Written by Gina Cielo
To remain in competition with outside sources and give students the best prices possible, theHarding Bookstorehas adopted software that will allow students to purchase books hassle-free.
Verba Software, a program designed to make buying books easier for students, will make its debut to Harding students this summer. To access this software, the student will click on the “Buy or View Books” link which can be found under the Registration tab in a student’s Pipeline account.
Once a student has clicked on that link, the software will automatically formulate that student’s schedule showing exactly which books they need for the semester. With each book will come the Harding bookstore’s price, along with prices from other outside sources.
According to Mel Sansom, vice president for finance, this feature will allow students to compare prices from various sites, such as Amazon.com, Chegg.com and Half.com. After viewing these options, students can choose the best deal. While books bought through the bookstore can be charged to a student’s business account, the ones bought from outside sources will have to be bought with a credit card. However, Harding will receive a small commission on books bought from those outside sources.
“The great benefit is, where before students would have to go to four different websites and have four different tabs open per book, you can just do it all through Harding’s website now,” said Jeremiah Robison, Assistant to VP of Finance.
With the comparison tool, the Harding bookstore will also be able to look at their prices compared to outside sources and lower their price if necessary, Sansom said.
The changes, however, don’t stop there. The bookstore will also make textbook rentals possible next semester.
Harding Bookstore Manager, William Bridges, said the rentals will be available for mostly general education classes. While there is no buy back for these books, their buying price is often 50-60% of the original cost, Bridges said.
The last improvement the bookstore plans to implement is in respect to preordered books. While in the past student could only preorder books with a credit card, they will now be able to through their business account.
Due to the price comparison tool, ability to reduce prices, reliability of the bookstore and the assurance of a quality book, Sansom strongly believes these new implementations will make buying books easier for students.
