Students need textbooks – it’s a fact of our lives. What we don’t need is a middleman taking a cut when we buy and sell our used texts. As always, we need to cut our costs, and the meager federal textbook tax rebate is simply inadequate. That’s why TRUSU has set up the online Book Exchange Service to connect our members. Through this service, students set the prices on the books they sell and their peers pay only those prices – flat. The TRUSU Book Exchange is fair, equitable, and mutually beneficial – as all things should be between members.

First and foremost, the Book Exchange directly connects our members who have and need the same textbooks. As students are well aware, other services for selling and purchasing used textbooks pays out precious few bucks while providing limited deals. The other on-campus service offers a student selling a used textbook a maximum of 50% of what they bought it for in the first place. Meanwhile, a student looking to save much needed cash by buying a used text can expect to pay 75% of the full retail price of a new copy of the text. In other words, students trying to stretch their limited budgets are paying out at least 25% of their textbook costs simply to trade their texts amongst themselves!

Now you have another choice! TRUSU is committed to providing a means for trading texts that keeps all the money in the hands of our members. The Book Exchange Service is set up as an online marketplace, where members with textbooks they no longer need post those texts with an asking price and students entering courses requiring those texts can search the site and purchase the texts directly from their peers. No matter what the price agreed to, no money is lost from amongst members. For example, if the used text is set at 60% of the retail price of a new copy then the selling member gains at least 10% more return on the book than available elsewhere and the purchasing member saves an additional 15% on comparable prices.

These are not trivial savings. Thompson Rivers University estimates the cost of books and supplies for degree programs at a minimum of 00/yr. Through the Book Exchange, 25% of those costs can be saved amongst members – that means each one of us has the potential to save over 0 every year simply by participating in this cooperative service of our Students’ Union. That’s the power of membership. That’s membership you can be proud of!