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There's two issues with that: 1. My website only exchanges buyers and sellers' contact details, I don't know when a sale is made. The idea is that since buyer

by meric 15y ago

There's two issues with that: 1. My website only exchanges buyers and sellers' contact details, I don't know when a sale is made. The idea is that since buyer and seller are in the same university, they'll just transact face-to-face. 2. I don't actually know the name of the textbooks for e.g COFA0217 unless the user enters it into the form. e.g. http://textbookcentral.com.au/26/university-of-new-south-wales/buy/69897/acct1501/?query= http://textbookcentral.com.au/26/university-of-new-south-wal... If they do enter it into the form and I become the other side of the transaction, it'll be very expensive. Textbooks here cost $100 each. I'll have to make at least a $20 loss for each transaction. What I need is more students looking for textbooks online, and I guess doing this will help. But matching a request/offer costs $20 in loss for the book (If you're buying a used textbook you're looking for at least a 20% discount), plus labor required to get the textbook. Is a freelancer really going to be able to find a used textbook worth $80, send it to me, for the price $80? Also, I still have to send the book to the buyer/seller. This might sound suspicious; if I did the course why do I have to send it and not just meet at university? There will also be some students who receive the book by mail and not pay me, and I'll have to take the loss for that. (i.e I can do this for my university only.) So the only way out is to change my website so I can use the tactic you described. That would be like changing it to the model of textbook.com, where they have an existing inventory and make dough from the margin between buyers and sellers. I don't want to handle such a big business yet. (Higher stakes, requires lots of time) I want to run a website that helps people but requires minimal maintenance.

noahc 15y ago
You should listen to patio11. He's basically saying 'fake it until you make it' and this is the key to success. You need to fake the transaction until you're big enough that you no longer need to fake the transaction. Reddit did this to get started and so have millions of other projects. You need to build the system so that they pay you before they take possession of the book. Also build or scrape an already existing book search website. Basically, take the cheapest one there and buy it and then try to sell it for cheaper than Amazon. Even put that so they can see it. Amazon, with shipping, is $98.54 but we are $94.94. Try to break even on each of these, and then scale it up. As for why you can't meet them? You already graduated, you're selling it for your dead cousin, you found a bunch of your brothers old text books, you transfered universities, you got a job, etc.
- meric 15y ago
  A cousin poster said "I don't think it's gonna work because this isn't a site that will garner much loyalty. Students will eventually graduate, plus buying textbooks is seasonal. He's just gonna do a lot of manual work for one-time sales. It's not gonna improve traction in the long-term.". Students can spread my website to their friends via words of mouth and improve traffic, but usually majority of a student's friends are in the same year... This directly improves match rate though, because I'm trying to match as many as possible by myself. I'll think about it some more.
damoncali 15y ago
I think you just described why your business isn't working. Find the names of the textbooks for each course. If you can't match them up, send them to an affiliate site. Bottom line, though, is you didn't pick an easy thing to get off the ground. But you have a good starting base of traffic. Just keep working on the model until you can make it work by yourself. In other words, the two problems you listed are fixable - fix them.
- Hisoka 15y ago
  I don't think it's gonna work because this isn't a site that will garner much loyalty. Students will eventually graduate, plus buying textbooks is seasonal. He's just gonna do a lot of manual work for one-time sales. It's not gonna improve traction in the long-term.
rmc 15y ago
2. I don't actually know the name of the textbooks for e.g COFA0217 Spend some manual labour (or pay someone else) to either (a) look at the course website (b) contact the local campus bookshop and ask them what the course is. find a used textbook worth $80, send it to me, for the price $80? Also, I still have to send the book to the buyer/seller. No point adding layers for no point. Get the freelancer to send it directly to the buyer/seller.

by meric 15y ago

noahc 15y ago

You should listen to patio11. He's basically saying 'fake it until you make it' and this is the key to success. You need to fake the transaction until you're big enough that you no longer need to fake the transaction. Reddit did this to get started and so have millions of other projects. You need to build the system so that they pay you before they take possession of the book. Also build or scrape an already existing book search website. Basically, take the cheapest one there and buy it and then try to sell it for cheaper than Amazon. Even put that so they can see it. Amazon, with shipping, is $98.54 but we are $94.94. Try to break even on each of these, and then scale it up. As for why you can't meet them? You already graduated, you're selling it for your dead cousin, you found a bunch of your brothers old text books, you transfered universities, you got a job, etc.

meric 15y ago
A cousin poster said "I don't think it's gonna work because this isn't a site that will garner much loyalty. Students will eventually graduate, plus buying textbooks is seasonal. He's just gonna do a lot of manual work for one-time sales. It's not gonna improve traction in the long-term.". Students can spread my website to their friends via words of mouth and improve traffic, but usually majority of a student's friends are in the same year... This directly improves match rate though, because I'm trying to match as many as possible by myself. I'll think about it some more.

damoncali 15y ago

I think you just described why your business isn't working. Find the names of the textbooks for each course. If you can't match them up, send them to an affiliate site. Bottom line, though, is you didn't pick an easy thing to get off the ground. But you have a good starting base of traffic. Just keep working on the model until you can make it work by yourself. In other words, the two problems you listed are fixable - fix them.

Hisoka 15y ago
I don't think it's gonna work because this isn't a site that will garner much loyalty. Students will eventually graduate, plus buying textbooks is seasonal. He's just gonna do a lot of manual work for one-time sales. It's not gonna improve traction in the long-term.

rmc 15y ago

2. I don't actually know the name of the textbooks for e.g COFA0217 Spend some manual labour (or pay someone else) to either (a) look at the course website (b) contact the local campus bookshop and ask them what the course is. find a used textbook worth $80, send it to me, for the price $80? Also, I still have to send the book to the buyer/seller. No point adding layers for no point. Get the freelancer to send it directly to the buyer/seller.