New website will let students compare textbook prices

The website began as an entry for last year’s TigerLaunch business plan competition in collaboration with the owner of TextBo.org. TextBo.org is the website of a startup company that provides a software platform that allows students to create textbook search engines customized to their own universities.

PrincetonText’s user interface allows students to search for book lists by department and course catalog number and provides the lowest prices available from Amazon.com, Half.com and several other online retailers and textbook rental sites.

Only a portion of course reading lists are available on PrincetonText because Wang and Yang created the website based on the sample lists available through the registrar’s course offerings website.

Next year, Yang said, the website hopes to take advantage of the official course reading lists which the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requires schools to offer. The University currently complies with the HEOA by making course lists available through Blackboard but will roll out a web portal that will provide course book lists before the start of the semester next fall.

Julian He ’14, who is taking COS 126: General Computer Science, purchased one of his course books through Princeton Textbook Exchange, a site maintained by the USG that helps students sell their used textbooks to each other, for $40, less than the $85 asked for a used copy at Labyrinth Books.

Though he paid less than the $60 price of the cheapest copy offered on PrincetonText, He still said he would likely consult PrincetonText in the future before purchasing his course books because of its convenience in comparing prices and its ease of use.

PrincetonText’s creators said they are not looking to make a profit. The site’s profits come from programs run by online vendors’ associates, which offer a 7 to 15 percent commission for sales made through the site. However, Wang noted that “the primary purpose of this website isn’t exactly to make money.”

“Lang and I are mostly doing this for the experience and to bring the service to Princeton rather than for a profit,” Yang explained, noting that they were thinking of donating a portion of the site’s proceeds to a nonprofit organization and allowing the site’s users to vote on the recipient.

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Much of the publicity for PrincetonText has been generated through the Facebook event “PrincetonText.com Free Textbook Giveaway!” which encourages students to spread the word about the site by inviting at least 15 friends to RSVP to the event to be eligible to win a year’s worth of free textbooks. As of Sunday night, the event had 521 people attending and over 4,000 had been invited.

The site’s founders said they hope to increase the site’s offerings, adding price information from both Labyrinth Books and Princeton Textbook Exchange.

“PrincetonText’s goal is to offer as many options as there are for the cheapest prices possible, so collaboration with Princeton Textbook Exchange is welcomed,” Wang said in an e-mail.

Wang said he also hopes to add course names to the website’s lists, instead of only catalog numbers.

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Wang created a similar site in 2007, PrincetonStore.com. The site was written by Wang himself and provided Amazon.com prices for University course books. PrincetonText, based on the TextBo.org platform, he noted, is “a lot easier to use” and features multiple vendors instead of only the Amazon.com price.