By Nicole Gismondo
Next time you go to buy textbooks you could be in for a shock as yet another rebranding has hit the campus. Over the December break, the university owned University Store has become The Co-Op, a corporate entity.
It is unclear why the change occurred, nor has any information been given to students on the decision. The University Store web page simply changed to now include a redirect link to The Co-Ops web page. Texbooks for all campuses for Term 3, Summer A and Summer B are then listed under Western Sydney University – Penrith Kingswood.
The Co-Op is already the go to place for many other Sydney universities including the University of Sydney, University of Technology, Sydney and Macquarie University.
There will be a few key changes under the move. The University Store used to offer a 10% discount on all textbooks for students, with a price match offer. Now the offer is a $25 life membership for a “member’s price”, willing you to also sign up to the Co-Ops corporate partners at the same time you join. The price match offer will stay under the Co-Op.
There are some perks to the new arrangement however, with the Co-Op offering ‘buy backs’ on certain eligible textbooks. There is also no longer a need to type in a unit code to find your textbooks, as the site has books listed by university, session and unit.
There could be some new merchandise headed for campus soon too, with the Co-Op selling a multitude of other games, tech, gifts and much more.
Time will tell if students are sold on the new textbook venture, or whether the membership fee turns them off.
UPDATE:
The Co-Op will be honouring any University Store vouchers, swapping them with Co-Op vouchers, which can be used in store or online.
