Are you looking for your school supplies for next semester and worried about being able to pay for overpriced goods? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a website that had college students selling their used books (and other items for your courses) to other college students for cheaper prices? Now there is.
Welcome to campuslister.org, a website founded by a Wittenberg student, which covers this concern, along with many others. Hunt Wagner, a senior Business major, had this problem with such expenses. After a visit to Hong Kong, in which a professor told him about websites people made for tutoring services, he decided to bring this to Wittenberg.
“It started with a Google search,” he said, recalling how he started the project. “(I) went to sites dedicated to creating different programs. I did all of the coding in a text editor by hand.”
The site is a national project – anyone from nearly any college in the United States can use the site. When you access campuslister, it automatically defaults to your school, but it can be modified to see posts from any person in any school. The site has been compared to a college Craigslist. It is easy for you to make yourself an account. It’s free for you to sign up and does not ask you for a great deal of personal information. If you have used books, clothes, electronics, furniture, etc. that you want to sell to other college students, you make a post about your items and wait for someone to respond to it. Or, if you need a certain textbook or school supply, you can search for it and get in contact with someone selling said item if they have made a post.
Wagner hopes this will help with “cheaper textbooks, better deals, connecting students together. The textbook industry is not very student-friendly.”
The website offers more than just the aforementioned items. It also has the opportunity for students to provide services such as study groups, tutors, and class notes. Or, there are lists for the students to check out about events regarding their campuses: community service, parties, rides, sports, shows, etc. There are also options for miscellaneous items and places to create your own listing.
Wagner sent out an email on Dec. 2 to all Wittenberg students. In this email, he had enclosed a link to the website and would appreciate feedback. You can contact him through email at s13.hwagner@wittenberg.edu or you can tweet him with @CampusLister.
“Try it,” Wagner encourages. “If you have a textbook and want to sell it or you know what you need for next semester, make a post.”
