

Sell your used textbooks for beer - DerekH
http://www.beerfortextbooks.com/

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citricsquid
The expanding images on rollover is awful usability, the site idea is clever.

Does anyone have an example number I can use to see how it works? I don't have
any text books and don't know what to search for on Amazon.

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DerekH
We meant to post a Show HN. We'll work on the usability. We built this out of
a startup weekend. Not exactly a startup yet, but we had a lot of fun. Thanks
for the feedback.

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jwb119
I initially thought this was going to let me sell my textbooks and have beer
delivered to my door.

Sadly, it looks like it just calculates the beer value of your books (unless I
am missing something here).

~~~
kgrzesiak
something like that. we're actually offering links to online vendors
(textbooksrus.com, chegg.com amazon.com, bookbyte.com, etc), that will send
you a check for your books

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zdw
[http://www.beerfortextbooks.com/beer_me?q=0452011876&bra...](http://www.beerfortextbooks.com/beer_me?q=0452011876&brand=bud)

"Who is John Malt?"

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Pinckney
The "Sell for Beer" buttons don't seem to do anything at all in Firefox 3.6.16
on Ubuntu 10.10.

Otherwise a funny idea. Are there any laws about direct-mailing alcohol,
though? It seems like much of your target market is legally prohibited from
buying alcohol, and I would be surprised if there weren't restrictions in at
least some states.

~~~
DerekH
We're working on the Firefox issues. Sorry about that. Thanks for the feedback
though.

We don't actually sell beer, but rather give you a quote of how much beer you
could buy if you sold your book.

~~~
blhack
Same problem in Chrome 10.0 on OSX...

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kgrzesiak
thanks for all the feedback. we actually put this site together over the
weekend for StartUp Weekend Kalamazoo. look for bug fixes over the next week.

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jkent
I'd rather sell my textbooks for money (perhaps I don't like beer). I can then
choose to buy wine, more books, cigarettes, course fees ...

That said, it's kind of a neat way to find which site is paying the most for
my books. Kudos for a simple execution.

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double122
Nice idea, but:

"We're sorry, but something went wrong."

[http://www.beerfortextbooks.com/results?brand=bud&q=ISBN...](http://www.beerfortextbooks.com/results?brand=bud&q=ISBN+0131492020)

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DerekH
Thanks for letting us know. We'll work on it and fix the bugs.

~~~
double122
NP. Is there "beer for bug reports" too?

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movingtohawaii
As an avid Keystone Light drinker, I'm disappointed that you show it in a
bottle! I have never seen Keystone Light in a bottle, only cans (and kegs).

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srehnborg
I've seen Keystone Light sold in bottle form at Ohio University bars.

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gsivil
I always found it sad: people waiting in lines to sell their text-books!
Textbooks to beer converter sets a new low: it is pathetic

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pkananen
I only see one or two good beers for trade ;)

Good idea, though.

~~~
ryanboucher
More beers will added soon

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ryanboucher
This works great with chrome and you can search by title as well

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cvg
Really creative affiliate marketing.

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Newmind
Bio book worth 1 keg of sam adams

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prawn
I chose some random physics book that was good for all of one bottle ($3.08)!

Columns of kegs, cases, bottles need titles (icons are shockers), get a
designer to help out in general too. I think the concept has potential as a
viral gimmick that makes people think about selling old books, but your
execution will need to look a little better before I passed the link around.

Maybe suggest a fake book title for those who just want to kick the tires and
see how it works?

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brianbreslin
clever affiliate marketing scheme. what % do these sites give you on sales?
5%?

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DerekH
I'm not sure of the margins exactly, but I'll get one of the other co-founders
to comment. I think 5% is in the range.

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ryanboucher
this is great. I am going to use it to sell my books right now.

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mattsornson
this is awesome! My calc book is worth two kegs of heineken

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nkassis
I have a feeling that fraternities will become the biggest buyers of used calc
text books.

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phwd
Sounds like an idea but I don't think it will happen. Normally one can get a
discount on kegs so no need for that. Kegs are only bought during public
events (rush week, house parties ..etc) when they are an abundance of people
at the bar. The same happens at Freshman Events.

Also the older groups have good backings (alumni, club owners/promoters,
student fundraisers)... definitely no need to cut corners like that for
delayed cheques.

Student Clubs' Stores (<http://www.havenbooks.ca/>) are more likely to buy
used text books.

