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Sellers list their books for free.
Buyers search for free.
Buyers then contact sellers from the site (by email, sms or phone) to arrange to transact. There are three ways to transact;
1. meet on your campus,
2. meet in the local CBD, or
3. Australia wide with Australia Post COD service.
You can make contact via email, sms, or telephone, depending the methods chosen by the seller.
The site doesn't handle books or money and takes no commission - using the site is 100% free.
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How much will I make?
You can list books at any price. We recommend listing most books somewhere around 50% off the RRP price for current editions. Offer a lower price for older editions.
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How much will I save?
Around 50% for current editions. Sellers choose the price they want to sell for. If the seller has entered the new book RRP price, the site will automatically calculate how much you save.
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Smart search tips...
1. Start with a broad search (few terms - maybe just the title key words), then narrow it down by adding more criteria once you see what shows up.
2. A lot of books listed don't have all the authors listed, so maybe just search the main author.
3. What edition do you want? You can save heaps more if you don't need the latest edition.
4. BEST TIP: Search results are automatically listed by price. You can change this to have them listed by most recently listed. These are less likely to be sold already.
5. Some criteria aren't very useful. For example ISBN numbers seem to get mistyped or formatted with spaces or dashes all the time by sellers. Experiment with what works best for your search.
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I can't find the textbook I want... Autosearchs
No problem: Create an Auto-search which will email you when someone lists a book matching your search. Your current autosearchs will be listed under the "My Account" page.
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Is it safe to meet people in person?
You be the judge. If you're not entirely comfortable, don't.
It is probably best to meet during the day in a public place like a cafe and maybe take a friend and maybe get their mobile number before you meet. Or alternatively, use the Australia Post COD service.
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What happens when my used books are sold?
1. Best: Login to the site and delete your textbook. That way no one will email you wanting to buy it. As a community space, keeping the database up-to-date is a good thing to do.
Or,
2. Each month you'll get an email checking whether the second hand text book is sold yet. If not sold- ignore the email. If it is, just click the "Sold" link and the email will automatically mark your used book as sold and remove it from the database.
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How does Australia Post COD work?
It's an easy way to buy and sell used books. We have a special page covering this, click here.
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I've registered but can't log in?
1. Click "forgot password" and get your login and password emailed to you.
If you don't receive the email within a few minutes, you may have mistyped your email address when first registering. In this case you will need to register again with the correct email.
2. Got the right login and email and still having problems: Empty the "cache" in your browser preferences.
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What campus should Distance Ed students use?
For convenience, the site displays your "local" search results first - so the best thing might be to register at your closest campus, even if you're not actually enrolled there.
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I've contacted a few sellers but they don't respond...
Two tips:
1. Give them at least 2 days, then go to "My Transactions" page. under "My buying" you can report anyone not reposponding. If we get three reports the site automatically puts their account on pause. They get notified of this, but not who reported them. Please report people who dont respond -it will save time for other users in future.
2. This is more common later in the semester after lots have books have already been sold. The best tip is to re-order your search results by "date listed" - that way you are looking at the most recently listed book.
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How do I edit my details and books listed?
For your details, go to the StudentVIP main section and go to the "My Account" page. To edit your textbooks details, go to the Textbookexchange area and go to "My Transactions" page. See the "My selling" tab.
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I think the site is great - How can I help?
Want to put something back to our little textbook community? Here's two things that work;
1. Send an email to Lori on svip@studentservices.com.au and volunteer to put up some textbookexchange posters at your campus - include your address. Lori will send you some posters and a surprise. The site's success is built on the users who volunteer to help.
2. or send some emails from our Tell-a-friend page. If everyone told just 4 friends half the students in Australia would be using the site.
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