Competition

Textbooks are a must- have in every class; however, on taking a trip to the school bookstore, they don’t come cheap! Luckily, my entrepreneurial idea steps in to solve this need: why not just buy the textbooks you need from a student (s) who has taken the class …

 

COMPETITOR URL textbooks.com

Textbooks.com as the name suggests is a direct competitor as they offer students a place to a buy and sell textbooks. However, their user interface does not make it easy to find a textbook. In my website, a user will be able to click on a desired subject or department of study, and under it discovers the available textbooks. In addition, the website does not offer customized textbooks from specific schools, while in my website students will offer textbooks which they have used in their specific classes, hence if I go to school at Syracuse University I would specifically want the Math textbook from my school as that is what the instructor demands. 

 

COMPETITOR URL abebooks.com

This website offers customers an opportunity to purchase international edition textbooks (a textbook published outside the United States). Being published outside the United States has an adverse effect of reducing the price of the book. However, this does not guarantee the student who wants to buy the book that the contents are exactly the same as the US version of the book. My website has the advantage of students selling to students textbooks which they have used in class, hence reducing the ambiguity, and the chances of the content not being the same. Additionally, AbeBooks offer students a chance to sell their textbooks through their Book Buyback program. However, students get to sell the books to them for the price which they (AbeBooks) see fit. On the contrary, in my website students have the power to sell their textbooks at their own terms- price!