Consider starting an unusual online bookstore where you help students find each other that need to either sell or buy a textbook. You could make it local - for one particular college or university, or you could make your website represent various universities across the country with different web pages for each one. Charge students for listing their books, charge 10% of the selling price and a listing fee of $3, all paid up front.

So many college students would like to take advantage of a bookstore like this. Most students can usually use the money and quickly if possible. The simpler the better for a business like this. Professors and Instructors tend to use the same books for their classes. This is why you may want to have specific areas for each college or university, making it easier and faster for each student to look for their needed books. If they can purchase or sell their books with fellow students, they could save time and shipping costs. All they may only need to do is meet in a local coffee shop or public area to swap, or pick up books.

Since books are listed by their ISBN numbers; it makes it quick and easy to find the exact book they need to find. You will need to have each book Title, ISBN number, and the Date of Publishing and Printing. It is a good idea to include a book quality scale on your site also; the scale would be for explaining the amount of use the book has been through. Students don't mind buying a used book, but they do mind purchasing a book that costs a lot and is missing pages, falling apart, or seriously written in. Make sure that the sellers are honest with the buyers about the condition of each book they are selling. Pictures are always a good idea to prove a books condition.

Make your web site bookstore quick and easy to use, charge the sellers a small listing fee of about $3 per book, and then charge about 10% of the selling price, once a book sells or up front when the book is listed, whichever you decide. This may not seem like a lot of money, but many of the textbooks required for most college courses these days can cost hundreds of dollars per subject. That is one of the reasons that used books are so popular with college students. When students buy books for their next courses they often will sell their used books back to the bookstores they have bought them from, for next to nothing. However, the bookstore will turn around and resell the used books for a high price again, making another good profit off the next student buyer.

Students will gladly want to sell their books on your bookstore site, if they can make more of a profit from their used books. They need the money to buy their next courses books, hoping to find them on your site. You are just matching up the sellers with the buyers, hoping to get a good deal, and make the profit they would rather receive than give to the bookstores in their areas.

Resources:

http://www.textforsale.com/

http://www.books4exchange.com/