JagCompare gets students the most book for their buck

With the start of a new semester comes all the excitement for classes, friends and getting back into the swing of things, but there’s usually a question you ask once you look at your syllabus: How much is that going to cost?

The Augusta University JagStore is here to help.

For the last two semesters the bookstore has been using a service called JagCompare to help students find the best price for their books. This service makes it easy for students to quickly look up book prices from not only the Jagstore, but from their competitors online as well.

“We want to help them,” said Michelle Neely, director of retail operations. “We want to be more convenient for them. Everything that has come out in the last 3-4 years about student retention shows that students need to get these books in their hand as soon as possible – and at a good price.”

JagCompare works to make your book shopping experience easier and less expensive, even if that means you might not purchase your books from the JagStore.

Using JagCompare is simple. Students select their courses for the upcoming semester, then the prices for the JagStore will be displayed along with the prices from several other vendors like Amazon. Students can simply click through the site to find the best prices for the textbooks for their courses. They can choose to select the JagStore books or select a different vendor and the site will direct them to the shopping cart for that site. The site is also available on mobile devices.

But it takes more than just JagCompare to help students get their books as soon as possible. Having faculty spread the word helps to ensure students aren’t just getting their books early, but that they’re also getting the right books.

“We want you to get the best value, but the thing I want to boast about is that you’re getting the right book,” Neely said. “A lot of times people will look up the title instead of the ISBN and they’ll get old editions that will be wrong, they’ll get foreign versions that will be wrong, they’ll get international editions that will be wrong and then they won’t be able to take it back.”

Because JagCompare only brings up book prices for the correct textbook or access code, students never have to worry about ordering the wrong books.

To help spread the word, faculty are encouraged to consider putting a link to JagCompare on their syllabi to help students find the best possible deals.

“Having this [faculty backing] helps the student realize that they’re in support of the university, they’re in support of the bookstore and we are all together in support of giving them the best price,” Neely said. “It doesn’t have to be the bookstore, but you will get the right information here and it will help you get your supplies in time for class.”

For more information contact Michelle Neely or call the JagStore at (706)737-1611 for Summerville and (706)721-3581 for Health Sciences.