Tired of paying bookstore prices for your textbooks every semester? Enter Books at SMU – a website that compares the SMU Barnes and Noble bookstore prices with the cheapest new and used book prices online.

The idea for Books at SMU came from SMU junior Avery Stefan’s hometown friend Sean Haufler, who started the first textbook price comparison website at Yale.

“Sean came up with the idea for a website where you could input your classes and the website would generate a book list for each class with the cheapest prices for those books available online,” Stefan said.

After syncing up textbook and class information from Access, the Books at SMU site went live in December 2011.

“We recently updated the site to make it easier to navigate. All you have to do is input your classes,” Stefan said. “The site updates along with Access to ensure that you have the most current textbook list.”

While some students might hesitate to buy books from somewhere other than Barnes and Noble, Books at SMU is legitimate source. A bill passed by Congress in 2010 enables the site to legally compete directly with the campus bookstore.

“Bookstores were getting upset about the websites, but they couldn’t do anything about it because of the Open Textbook Act. What we are doing is completely legal,” Stefan said.

As the marketer and promoter of Books at SMU, Stefan wants to spread the word that there is a cheaper way to buy textbooks.

“The site was made for students by students. It makes your life easier,” Stefan said.

With the start of the fall semester, Books at SMU sales have significantly increased the past couple of weeks. Stefan expects even bigger sales in the future.

“We are anticipating a big spring as more and more people learn about the site,” Stefan said.