A new Web site is about to give the University bookstore a run for its money - or so it hopes.
Betterthanthebookstore.com - created by two Penn undergraduates in the fall - is providing students with a forum where they can buy and sell used textbooks at relatively inexpensive prices.
The creators, College junior Heather Gorn and Engineering sophomore Scott Becker, called the site "Penn's eBay for books."
Betterthanthebookstore.com was born out of Gorn and Becker's frustration with the Penn's bookstore's high prices and with long shipping times from online booksellers, Gorn said.
And this frustration, it seems, is widespread among students.
This site "is better than the [University] bookstore," College freshman Jessica Butler said. "The bookstore kind of rips you off."
College freshman Pat Kneeland agreed.
"I've never gone to the Web site, but I know it's cheaper than the bookstore, and I'd use it," he said.
According to Betterthanthebookstore.com, students can save $20 on average buying books and can make $20 more on average selling books than they could at Penn's bookstore, which sells used books at a set rate of 75 percent of the original price.
But despite the potential for savings, University officials say they do not feel threatened by this site.
"What we're worried about is trying to provide students with the best possible service," Penn Business Services spokeswoman Rhea Lewis said.
Lewis added that she is not worried about what this specific site will mean for Penn's bookstore.
For now, although Betterthanthebookstore.com demands a 15-percent fee for all sales, all of it is put into the site's funds.
"We've made a conscious effort to leave everything in the business," Gorn said.
Gorn and Becker said they plan on using that money to expand their business on and off campus.
Over the next couple of days, Gorn and Becker will be installing a touch-screen electronic kiosk in the House of Our Own bookstore.
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