Twitter: @Shak74
Website: www.Shak74.com
Twenty years ago if I told you that instead of going to the local book store to get the latest bestseller you would be downloading books on a device the size of a pad of paper that can hold the equivalent of a small library, you would have never believed me. The way we digest print media has changed, and along with that comes opportunity for innovative minds to market and sell books in new ways to niche markets.
Young entrepreneurs Casey and Mike have created their company, Packback Books, to address one of these niche markets. The duo was looking for $200,000 for 10% of their company. Their website offers pay-per-use access to college text books on a rent-per-day basis at $5 per day. The average rental would cost the student $34 a semester as opposed to the price of buying the textbooks, which even used can cost over a hundred dollars each. Packback Books only has a deal with one major publishing company so far, and pays them 75% of their income for each rental which is apparently the industry standard for licensing publications for rental. The publisher’s gain from Packback Books renting their books because they earn revenue with no effort on their part, and it is better than the alternative, which finds many students buying used books with don’t benefit the publishers at all.
