Watch the video at ABCnews.go.com
Some websites now let you rent books the same way you rent movies.
Archive for the ‘VIDEO CLIP!’ Category
ABC News: “Netflix for Books”
Monday, September 7th, 2009WHAS 11 Louisville: “Consumer Watch: Ways around the high price of college textbooks”
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009Watch the video and read the full article at WHAS11.com
(WHAS11) - This Consumer Watch takes a closer look at the high price of college textbooks. After tuition, housing, and meal plans it’s a cost that many students aren’t prepared for.
Since 1980, the cost of college textbooks has risen at twice the level of inflation. Jacqueline Hingle spent $248 on books this semester. Timmy Alexander spent more.
“$265.26. Every dollar I had in my wallet. It’s completely empty now,” said Alexander.
Like a lot of students, Alexander is getting them as he goes. A bag of books on campus is like a bag of gold.
$200 or $300 is what Michael VanSickle has spent on books at the University of Louisville.
VanSickle has spent six years at the University of Louisville. Vansicle was asked if he’s ever considered renting books.
“No, I didn’t know that you could do that,” he answered.
You can, and Eric Ginsberg says you should, at an average savings of 60%.
“Very few people are going to go through college without taking calculus and this book is going to cost you over $200. But you can save up to 75% by renting text books online,” claimed Ginsberg, VP of Marketing for Bookswim.com.
There are no due dates, no late fees, and books are returned with pre-paid shipping when you rent from BOOKSWIM.com. Other options in the book rental business are COLLEGEBOOKREADER.com and CHEGG.com.
The book retailers say they would prefer that you don’t write in the books, but many renters do off alternatives.
“We do ask that you don’t write in a book or dog ear it. But we give you bookmarks and we give you little post-it’s and we do ask you don’t drop it into a lake somewhere but other than that we do accept average wear and tear,” explained Ginsberg.
The only way to guarantee the true lowest price is to compare prices at your bookstore with prices online.
And renting isn’t just a trend that’s catching on for college textbooks. With a simple GOOGLE search you can rent entertainment like DVD’s and video games as well as necessities on many college campuses like laptop computers and those expensive calculators.
WFMZ 69 News: “On-line Company Offers College Students Rental Of Text Books”
Monday, August 31st, 2009College students often find themselves with plenty of homework, but not too much cash. Our guest on 69 News at Sunrise this morning was Eric Ginsberg. He’s a rental industry expert and vice president of marketing for Bookswim who has a way he says will put more money in students’ pockets.
Forbes.com: “‘Boost Your Business’ Semifinalist”
Sunday, August 30th, 2009Click to vote for BookSwim at Forbes.com
BookSwim.com rents books like Netflix rents movies, with the convenience of free home delivery and best-sellers guaranteed in stock. An estimated 12% of Americans (36 million) read one or more books each month, one-third of which read at least three books, monthly. The largest single segment of BookSwim members is women (80%), ages 26 to 40 (36%).
To date, BookSwim has delivered books to nearly 12,000 members. In BookSwim’s rental model, members pay a monthly fee of $15 to $40 for unlimited use. Books are reused, spreading the initial purchase cost over multiple members and creating net profit. Launched in 2007 with a $6,000 investment of personal cash, BookSwim is now funded by reinvested operational cash flow, boasting $900,000 of revenue in 2008.
BookSwim’s only purported competitors (Booksfree.com and Paperspine.com) don’t stock hardcovers, the medium in which new releases and best-sellers are almost exclusively available, whereas these titles make up the bulk of BookSwim’s rentals. Even public libraries often have difficulty keeping new releases in stock, offering waiting lists for the few copies that a tight budget allows. BookSwim guarantees new releases and bestsellers to be in stock and imposes no due dates or late fees.
BookSwim co-founder George Burke has grown BookSwim from an idea to a thriving enterprise in the past two years. He has added to his management team officers with over a decade of experience each, including restructuring Scholastic at Home; managing four successful start-ups exited for a combined total of $200 million; former COO of BMG ($1.1 billion company); executive vice president of BookSpan ($700 million company).
The next level for BookSwim is to increase year-on-year membership by 50%, growing community and enabling additional revenue streams. BookSwim will use $50,000 of advertising to sell Forbes.com readers discounted holiday gift cards. Since most Forbes.com readers are not in BookSwim’s target demographic, the space is best used to enable readers to help make members of friends and family who are.
The $50,000 cash prize will be used to hire a new junior developer (at $40k/year) charged in the first year with developing and managing added-value and new-member-generating projects, including: Applications for Facebook, iPhones and other smart phones, mobile version of BookSwim.com; member points/rewards program, book buy-back program, Platform enabling book clubs to rent in bulk and an interface to manage book clubs; Twitter functionality to search and request titles in BookSwim’s catalog, Twitter contest giving away an iPhone (or comparable gadget) each day for one month to tweeters who help build BookSwim awareness through hash tags and deep-linked URLs, other community-building imperatives.
BookSwim will also spend money on prizes for aforementioned Twitter contest, ad space on GoodReads.com (the preeminent social network for readers), $400, victory dinner; the small staff deserves a token of appreciation for all they do.
NBC 16: ‘”Transumerism”: more people renting instead of buying’
Friday, August 28th, 2009Watch the video and read the article at WNDU.com
What is being called “transumerism” by the rental industry seems to be on the rise. Some say you can save hundreds of dollars by simply choosing to rent instead of buying certain items.
Eric Ginsberg, vice president of marketing for “BookSwim.com,” says transumerism is the “common desire to get beyond paying the high premium of ownership and just have what you need when you need it.”
Ginsberg says you can rent just about anything you can think of; just by doing some quick searching online. He says especially right now with a new school year, students can save money by renting text books instead of buying new or even used. Ginsberg says students can save an average 60% on books each semester by renting through websites like BookSwim.com.
To learn more about “BookSwim.com”, click on the big red bar.
Fox 6 News AL: “Back to Campus Savings”
Monday, August 24th, 2009Watch the video at MyFoxAL.com
Eric Ginsberg, a rental expert, joins us with details on how you can save the most on your college expenses.
NBC 41: Daybreak Friday: “Save Money by Renting School Supplies”
Friday, August 21st, 2009As college students head back to local campuses, many are looking for ways to save money.
Rental Industry Expert, Eric Ginsberg joined us on Daybreak Friday morning to tell us why renting goods may be a better idea for college students than buying them.
He said students can save hundreds of dollars a year by renting textbooks, video games, laptop computers, even cars.
It’s becoming more popular and works similar to how Netflix works to rent movies.
For more information or to get started renting items, visit www.BookSwim.com.
ABC 2 (Good Morning Maryland): “Renting College Books & Equipment” by Dave McHugh
Monday, August 17th, 2009Watch the video and read the article at ABC2new.com
This is it! The week you drive, head to the airport, jump on a train, or kiss your college student goodbye. But it is also a time of the year where spending on the college students certainly increases. But we have some ways you can save a lot of money without losing any of the educational value.
Today on Good Morning Maryland @ 9, Eric Ginsberg, a retail industry expert, sat down with Jamie to talk about how college students can now RENT their books, equipment, and other items in an effort to save them money.
Eric explained how the program works a lot like NetFlix does for movies. You can rent the books you need for the class and just return them in a pre-paid envelope at the end of the semester. You can do the same for equipment like expensive calculators you may only need for one semester of your college career. The advantage? You don’t have to pay a lot of money up-front for something you may not need again in four months.
To hear more of Eric’s examples and get other ideas, just click on the video box to the right of this article and see the segment again. And we have provided links to the left for more information.
Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo! Shine: “Borrow a book from BookSwim.”
Friday, June 26th, 2009We love books, especially those juicy, page-turning bestsellers. But in these recessionary times, the average cost of a hardback ($26!) has put a cramp in our reading style. Sure we frequent the public library when we can, but unfortunately we can’t ever seem to get our hands on the latest must-read due to long waiting lists. (Plus, the library doesn’t serve mocha lattes or let us browse in our pajamas at 2 a.m.)
Enter BookSwim, a Netflix-style service for readers that specializes in current hardcovers. The concept is simple. Sign up for a monthly subscription (ranging from $20-$40 depending on how many books you want to have checked out at one time). Then log on to the the BookSwim site and set up your reading list. BookSwim mails you the books you crave, along with a prepaid shipping mailer to send them back. Keep books as long as you like (there are no late fees) and Book Swim ships you more upon their return.
The site was founded by George Burke who used to spend hours reading the latest releases at his local bookstore café, then put them back on the shelf at the end of the night. He noticed others were doing the same thing and got inspired to create a community for readers like himself. Their motto: read more, pay less.
And if a must-read becomes a must-have, no problem. BookSwim’s “try before you buy” policy lets you pay for any book that you just don’t want to send back.
If you’re wondering where to sign up, drop by the BookSwim website and you can start building your reading list today.
Focus Atlanta w/ Judy Gross
Monday, June 15th, 2009WBAL 11 Baltimore: Recession-proof your lifestyle by renting
Saturday, June 13th, 2009Renting, instead of buying, is making it easier for many to afford the lifestyle they want in a tough economy. ‘Transumers’ get to use and enjoy many of life’s luxuries a…
CBS Early Show: “Best Beach Finds on a Budget”
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009WTNH.com: “Rental industry thriving”
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009Read the full article at WTNH.com
New Haven (WTNH) - Eric Ginsberg, rental industry expert and vice president of Bookswim.com, talked to us about the rise of the rental industry in the economic crisis…
…”You can go to the store and you can spend a lot of money, or you can use a lot of the great websites out there that let you rent the things rather than spend tons money,” said Ginsberg. “So people right now are looking to do two things in their lives: they’re looking to live within a budget, and they’re also looking to not give up their lifestyle. And they’ve really found that renting is a great way to do both things.”
WFSB Eyewitness News 3: “Eric Talks About the Rise Of The Rental” Interview by Kara Sundlun
Friday, May 1st, 2009
KCAL - CBS Affiliate Los Angeles: “Rent Books, Textbooks Netflix-Style With Bookswim”
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Watch the video and Read the full article at CBS2.com/kcal
Ever wish there was a Netflix, but for books? Well there is, and “Bookswim” is its name…
…There base plant lets you keep anywhere from 3 to 11 books for as long as you want, and you return the books with pre-paid postage.
