.
“It will just take time to build. I think we’ve had some good momentum,” he said.
