News

Textbook Web site takes business, lowers prices

Technology finds best deals offered

By Julie Ginther
Contributing Writer

January 26, 2005

A new textbook Web site for students doesn’t just sell textbooks at cheap prices.

Bigwords.com searches for the lowest prices on textbooks, books, school supplies, DVDs and CDs and shows a comparison of prices from other sites, including amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, officedepot.com and officemax.com.

“We don’t sell the textbooks,” said Jeff Sherwood, CEO and President of Bigwords.com, “We don’t care where you buy from, we just give unbiased service to help [students] save the most money.”

Sherwood said Bigwords.com is unique on the Internet. “Bigwords.com is the only comparison site that allows users to put all their books into the shopping cart at once, and then we figure out the cheapest places to buy them.”

Some students who have used the site are pleased with the its service.

“It’s cheaper, they have timely shipment, and refunding is also available if you don’t receive your books,” said Lauren Williams, a chemistry senior who has used the site. “Trust me, I know from first-hand experience.”

Williams said she bought three books for about $120, including shipping costs. Those books were supposed to be $100 each.

“I saved about $180,” she said. “[Bigwords.com] is very college student-friendly and easy to follow.”

Besides saving money and finding inexpensive deals, Bigwords.com also has advantages above other textbook vending Web sites. “We point to reputable sellers with good used books,” said John Bates, spokesperson for the site.

Bigwords.com, which developed its name from a brainstorming session of Sherwood and Bates, saved its customers an average of $79 on orders of two or more items last August.

“Out of all the people who order from us, 75 percent come back and purchase more than once,” Bates said.

But some students think waiting for books to arrive in the mail is not worth the trouble.

“I usually try Chimes because it is more convenient” said Amy Schulin, a first year nursing student. “When you get books at a store, you don’t have to worry about your order getting lost over the Internet or not having the right payment,” she said.

With Bigwords.com coupons, offering discounts such as $20 off a $200 order, many students, including Schulin, wonder if ordering from the Internet is actually as thrifty and sensible as it seems.

Reounodji Enoch, a theatre graduate student who has used Bigwords.com, said he ordered eight books last semester from the Web site.

“I thought they would get here as advertised, but it still took a long time,” he said. “Some of my books that I ordered well into the semester took more than a week to come in and shipping was more expensive because they were coming from more than one place.”

Sherwood said the shipping period can be lengthy because one student’s order can come from several different sites.