Plagued by technical difficulties and facing a challenging business climate, the Corp discontinued services of the Book Co-op at the end of last semester.
“In the present financial situation, we believe suspending the Book Co-op’s operations, which often run at a loss especially when facing technical difficulties, is the most responsible way to look after your everyday investments,” the Corp’s Board of Directors wrote in a public letter.
The Book Co-op ran into trouble starting in the Spring of 2008 when its website began behaving erratically. Parts of the website would disappear and others were inaccessible for long periods of time.
According to the Director of the Book Co-op, Jamie O’Neill (NHS `11), the Corp paid an outside firm “thousands of dollars” to fix the site, but problems persisted until the Fall of 2008. These technical issues, combined with the Co-op’s operating losses, led to the decision to suspend the Book Co-op’s services.
Although the Co-op has been profitable in the past, the service sustained losses of 12.84 percent, or $4,048.15, in fiscal year 2008.
“We are planning on redesigning the service so that it would not be so reliant on these technical issues and provide the same service without costing so much money,” the Corp’s President and CEO Jesse Scharff (COL `09) said.
Hoyatrade.com, a new service launched by the Corp in November, is serving as an alternative to the Book Co-op this semester. The site, which is similar to Craigslist, is designed to be an online marketplace which connects Georgetown students. Hoyatrade requires a Georgetown email address for registration.
Hoyatrade’s book exchange is the most popular part of the site, but students and faculty can also exchange electronics, appliances, sports tickets, furniture, and computers on the site. The Corp is currently organizing an advertising campaign to draw attention to Hoyatrade, but the site is not intended to serve as a replacement for the Book Co-op.
“I would say that we handle a decent volume of books through the Book Co-op, probably a couple thousand,” Scharff said. “And we saw up to 250 books at any one time posted on Hoyatrade, which I would say is pretty good considering that it’s a new model.”
Members of the Corp’s new Board of Directors are discussing the best way to bring the Co-op back for next semester. The service could move to a business model that is less reliant on the Internet, and the Corp has considered organizing Co-op events which would allow students to exchange and purchase books.
Ultimately, the Corp is committed to bringing back the Co-op as soon possible.
“We really do like [the Book Co-op] as a service, and we want to see it succeed, just under a model that is much more successful, that serves students and provides a financial benefits of any of out other services,” Scharff said.
