Editorial

College Textbook Franchise Profits While Helping Students

The Problem
College campus bookstores put students between a rock and a hard place. A required course textbook can cost $50, $100 or even $200. And, because they have a monopoly, campus bookstores sell at high prices and buy back at low prices.

In a recent report, CALPIRG, the California Public Interest Research Group, said a survey of 59 colleges across the country shows textbook prices are increasing at four times the rate of inflation. With the average cost of college textbooks estimated at over $800 a year per student, textbooks add significantly to the already high cost of a higher education. Ouch!

There are several reasons for the high cost of textbooks. One is lack of competition. Yes, some books may be available through online book sellers but there’s always the risk of late or delayed delivery and you have to add the cost of shipping to the price.

The campus bookstore prefers to buy the majority of their inventory from textbook wholesalers, instead of directly from students. For that reason, bookstores have a quota on the number of used books they’ll buy back - only a small percentage of the books needed for the next class. You get to the store too late and either they won’t buy your book or you’ll get a lower price than the students who sold early.

Another way students are unfairly burdened is that publishers, in order to sell more books, frequently publish “new editions” of books without making substantial changes to the content. Each new edition has a new, higher price. Your book is the old edition? Sorry, you’re out of luck when it comes time to sell.

The Solution
Entrepreneurs Mike Winward and David Monk recognized that students were being grossly overcharged. They also knew they could help. “Our solution,” says Monk, who playfully calls himself the minister of propaganda at Beat The Bookstore,“ was to structure a business where we buy used textbooks from students for more money and then sell them to other students for less money than the campus bookstore – and make a good profit doing so.”

How did they do that? “We did something very simple,” says Monk. “We put the student first.”

“Our first store was an instant hit,” says Monk from “World Domination Headquarters” in West Valley City , Utah , just outside of Salt Lake City . “We opened our doors and students came in droves. They were so excited to save money on their textbooks and to get a decent payment for the books they no longer needed. Word spread throughout the campus and soon everyone, from professors to shuttle bus drivers to campus employees, was telling students about us.”

Beat The Bookstore cuts out the middleman.
They sign no contract with wholesalers or publishers so they can sell new books for lower than suggested retail pricing. They locate near a college campus but not on campus, so they pay no royalties to the university.

An important key to the business is the software integrated into the cash register. “What we do,” says Monk, “is scan in the books a student brings to sell. Our software notifies us of the price we pay and whether the book is currently being used at the university. If a professor has changed texts, we can determine which other university (that we service) is using the book and ship it there.” This gives students a much better chance of recouping some of their money.

The name, Beat The Bookstore, says it all
“The needs of the customer come first,” says Monk. “We buy the majority of our inventory directly from the students. If, for example, a university has a class of a thousand students, we’ll buy back as many books as we can from past students. If we still need more for the upcoming class, we next look at other Beat The Bookstore locations. Our last option is to buy books from the wholesalers. The campus bookstore does it just the opposite way.”

When they have enough of a particular textbook, they will continue to buy books from students and sell them to other stores in the Beat The Bookstore network or a wholesaler, which means the student has more options for getting money for used texts. “Because we don’t work with just one wholesaler,” says Monk, “we can buy books back from students and get the best price by checking which wholesaler will offer more money. We not only buy back more textbooks (than a campus bookstore), but we also buy a larger variety.”

Another way Beat The Bookstore has improved the experience for students is through customer service. “We hire great people who love what they are doing,” says Monk. “Our customers are treated with respect. We help them find the right books and provide fast and friendly service. Even people who work at a campus bookstore will buy their textbooks from us.”

Get in on the Beat The Bookstore Bandwagon
With just five open locations (in Utah , Texas and Iowa ), Beat The Bookstore has already made an impact on the college textbook world. But there is plenty of opportunity out there. Every public university is a potential location.

Beat The Bookstore is ready to add new franchisees and has beefed up their staff to help this process. They are looking for people who are upbeat and like having fun; after all, they will be dealing with college kids. Great customer services skills are important as well as the ability to forge strong relationships with the faculty.

Do you have a wild and crazy side? All the better, says Monk, as their marketing techniques are definitely off-the-wall. “What we do,” he adds, “is create top-of-mind awareness by doing whatever it takes to get noticed. We drive a bright green truck and trailer around campus bearing the bold Beat The Bookstore logo during busy times – something that really gets noticed.” Word of mouth spreads quickly and more traditional and expensive types of marketing are simply not needed.

Monk says they consider themselves an “antiestablishment, rogue type of business. We do things that will connect with the students. They totally get us. Students have been gouged for so long that they are anxious for someone to give them a decent deal.” A Beat The Bookstore does not replace the campus bookstore, however. Inventory builds up over time and students are happy to get a deal on even a portion of the books they are required to read.

Founders Monk and Winward have backgrounds in business and textbooks and know the field inside and out. They have structured the business for gradual but steady expansion. They opened their first store in 2002 and another one a year later. The first franchised locations opened in November.

New franchisees receive thorough training – first by working at an existing store and then two weeks at the corporate headquarters. Beat The Bookstore even provides someone to “hold the hand” of the new franchisee during the first week. Stores open during one of three “rush” times. Stores open in July to take advantage of the end of summer buy back period and to gear up for the fall semester. In November a store will open to buy back books from fall and sell books for spring. The third period is in April, covering the spring buy back and new summer period.

Are You Ready?
“Our business is very simple,” says Monk. “We are fulfilling a demand. There’s a HUGE demand out there for a more fair exchange of college textbooks. Our customers love us.”

If you are interested in breaking out of your current mold and becoming your own boss, and if you want to associate with great students and professors, take a look at Beat The Bookstore. It really is possible to love what you do, make a great living, and provide a needed service for others.