“One of the things that we had been struggling with was that more and more faculty wanted to stay with older editions,” Textbook Manager Kevin Poindexter said. “Our store had always sourced, but as the list of books we had to look for grew, it became more time consuming.”

Every term, the store devoted additional time and resources into combing the textbook marketplace for older editions as faculty chose to stay with the books they were currently using. When presented with the opportunity to try MBS’ new ordering tool SimpleSource, the store’s textbook manager jumped at the chance.

How SimpleSource works

SimpleSource is more than just a marketplace sourcing method. It was developed to revolutionize the college store’s wantlist process by providing more transparency, control and better results.

“We set our parameters and send in our wantlist, and then the tool starts to work for us. You can watch the cycles and get real time updates on your wantlist fulfillment.“ Poindexter said. “What we really like about SimpleSource is that it all happens at once. It is wantlisting the traditional way and sourcing at the same time.”

When stores like the University of Dayton Bookstore access SimpleSource through Service Center, they can utilize multiple customization options to ensure their wantlist is fulfilled to their specifications, or simply set their parameters and let it go. MBS will work and rework their list to maximize their fulfillment based on the parameters set by the store. Store personnel can also edit specifications on individual ISBNs within the tool, giving them more maneuverability than ever before.

“I also thought it was really cool that I could either make big, broad changes that affect everything, or I could go down to the title level to make any changes I want to just one title,” Poindexter said. “You have total control of it. There are times when I may be really active changing my parameters, but then other times I can say, ‘I am just going to let it play out and see what happens.’”

Less work for campus stores. More high-quality textbooks.

One problem the University of Dayton Bookstore ran into before SimpleSource was that that they couldn’t count on the quality of the textbooks they would receive from the marketplace. Books would arrive damaged and not in resalable condition.

“That was another benefit of using SimpleSource. When it all came in, I didn’t have to worry about if the books were going to be trash or water damaged or if the covers were going to be falling off,” Poindexter said. “All the books go through the vetting process at MBS, so I knew I would get good books that weren’t going to be counterfeit. When you are sourcing on your own, sometimes books come in and you are like, “Seriously, I paid for that?” Then you have to go through the process of sending the books back and getting your money back.“

Experts at MBS vet every book that enters our warehouse, including those sourced from the marketplace. We make sure stores are protected from receiving counterfeit or damaged books.

“With this, you know you are going to get good books,” Poindexter said. “Anybody who sources will tell you that you get wrong books, junk books, you overpay for books, etc. This eliminates all of that. It was super simple and really easy to work with.”

University of Dayton Bookstore passes savings onto students

Through SimpleSource, the University of Dayton Bookstore has access to more MBS inventory at multiple pricing levels, meaning they can get more books at a lower average cost. This savings can then be passed along to students.

“I saw a ton of books, and I got the old editions I was looking for at a good price,” Poindexter said. “That’s what I liked most about it. I can pass that savings onto students whenever possible.”

In addition, the store staff saves time. The University of Dayton Bookstore no longer has to deal with multiple shipments and invoices, damaged or counterfeit books, or devote hours to procurement. Now, they can focus on implementing more cost-saving solutions that will continue to improve the student experience in their store.

“I would say it is definitely a timesaver. Every store devotes a different amount of time to looking for books, but what I like about this tool is I didn’t have to do that anymore,” Poindexter said. “I could work on setting up other programs, work on inclusive access or anything else I needed to do. It’s one less thing to worry about doing. It’s pretty cool.”