To give you the best deal, the bright orange website compares product descriptions and prices from about 100 different sites including Amazon.com, Half.com and Abebooks.com.

Jeff Sherwood, a University of Southern California graduate and CEO of Bigwords, said the site was initially created to help students save money on textbooks but has since expanded to include DVDs, video games, music and "everything else."

"I felt a need to democratize the cost of textbooks to give students access to a much larger marketplace," Sherwood said. "There are a lot of textbook companies. Students want the best price on the right book. We aggregate all the stores in one place for them to comparison shop."

The average amount students save using the website is $87.19 on two books, and users saved a total of $4 million last year, according to Sherwood's estimates.

To ensure students are making safe transactions, the website factors in seller feedback, and a simple feature allows users to choose when they would like to receive their order.

The website itself is easy to navigate and dotted with quirky surprises such as a list of actual big words (with definitions) and quotes from users that range from glowing reviews of the service to outpourings of amorous feelings for the "Uber-bot" - the website's unofficial mascot.

To Sherwood, it is not only important to cut costs but also to cut through all the red tape involved with textbooks and to give students a good deal on the right book.

For students like CAS sophomore Dawn Slocum, a politics and pre-med major, the idea of cutting costs on textbooks is always welcome.

"Being a college student and having 80 bazillion books to buy is rough," Slocum said. "You have core classes with a lot of classic books, and saving money wherever you can is worth it."

Lauren Mir'oacute; is a staff writer. E-mail her at online@nyunews.com.