Spring Break
URI students use Facebook to sell books, electronics
Alyssa Santos
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: News
10/02/08 - According to www.insidefacebook.com, the average person spends 19.5 minutes on Facebook - a social networking site - daily.
While most of the 42,966,780 members spend this time leaving comments, tagging photos or sending the occasional bumper sticker, some students at the University of Rhode Island have taken full advantage of their 20 minutes a day.
Marketplace, a Facebook application, allows people to list different items for sale. Similar to the popular sites eBay and Craigslist - the seller will list an item along with a description, asking price and an optional photo. The prospective buyer can then message the seller and request information and offer a lower price.
Once the deal is made, the seller will send the buyer the item and receive payment in return. The span of items stretches anywhere from a $10 English book to a $20,000 car.
However, books and electronics seem to be the focus for the URI network.
URI senior Shelby White, said she has been selling her old school books for the past two years.
"Most books haven't been updated in years, and everyone is always looking to spend a little less one way or another," White said.
Although she wasn't sure on the exact amount she has made over the past few years, she said that her income covered the cost of all of her books for the past two semesters.
Even though books seem to be the most popular items in the URI network, there are some students who are making money off of unwanted electronics.
Steve Martins, a freshman who had more then five different items listed in one week, said that he has been doing this since high school. Now attending URI in the College of Business Administration, he is even more eager to do what he can to become more successful.
"Business has interested me for as long as I can remember, and it's a known fact that Facebook is popular, so I guess it just made sense," Martins said.
In the past two years he has spent countless hours traveling all over to find used or refurbished electronics, in hopes of reselling them for a profit - however big or small. He sells everything from DVD players to laptops, from televisions to game systems.
Martins would not release his exact profit but said it was more then most would expect, and has been a helpful contribution to his tuition bill.
When asked if the money was worth all the work, Martins replied simply with, "How many people do you know that make money while sitting at a computer?"
While most of the 42,966,780 members spend this time leaving comments, tagging photos or sending the occasional bumper sticker, some students at the University of Rhode Island have taken full advantage of their 20 minutes a day.
Marketplace, a Facebook application, allows people to list different items for sale. Similar to the popular sites eBay and Craigslist - the seller will list an item along with a description, asking price and an optional photo. The prospective buyer can then message the seller and request information and offer a lower price.
Once the deal is made, the seller will send the buyer the item and receive payment in return. The span of items stretches anywhere from a $10 English book to a $20,000 car.
However, books and electronics seem to be the focus for the URI network.
URI senior Shelby White, said she has been selling her old school books for the past two years.
"Most books haven't been updated in years, and everyone is always looking to spend a little less one way or another," White said.
Although she wasn't sure on the exact amount she has made over the past few years, she said that her income covered the cost of all of her books for the past two semesters.
Even though books seem to be the most popular items in the URI network, there are some students who are making money off of unwanted electronics.
Steve Martins, a freshman who had more then five different items listed in one week, said that he has been doing this since high school. Now attending URI in the College of Business Administration, he is even more eager to do what he can to become more successful.
"Business has interested me for as long as I can remember, and it's a known fact that Facebook is popular, so I guess it just made sense," Martins said.
In the past two years he has spent countless hours traveling all over to find used or refurbished electronics, in hopes of reselling them for a profit - however big or small. He sells everything from DVD players to laptops, from televisions to game systems.
Martins would not release his exact profit but said it was more then most would expect, and has been a helpful contribution to his tuition bill.
When asked if the money was worth all the work, Martins replied simply with, "How many people do you know that make money while sitting at a computer?"
