One of the creators of Kegfly is back with a new way for students to save money on textbooks and is hoping for Ohio University Student Senate’s endorsement.
Zac Sebo, a 2010 alumnus, introduced Campus Shift, his new business initiative, to Student Senate Wednesday.
Campus Shift will offer students a website where they can go to swap textbooks with other students and find deals at businesses in Athens. It already has about 2,000 users at more than 150 universities throughout the country and has signed agreements with six businesses in Athens.
“It’s actually going to be the one-stop shop for a student to come and find out everything they need to know,” Sebo said.
Student Senate President Kyle Triplett pointed out that Campus Shift is still getting off the ground but that it has the potential to be another way students could save.
“The more options, the better for students,” Triplett said. “It’s a win-win situation.”
Sebo contrasted his service with FourYears, a textbook exchange service Student Senate endorsed last year.
“What FourYears does is they leave it up to the students to generate their own price,” Sebo said, adding that some students are uneducated about the fair market value of the book, and both the seller and buyer can end up getting ripped off.
In comparison, Campus Shift offers a textbook comparison using prices from several different websites. It then offers students the opportunity to swap textbooks using credits, an online currency equivalent to U.S. dollars.
“It actually gives students here on campus the opportunity, if done properly, to actually never spend another dollar on textbooks,” Sebo said.
At the end of the students’ time in college, they can cash out any credits they have left on the site for cash.
The swaps will take place in a safe, predetermined swapping location: one of the local businesses that Campus Shift will offer deals for.
The website will also offer similar services to those KegFly provided, including discounts on fest and concert tickets and coupons for local businesses.
“(Campus Shift) has KegFly included but also brings textbooks into the picture,” Sebo said.
The presentation was well received by Student Senate, although some questioned the security of the program, noting it could not totally prevent people from cheating the system.
“In a year or so … if Campus Shift is doing very well … as long as it’s benefiting students and students support it … I could definitely see it getting a Student Senate endorsement,” said Student Senate Vice President Roger Jones, noting that Student Senate still endorses FourYears.
bv111010@ohiou.edu
