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Re:Ask HN: Rate our idea / site (Textbook Revolt) by patrickryan on Tuesday December 08, 2009 @04:07AM (#983336)
Here is the problem I see with this idea.

Why would students pay for a rental book that is nearly the same price as a used book they can buy elsewhere (half.com, amazon, etc.) and also own it? At the end of the semester, they can sell the book they own for some extra cash instead of returning the rental book.

Re:Ask HN: Rate our idea / site (Textbook Revolt) by jmathai on Tuesday December 08, 2009 @12:24PM (#984114)
There will undoubtedly be some students who prefer to buy from Amazon and Half. We do, however, believe that enough students would want to participate in a system with their peers. There's psychological and financial upside to the idea which resonates with many students we've conducted surveys with.

We don't have to or even expect to replace Amazon or local bookstores. Not in the short time anyway.