It receives a commission whenever a user buys as a result of following a link back to any of the online bookstores that it represents. Many of the online bookstores offer this relationship to schools, Web portals and student organizations. The chart includes information about more than 20 books and shows prices for new books from four online bookstores as well as used book prices from Follett. Tim Dorgan, senior vicepresident of E-commerce at Follett notes that while his firm may not have the lowest price for every new book, their large inventory of used books can now be seen and purchased all over the globe. While some students will buy online because of the savings, a major value of purchasing books online is the convenience.
Students can order books any time of day.
As distance learning courses proliferate, students who do not come to campus to take the class will welcome an option to save the trip to campus to buy books. The fact that they will save time and money doubles the benefit. The Paperless Book Publishers are already creating paperless versions of their books. These cartridges are intended to be used with online courses and with standard course management systems. Students will turn to online bookstores because they offer convenience and lower costs.