TOSMOS: The Used Textbook Marketplace Students Have Been Waiting For
Written by Julia Yurchesyn
@juliaxemilyy
Images provided by TOSMOS
This article is sponsored by TOSMOS.
Read more about TOSMOS at the bottom of the article.
It's no secret that textbooks are expensive, and trying to find them on Facebook Marketplace can be like trying to survive the Hunger Games. In the midst of navigating the unstructured, unverified system on Facebook, we can wonder, is there an easier way?
On the flipside, being stuck with a textbook you don’t need (or want) anymore can be ridiculously frustrating. When no one is biting on Facebook Marketplace, what do you do? Leave it on the shelf, throw it away?
There's now a better alternative for students. TOSMOS is a marketplace for textbooks with a student-focused perspective, offering an easy, no-hassle solution to the infamous textbook question for both the buyer and seller.
TOSMOS Marketplace Overview
TOSMOS operates at multiple universities in Canada, but the marketplace is “closed community”, meaning it is personalized to your own institution to make it more verified and secure. Also, because there’s variance in classes and textbooks at each university, what you see is most applicable to your own degree.
The process to get started as a buyer or seller is easy—simply go to the website (linked here) and type “Saint Marys” in the “Find Your School” search bar. This will take you to the marketplace where you can view books available for purchase. Everything is divided by discipline, which turns finding specific books into a streamlined and efficient process. Additionally, since so much information about each book is displayed (including the title, author(s), publisher, barcode, year of publication, and condition), It’s incredibly easy for you to determine whether or not the book you are viewing is the one you want to buy.
To purchase a book, you’ll need to create an account with your SMU email (e.g., firstname.lastname@smu.ca). Then all you have to do is select “checkout” for the book you want, and the process is similar to purchasing pretty much anything online. What happens if the book is not in the condition you were expecting, or if it was never delivered to you? In that case you’ll get a refund for the purchase, making the buying process reliable and secure.
After purchase, transactions take place on campus. The seller receives an email containing the buyer’s email address, and a meeting time/place is arranged for the book to be given to the buyer. To get paid, the seller needs to obtain the SKU number that is contained within the buyer’s confirmation email. This helps to ensure a fair transaction takes place. The seller then goes to their account’s “dashboard” and fills in the verification form with the order number, their own email address, and the SKU number obtained from the buyer. Once that is complete, the seller is paid by the end of the day!
So how can you get started as a seller? There’s a link at the top of the Marketplace page that says “How to Sell”. That will take you to a page with a three step process to begin selling:
Make an account (if you haven’t already),
Sign up by filling out the seller's form,
Go to the “Payment Method” tab on the seller dashboard to confirm your email for Interac payment.
Conclusion
TOSMOS is the marketplace application students have been waiting for. It makes the option of buying and selling used books more accessible for university students, as not everyone is comfortable with going the social media route to complete a transaction. Also, meeting a stranger at a random location to buy/sell can be difficult due to location and transportation issues. Using TOSMOS makes the process of buying/selling textbooks more convenient and secure by offering a reliable and consistent process.
It’s worth mentioning the environmental benefits of using TOSMOS. With so many textbooks now being bought digitally, it’s hard to imagine the existing paper copies not being used, potentially ending up in a landfill. Using TOSMOS as a seller or a buyer is a good way to be conscious of our environmental impact, enabling students to make choices that are better for the environment. One fun fact about TOMOS is that the website lists the current number of textbooks that were reused through its platform, and as of the time of writing the number is 1,248!
The format of TOSMOS is also wonderful. At long last, the days of desperately scrolling through Facebook Marketplace trying to find a specific book are over with the user-friendly interface that TOSMOS provides. You can narrow down your needs by discipline to quickly find out if the book you need is there – and instead of engaging in a messenger conversation over what year the book is published, the most important information is already displayed!
As a third-year university student at Saint Mary’s, I’m extremely excited about the opportunities TOSMOS provides. It makes the used-textbook market more legitimate, and it’s easier for new students to navigate as they search for textbooks for the first time.
So what are you waiting for? Go and sell your textbooks on TOSMOS, so there are more available books for students to buy. And go buy textbooks on TOSMOS, so that books that sit unused on a bookshelf are being read again.
This article was sponsored by TOSMOS. Thank you to TOSMOS for supporting The SMU Journal and student journalism.
If you’re looking to sell or purchase textbooks, check out TOSMOS!