Book swap available on campus

As sure as the snow falls in Northern Indiana, so too must IU South Bend students shell out big bucks for textbooks.

Recently, however, a student group, Titan Advantage Book Swap, aims to make the beginning weeks of the semester less of a financial pain. TABS, organized by Tori Campbell and Jason Moreno, is a moderated group on Facebook that allows students to find each other with the intent of swapping textbooks, by trade or by cash.

“Students are encouraged to post their books for sale at a price higher than what the bookstore will pay them, and lower than the bookstore’s retail,” said Moreno. “This means they will get more money for the books they sell, and they will also save money on the books they buy.”

In this way, TABS allows IUSB students to advertise both what they have and what they want. Paid $105 for that biology text and the bookstore wants to give you ten dollars? Post it on TABS for $45 and make a profit while giving your fellow students a break.

“The bookstore will always be a crucial part of campus life and the main provider of texts on campus,” said Moreno. “TABS itself is not a direct competitor in sales nor did we set out to be.”

Also, although TABS creates a forum for setting up sales, the actual sale part is up to the members.

“Personally, I sold one of my books this week,” said Campbell. “I communicated on Facebook with the buyer on the TABS site and through messages, and then set up a good time to meet. We decided to meet on campus at the library because it was convenient for both of us and then we completed the transaction.”

Also, TABS is unique to IUSB. However, Campbell is optimistic for the future.

“Yes, for now at least, TABS is just an IUSB thing,” said Campbell. “If it really takes off and becomes as popular as we think it will be, then I could see the idea migrating to other campuses, with students there starting their own chapter or version of TABS.”

Campbell emphasizes that prices need to stay lower than bookstore prices, and encourages participants to check the bookstore first before posting prices for their books.

Further benefits of joining the group include more space to advertise than on OneStart, and more convenience than using second party sources like Amazon, or Half.com.

This group may also benefit those students who need to wait for their financial aid disbursement before purchasing textbooks, who often find that the bookstore is out of certain books, and only has new copies of others.

TABS can be found on Facebook by typing IUSB TABS into the search bar.

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