“Driving the Cost of Textbooks Down for Familiesâ€
Upon graduation from the University of Evansville, Schroeder School of Business, Evansville based entrepreneur, Alex Beaver immediately launched an enterprise that is dedicated to saving students and their families as much money as possible on the third largest expense of a college education. That cost is the cost of textbooks. With the average cost of textbooks now topping $1,000 per year, an opportunity to save families money through the emerging business of textbook rentals is just the business model that stoked Alex’s passion for cost effective education.
TXT Book Rental has a simple policy of providing textbook rentals at the lowest cost possible to students and their families. TXT Book Rental does this first by scouring the country and acquiring the books needed at the lowest price possible and then practicing a policy of offering the highest residual value justifiable at the end of the semester.
Priming the Pump, the Buy Back: I sat with Alex in his retail storefront’s convenient location on Evansville’s west side just off the Lloyd Expressway behind the Steak and Shake during the spring buy back. Students would come in with the books from the spring semester wanting to exchange them for cash. Most had already been to other bookstores and were dissatisfied with the offers they had received. After scanning a book, TXT Book Rental’s proprietary program would present Alex and his co-workers with the current “bid†for that given book. In every case TXT Book Rental offered some premium to the highest bid out there. The net result of that policy is that nearly every student was paid more for their book than they could have gotten anywhere else and were paid in cash right on the spot. TXT Book Rental offers an even higher bonus for those willing to accept store credit that can be used during the next semester.
Destocking the Shelves, the Rental Week: When it is time for school to start, Alex and his cohorts are a beehive of energy spending individual attention on each student using their proprietary process to not only find the right books for the student’s school but to scan the globe for the most favorable “ask†price for that book. The net result of this process is of course that each student gets the best rental rate possible for their books. TXT Book Rental always seems to practice lagniappe with each customer giving then just a little extra.
How Much Can One Save by Renting? As previously mentioned the average cost per year for textbooks when done the old fashioned way is over $1,000 per year. Through choosing to rent and leveraging the innovative highest bid and lowest ask policies employed by TXT Book Rental, a typical student can expect to save over $600 per year on books. Over the course of a four year degree program these savings can amount to $2,500 less than students and their parents spend or borrow for books. TXT Book Rental’s motto of “Rencho Books†is truly a great way to drive some of the cost out of a college education without driving out any value at all.
Convenient Online Shopping: TXT Book Rental has an interactive website where one can shop for books for courses at all of the local colleges and even for some high schools. The website is www.txtbookrental.com. Follow the link and give it a whirl. You never know how much you can save.
What does the Future Hold? Where there are inefficiencies or monopolies, there is always an opportunity for entrepreneurs to prosper. Alex Beaver and his band of merry cohorts, like Robin Hood and his merry men, have carved out a niche business that enables students and parents to drive down the cost of education. TXT Book Rental has both the aspirations and plans to expand this business model both regionally and nationally. With a great education, inherent curiosity, and an entrepreneurs spirit to drive them TXT Book Rental has what it takes to make a serious business in the emerging field of textbook rentals. Next step: digital books.
A lagniappe is a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase
Article contributed by Joe J. Wallace of Hadannah Business Solutions who serves as a business consultant to TXT Book Rental. www.hadannahbusiness.com, 812 431-3877
