wwwwizard

I really have no idea. Although the National Association of College Stores - that's the lobbying group that represents campus bookstores - did send me an extremely threatening letter demanding I stop saying we save students $1,000 annually on average. I had to go back to the database and prove it to them. Hah! $1,057!

Textbook prices have been going up at more than twice the rate of inflation since at least the mid-90's. However, that's referring to the retail prices for new books.

Publishers do everything in their power to suppress the used book market - releasing new editions regularly, requiring single use access codes, etc., but the fact is that many times an older edition is adequate. You should always check if the professor has requested a new edition.

But... If there are used copies available, then you can usually find them at 70%-90% off online. The overhead for online book sellers is so much lower than brick and mortar stores, and the competition is so heavy that book discounts are huge.

I do not think the post-secondary education system is broken. I think its expensive and difficult to navigate, but we have the most robust and well-respected system of public and private institutions in the world.

Well, OK, it's not the original Millennium Falcon, but it is the original Kenner Millennium Falcon toy, and it is on the most coveted shelf in my office, next to the action figures and Return of the Jedi lunch box.

Unfortunately, my original X-Wing met with an untimely end when it was attacked by little green army men who somehow managed to pack it full of firecrackers and maybe just a little gas and light it off in a glorious plume of melted plastic.

We have always innovated, and innovated first.

We have so many technology driven features that make us the most comprehensive price comparison site it's hard to know where to start, but here are a few:

• multi-item price optimization calculates the cheapest combination of stores to get your stuff out, maximizing coupons and minimizing shipping. MANY times coupons don't kick in until you cross over a threshold. Comparison sites that do one at a time leave a ton of value on the table.

• "consider buyback pricing" - BIGWORDS compares the cost of renting vs the cost of buying the book now and selling it later. BTW - it's cheaper to buy and sell 95% of the time.

• support for eBooks, international editions, shipping times, quality of the item being sold, in-stock vs. out-of-stock, and so many other options helps students find exactly the item they need.

I guess this falls under anything. It's very difficult to decide between pineapples and blackberries.