“Great ideas begin with crazy thoughts” is the slogan for Skooloko, a website designed exclusively for students to sell their books, items and services.
The website, on which college students can buy, sell and communicate efficiently and on one medium, will provide a platform where “students can interact with each other in a new way,” according to coowner senior Sewedo Whenu.
Whenu, who is a communication major, said, “We created the site because we believed students should have the ability to sell their items on a program that is safe and local.”
Users cannot make an account on this website without a “.edu” email address, ensuring that it solely caters to students selling to other students. Users can sell anything from used textbooks, video games and old furniture to services such as photography or tutoring.
Students can register anywhere in New York State. Whenu and his coowner Toyese Adeyeye of Lehman College hope the business will expand nationally. Their goals do not involve profits for themselves, and Whenu said they “don’t plan on ever charging to use the site.”
Students make an account on the site when they are looking to buy or sell a service within a college community. The website is searchable by school, college major, hometown, ISBN number for books, price and category, according to Whenu.
Thanks to the site, whether your textbooks seem less useful than you thought or you’re a graduating senior who has no more need for the armchair you bought from Goodwill, there is a platform to use.
“Instead of throwing something out on the street, you can sell it on here,” Whenu said.
Skooloko is particularly exceptional because all seven staffers are current college students. Regarding what it feels like to double entrepreneurship with classes, Whenu said that he loses a lot of sleep, often working on the website late into the night.
“It’s a sacrifice I think I have to make to see that this service is available for students to use. I think it’s a very important service,” he said.
Now that the website has been up and running for one week, Whenu and his colleagues are working to focus their efforts on advertisement.
“We just want to get our marketing plan out so people can know about this website and its services,” Whenu said. The team created a video advertisement and is planning on hanging posters around campus to raise student interest.