UNC Exchange was created by Phillip Chang and Roy Kim, both students at the University. The company is a free Internet service in which students can register to buy and sell textbooks to other University students.
Kim and Chang came up with the idea a few weeks before exams when they were approaching textbook buyback time. Both students said they thought Student Stores was not giving them what they wanted. "We had the technical knowledge, so we decided to put it into action," Chang said.
Chang was surprised by the Web site's popularity because they only advertised by word of mouth and a few fliers. "We were pretty optimistic after the first couple of days," he said.
The Web site, http://www.uncexchange.com, has 158 registered users after one buyback period.
Concern over textbook prices also has prompted Student Congress to become involved with the issue. In April, Student Congress formed a committee to investigate textbook prices and possible solutions to the problem. Sophomore Jennifer Orr is the committee chairwoman.
Orr said that in the fall the Student Congress Select Committee on Textbook Pricing will begin a campaign to encourage professors to pre-register the classes they will teach the next semester with Student Stores. Students Stores will in turn buy back more books for those classes because they know the books will be used in the future. Orr said this program is "a real easy solution to get students' money back."
The committee looked into the possibility of a textbook rental program. Orr said this type of system probably was not feasible at such a large university because of the large amount of specialized classes. The committee members also were concerned because they do not want to take away from the scholarship possibilities that stem from Student Stores' revenue, Orr said. The committee will continue to research other outlets in the fall.
John Jones, director of Student Stores, said he is not particularly concerned that the new Web site will take away revenues. "Students have been doing book exchanges for years," he said.
The pricing of textbooks in Student Stores is based on the pricing system set up mainly by publishers, Jones said. Jones said textbooks, in general, are expensive. On average, Students Stores makes only 4 or 5 cents on every dollar purchased, and part of the profit made by the stores is given back to the University through scholarships, he said.
