By
26 January 2005

The plight of the college student continues. Half.com by eBay commissioned a study, which finds students struggle financially during the school year with 55 percent saying they are either broke or just breaking even.

More than 70 percent of students believe their job takes away from their study time. Shopping wisely, finding savings and making money through non-traditional channels is a growing trend demonstrated by nearly 40 percent of students who sell textbooks online.

“With only 36 percent of students describing their financial status as secure, students are always looking for ways to save and earn money on the necessities,” said Mike Aufricht, vice president and general manager of Half.com. “Many students sell their previous semester’s textbooks to help pay for their upcoming semester’s books which helps lower the total expenditure delegated towards textbooks. Half.com provides students an opportunity to both save and make money on textbooks.”

The Survey.com study was conducted in December 2004 with 500 college students between the ages of 19 and 25 as participants. Additional results of the survey include:

• More than 50 percent have sold textbooks on Half.com
• More than 50 percent have shopped on Half.com for their textbooks
• More than 70 percent feel they did not receive a fair sell-back price from traditional outlets for their textbooks
• 53 percent have helped a friend or classmate sell their textbooks online
• Nearly 90 percent are interested in selling textbooks online for extra money
• Nearly 65 percent of students use the Internet to compare textbook prices
• 45 percent are spending between $300 and $1,000 a semester on their textbooks