Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

Daily Email Edition

Get MN Daily NEWS delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

By demonizing pleasure, we set ourselves up for unfulfilling sex lives.
Opinion: Let’s talk about sex
Published March 27, 2024

Textbook swapping made easy

An online website will let students buy and sell books to one another.

Many University of Minnesota students are used to spending hundreds on textbooks each semester. And with new editions coming out annually, selling books back to the University Bookstore is not as easy as advertised.

Even if the University Bookstores buy back a student’s books at the end of the semester, they typically pay a significantly reduced price, undoubtedly making some students wonder if it’s worth it to buy their books through the University at all.

As a result, students have developed an alternative textbook exchange website at U-Swap.org, the Minnesota Daily reported last week.

Two University students and one student from St. Olaf College created the site. The Minnesota Student Association helped launch U-Swap and advertise it to students. 

The site intends to make the process of buying and selling textbooks more student-friendly by specifically addressing issues of affordability and convenience. University students have already used Facebook groups like Textbook Exchange for years. With its MSA partnership, U-Swap gives legitimacy to student-driven textbook trading.

U-Swap is an important step forward in helping students respond to the issue of rising textbook costs. By creating an institutionalized textbook marketplace, U-Swap can chip away at the monopoly that publishers and University-affiliated retailers enjoy. Ultimately, students should have more power to choose as consumers.  

Leave a Comment

Accessibility Toolbar

Comments (0)

All The Minnesota Daily Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *