GateSwap Lets Colgate Students Buy and Sell on the Web

The end of the semester is loom-ing, and on top of finals, papers and moving out, there is another source of stress for many: what to do with the textbooks that have accumulat-ed throughout the year. First-years Rob Carroll and Gabe Zetter have presented an answer with their new website GateSwap.

GateSwap is essentially Colgate’s own Craigslist. Users can list text-books and other things they would like to sell, and also view wanted listings. Users are limited to stu-dents, faculty and staff of Colgate, and registration is free.

“We aim to facilitate the con-nection between buyers and sellers and act as a central source,” Zetter said. “We hope to expand it also to a lost and found and a way to communicate for rides.”

The website, however, does not aid with the financial or practical negotiations involved.

“We don’t have anything to do with the physical transaction,” Carroll said. “We are just a re-source for people to find what they need and for people to sell, but then they have to initiate with the buyer or seller themselves. There’s no pay feature on the website.”

Carroll originally formulated the idea of GateSwap.

“I came up with it in July be-cause I was thinking about how expensive textbooks are,” Carroll said. “Originally I had the idea solely for textbooks, but we’ve made it applicable to anything.”

The website was launched a fewdays prior to spring break. To date, there are about 200 registered users. Carroll and Zetter are working closely with the Information Technology Services (ITS) and with the Center for Leadership and Student Involvement (CLSI) to develop the website and formarketing purposes.

However, they are not working with the help or input of the administration.”We’re completely independent of the school,” Carroll said, “but the school is definitely supportive and thinks this would be a helpful addition to campus.”Carroll and Zetter hope to make significant improvements to GateSwap over the summer.”We definitely have a grander ultimate vision for the website than what it is now,” Zetter said. “We address issues as they come and hopefully we evolve slowly into a better website and service.”

Contact Selina Koller [email protected].