A new online marketplace for students to buy and sell university books has been set up by a student of Heriot-Watt's School of Management and Languages.
Jonathan Kennedy, a Heriot-Watt Business Management student, began ScholarExpress as an alternative to the likes of Amazon so that sellers could keep a larger proportion of their sale.
Supporting our students to develop their entrepreneurial talents and start up their own business is something our university supports.
Heriot-Watt's Enterprise Creation Manager, Dr Olga Kozlova
Selling textbooks
Jonathan explains; "Finishing my first semester at Heriot-Watt, I set about selling my unwanted textbooks using the €˜big-guys' already established within the industry and found myself paying extortionate fees. When it came to collecting the amount due to me, it was not resembling anything like the amount I had in mind. I remember thinking to myself, "Surely I can't be the only one bothered by how much is deducted in fees?"
After ten months of development, ScholarExpress was up and running, and within the first month of public launch had been visited by thousands of people. ScholarExpress is 75% cheaper to sell with than the leading online marketplace.
Heriot-Watt's Enterprise Creation Manager, Dr Olga Kozlova, said "Supporting our students to develop their entrepreneurial talents and start up their own business is something our university supports. Jonathan saw a gap in the market and filled it quickly - a sign of business flair and the start of what we all hope will be a very successful undertaking."
Future plans
In the long term, Jonathan expects ScholarExpress to continue its growth in popularity, with students across the United Kingdom realising the benefits that it has to offer. Expansion into new markets and new nations is a company goal.
Find out more: www.scholarexpress.co.uk