• How can I edit my account information?
• How can I edit my book listings?
• How can I find a specific textbook instantly without having to browse through every category?
• Where do I go to buy a user’s book at the asking price?
• Is it possible to negotiate the price with the seller, and if so how?
• If someone submits an offer or private message to me, how will I know?
• How does shipping work on the web site?
• Once a transaction between two users has been established, how is it finalized?
• What are mentors and proteges?
• Does BooksForSchool.ca take commission from sales?
• Is all my account information necessary to include?
• Can other members of BooksForSchool.ca view my account information?
• How Do I Add Friends and What Is the Purpose Of This?
• What do the green and red dots represent beside books under “Manage My Books”?
• What is the difference between the Manage my Books link and the Add My Books link?
• Will my BooksForSchool.ca points ever expire?
• What is a watch list and how do I use it?
• What is the bulletin board and how do I send a message?
• Under a member's personal profile page, what exactly do the titles listed down the left side of the page mean? (i.e inventory, terms of sale, shipping details, payments accepted, account type, etc.)
• Are the books that are being bought, sold and traded ever physically in possesion of BooksForSchool.ca?
• What are endorsements and what is their purpose?
• What is the bookstore feature?
• What is the asking price?
• Is there a cost for using the BooksForSchool.ca web site?
• How does the BooksForSchool.ca Points System work?
• What is an ISBN Number?
• How can I include a Picture with my textbook?
• What are Sponsored Listings?
• On the profile page, what does the following mean: "What Type of Payments Do You Accept?"
• On the profile page, what does the following mean: "What Are Your Shipping Costs?"
• On the profile page, what does the following mean: "What Are Your Terms of Sale?"
• Why can't I add used textbooks to my shopping cart?
• I accidently made an offer on a book I did not want or not longer need. What can I do?

 

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Q: How can I edit my account information?
A: All of your Account Information is contained under “Manage My Personal Profile” which can be found under the Account Options menu on the left hand side. After clicking on “Manage My Personal Profile”, your account information page will appear giving you the opportunity to change, or add anything you feel necessary concerning your account. Furthermore, if you would like to edit information relevant to other areas such as your password, your e-mail or your profile, click the 'Edit' link within the header of the information you would like to change.

 

Q: How can I edit my book listings?
A: All your books are maintained under the "Manage My Books" link on the left hand side. Clicking that link brings up the ability to enhance listings, edit listings (ie. change title, add a picture, etc.) or do remove a listing from the directory.

 

Q: How can I find a specific textbook instantly without having to browse through every category?
A: For your convenience, BooksForSchool.ca has an integrated advanced search engine. This can be found in the upper right hand corner of the main page where it appears as "search". Simply choose this “search” link and a search pa

ge will appear. From this page, you can narrow your search down drastically rather than manually searching through every category.

 

Q: Where do I go to buy a user’s book at the asking price?
A: When you arrive at a textbook you are looking to buy, simply click on it. All the information about the book that the seller has provided will become evident including the asking price. To purchase the book at that asking price, just click “Sumbit An Offer” which is on the right side of the page under the textbook picture. You will then be asked to contact the seller of that book by way of the BooksForSchool.ca instant messaging system. You will be required to wait for the seller to accept your purchase. When your purchase is accepted, you will be notified via e-mail and through private messages. From that point on, you and the seller can work out the book transfer between yourselves.

 

Q: Is it possible to negotiate the price with the seller, and if so how?
A: When you arrive at a textbook you are looking to buy, simply click on it. All the information about the book that the seller has provided will become evident including the asking price. To purchase the book at a lower price, just click “Submit An Offer” button which is right underneath the picture of the textbook. You will then be asked to contact the seller of that book by way of the BooksForSchool.ca instant messaging system and include your newly offered price. You will be required to wait for the seller to accept (or decline) your purchase. When your purchase is accepted (or declined), you will be notified via e-mail and through private messages. From that point on, you and the seller can work out the book transfer between each other, or perhaps collaborate on a final price first through the instant messaging system.

 

Q: If someone submits an offer or private message to me, how will I know?
A: If someone submits an offer, or a private message to you, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. Upon opening the e-mail, a web link will take you directly to your private message page where you can open your messages on the BooksForSchool.ca site and respond to them. With Offers, You will be required to either accept or reject a submitted offer before subsequent actions are taken with regards to the book handover between members.

 

Q: How does shipping work on the web site?
A: Shipping of new books is handled by one of the major shipping companies (you'll be able to select this method when you checkout). Used textbooks are shipped based on the seller or buyers preference. We recommend you talk to the seller to determine what works best for you. You can also meet up in a public place to complete the transaction.

 

Q: Once a transaction between two users has been established, how is it finalized?
A: Once a transaction has been authorized, and confirmed between two members, for your convenience BooksForSchool.ca leaves the decisions pertaining to shipment and delivery entirely in the hands of the users. This means that all methods of book transfer are ultimately up to the members transacting. In addition, we provide a way for sellers to include their shipping policies and terms of service on their profile page.

 

Q: What are mentors and proteges?
A: BooksForSchool.ca has developed cutting edge technology that helps seek out students who are younger than you (proteges) and older than you (mentors) and in the same program as you are. You may contact these users to see if they have any additional textbooks or resources you may need or to provide advice to your protege's so they can learn from your experiences. Our system actively seeks out these individuals and automatically adds them to your lists as new members join.

 

Q: Does BooksForSchool.ca take commission from sales?
A: BooksForSchool.ca does not take a commission off sales being conducted through our website. We simply act as the middle man between the two parties and help facilitate the transaction to the best of our ability by offering the various standard membership advantages that one can expect on the BooksForSchool.ca website. We encourage you to refer our service to your friends so you can earn additional points to help increase the visibility of your book. Simply click the affiliate link at the bottom of the each page.

 

Q: Is all my account information necessary to include?
A: The BooksForSchool.ca is based on a new phenomenon called Social Networking. We use social networking within the web site to increase trust between buyers and sellers. In addition, the more information you provide, the more legitimate you make this service. We hate fraud just as much as you do, and in order to minimize this, we require that your profiles are filled up 100%. Rest assured that your personal information is never sold to any third party.

 

Q: Can other members of BooksForSchool.ca view my account information?
A: When registering with BooksForSchool.ca, all the information that you submit such as personal and address information is kept absolutely confidential from other members. However, your name, school, major and graduation date will be revealed to members only to increase trust between buyers and sellers.

 

Q: How Do I Add Friends and What Is the Purpose Of This?
A: The BooksForSchool.ca service uses social networking to help build trusted networks of individuals who can buy and sell textbooks with other trusted individuals. In order to accomplish this, we encourage users to build up a list of individuals they know in person within the web site by adding them to their friends list. This allows other users to have more confidence in the person they are transacting with. BooksForSchool.ca offers many ways to add friends. We have made it easy to discover friends within your school and program. In addition, using our affiliate system, you can invite your friends to the service and they will be automatically added to your friends list. Finally, we have various hidden links throughout the site that when clicked, provide you with thousands of other students who fit the specific criteria of the linked word.

 

Q: What do the green and red dots represent beside books under “Manage My Books”?
A: The significance of the green or red dots under the “Manage My Books” link indicates the presence or absence of your book in the main directory. If your resource titles contain a green dot, this is indicative of your book being available in the BooksForSchool.ca main directory (i.e. other users can view them). When you sell a book, your books under the “Manage My Books” link will automatically contain a red dot. This is indicative of your book not being available in the BooksForSchool.ca main directory (i.e. other users cannot view them). Additionally, if for whatever reason you decide that you would like to remove one of your listings from the main directory temporarily, you can do this very simply by clicking the green dot beside your book of interest (in an available state), and this dot will automatically become red (and hence become unavailable). To change it back to available, you can click the red dot to convert it back to its original green colour when you want that resource to be available in the main directory once again.

 

Q: What is the difference between the Manage my Books link and the Add My Books link?
A: Manage My Books will give you a list of all books you have already added or sold through BooksForSchool.ca. From here you can add or edit additional information about your listed textbooks as well as delist any book you have sold or no longer wish to sell through the website. Add My Books will let you add one of your textbooks to the BooksForSchool.ca website. After your have added your textbooks you will see them listed under the Manage My Books link.

 

Q: Will my BooksForSchool.ca points ever expire?
A: Points do not have an expiry date. You can obtain more points by referring other members to the BooksForSchool.ca service and having them put your username in the referral ID field. Use the affiliate link at the bottom of the website to send an email to your friends. You can also purchase additional points using the 'Add Points' option under the Account Options on the left hand side of the main page. Points are used to enhance your listings or send bulletin board messages.

 

Q: What is a watch list and how do I use it?
A: The watch list is one of BooksForSchool.ca's most heralded features. We encourage students to setup a watch list right away. You can access your watch list by clicking the Account Overview link on the left hand side of the screen. Under Books To Buy, will be a field where you can begin to enter the ISBN of books you need for your courses. Every hour, our system scans the database looking for new books that have been added that match the books you are watching. If we find a match, we send you an email so that you can purchase that book from the seller.

 

Q: What is the bulletin board and how do I send a message?
A: The bulletin board is a unique way for students to request or advertise various services. Students who are looking for help with a subject, a drinking partner, or someone to give them a tour of the city etc, can send a bulletin board message to all users within their school and program. Moreover, students who want to offer tutor services or tour guide services can also send a message. In order to control and monitor the sending of unsolicited messages, bulletin board messages require enhancement points in order to send a message. Depending on the type of message, the point value will vary. (ie. a tutor service may require more points than a person requesting a tutor). To send a message, click Account Overview from the left hand side menu and then click Send a Bulletin.

 

Q: Under a member's personal profile page, what exactly do the titles listed down the left side of the page mean? (i.e inventory, terms of sale, shipping details, payments accepted, account type, etc.)
A: Under a member’s PROFILE, there are various titles listed down the left side of the page. The Username indicates the member whose profile you are looking at. The Contact title generally refers to the user’s full name, but can also refer to only the first name if the user didn’t agree to have their last name displayed. The School indicates what post-secondary institution the user attends. The Inventory title contains the link to the user’s bookstore, which is where all their textbook resources are professionally listed for others to see. The Province title and the Country title indicate the geographical location of where the user is from. Note: the country will always be Canada as this service is at present exclusive to Canadian students only. The Joined On link simply refers to the date on which the user officially joined the BooksForSchool.ca community. Payments Accepted title indicates the type of payment that the user is willing to accept when selling his/her textbook(s). Terms Of Sale refers to any particular stipulations a user might want to make clear before engaging in a transaction (example: payment must be received first before book is sent etc.). Shipping Details are user conditions placed on the shipment of their textbooks to other members (usually a long distance away). Such conditions may include an additional shipping cost to the asking price, or any other long distant shipping arrangement that the user deems necessary for the transaction.

 

Q: Are the books that are being bought, sold and traded ever physically in possesion of BooksForSchool.ca?
A: The answer is NO. BooksForSchool.ca never physically has possession of the textbooks at any point during the transactions. It is for this reason that members must clearly communicate the specific details of book delivery between each other subsequent to finalizing a transaction. This can be done through the private messaging system. BooksForSchool.ca at present does not handle book deliveries and shipments from one member to another.

 

Q: What are endorsements and what is their purpose?
A: Leaving endorsements is an important part in creating a trustworthy online community. Buyers and sellers are encouraged to leave endorsements for each other so that other potential buyers and/or sellers are aware of that users past history.

 

Q: What is the bookstore feature?
A: The Bookstore feature is a remarkably convenient feature, which contains a complete list of all the resources you have listed within our directory. Not only does it display the description, asking price, ISBN, and course code associated with all your listed books, but it also will be specified under a custom web address… www.BooksForSchool.ca/ YourUserName.html Think of this custom web address similar to an e-mail address. It is a means for individuals (registered members or not yet registered) to view your textbooks. They can then submit an offer or purchase request to you if they find what they are looking for in your bookstore. In order to view your bookstore, click the "View My Bookstore" link on the left of the main page.

 

Q: What is the asking price?
A: The asking price (or selling price) is the advertised price a user sells their book at. This asking price is set when adding a listing, which can be done by clicking the “Add My Books” option on the left side of the main page. If at any time a user decides to change the asking price of one of his/her listings, they can do so by clicking on the “Manage My Books” link which is in the left hand side of the main page. After clicking the “Manage My Books” link, a user can simply click edit beside the listed resource of choice. The asking price can be altered in this editing process.

 

Q: Is there a cost for using the BooksForSchool.ca web site?
A: Buying, selling and exchanging textbooks is completely free with absolutely no commissions. BooksForSchool.ca offers additional features such as sponsored listings, images with book listings, and bulletin board postings to name a few. These features require enhancement points. When signing up to BooksForSchool.ca , you will receive 10 free enhancement points. As well, if you refer your friends, you will receive an additional 10 enhancement points for each friend who joins from your recommendation. You can also purchase enhancement points by clicking the Buy Points option from the Account Options menu on the left hand side.

 

Q: How does the BooksForSchool.ca Points System work?
A: Your BooksForSchool.ca membership will provide you with 10 complimentary enhancement points with which you can use towards activating a number of enhancemt features which help you get your book(s) noticed. Such enhancement features include sponsorship listings, listings with pictures and Bold/Italic listings. These features use a certain number of enhancement points . Once your points have been used up, you can receive additional points by referring other users using the affiliate link at the bottom of the page or purchasing additional points using the Buy Points option on the left hand side of the webpage. When you refer a member to booksforschool.ca, both you and the member you refer get an additional 10 enhancement points. Points can also be used to send messages with the bulletin board feature to request or provide a service to all members.

 

Q: What is an ISBN Number?
A: A number which identifies one title or edition of a title, from one specific publisher, and is unique to that title or edition. Includes four units: country/language code; publisher number; book number; and check digit. Valid ISBNs have ten digits; check digit may be "X." You can usually find the ISBN number for a book on the back or right by the UPC code.

 

Q: How can I include a Picture with my textbook?
A: When submitting a textbook to the website you have the option to include a picture from our database with your listing of your book. If you would like to include your own picture, leave this option blank. After submitting your book, select My Textbooks from the left hand side, then press the edit link next to the book you want to edit to enter additional book information. From here you can add your own picture located at another URL or by uploading on to the BooksForSchool.ca website.

 

Q: What are Sponsored Listings?
A: Sponsored Listings are an enhancement feature which help bring attention to your book(s) providing a better chance of them being sold. Sponsored listings appear at the top the page with their picture showing, if you have included one, when users browse through catagories to find books. They also appear on the top of search results. Making a textbook a sponsored listing requires a certain amount of enhancement points depending on how many books are in the catagory of interest.

 

Q: On the profile page, what does the following mean: "What Type of Payments Do You Accept?"
A: This area lets you tell your potential buyers what type of payments you accept. Some common types include: Paypal, Check, Money Order or Cash.

 

Q: On the profile page, what does the following mean: "What Are Your Shipping Costs?"
A: BooksForSchool.ca is a country wide system. This means you may be dealing with students from a different province. So this is where you explain your shipping terms. For example, do you ship all books at a flat rate (ie. $10) or do you ship each book at its exact shipping rate. Furthermore, do you ship your books via UPS, Purolator, FedEx or Canada Post. By letting your potential buyers know how you plan to ship, allows them to make a better decision toward purchasing your book.

 

Q: On the profile page, what does the following mean: "What Are Your Terms of Sale?"
A: The Terms of Sale define what your policy may be on things such as book returns or when payment is due. A sample Terms of Service would be - Payment due before book is sent. Checks must clear before book is shipped. No returns, all sales final etc.

 

Q: Why can't I add used textbooks to my shopping cart?
A: Used textbooks are handled by individual sellers and thus it would be almost impossible to maintain a shopping cart system for such. Instead, each used textbook is purchased individually through each seller. We encourage you to message sellers before you commit to buying a book. Your shopping cart is used to purchased new textbooks which are handled through our association with Amazon.

 

Q: I accidently made an offer on a book I did not want or not longer need. What can I do?
A: You can manage all your offers from the My Offers page on the left hand side. Simply visit that page and cancel your recent offer.