A Trinity College student has invented “Mivy,” an mobile app that helps college students sell used textbooks.
Before the summer began, student Micah Onditi had no experience in programming, but the result of his efforts is the app designed to help college students sell used textbooks directly to each other, rather than through middlemen companies or websites, which often offer lower prices to buy back used textbooks.
The app – which uses the motto, “Sell Last Semester. Buy The Next.” – already has hundreds of users at colleges throughout the Northeast, according to Onditi. It’s free and currently only available for iPhone’s iOS operating system.
Onditi was recently accepted into the Impact Accelerator program, run by reSET, a Hartford nonprofit whose mission is to advance the social enterprise sector. It provides entrepreneurs with access to the knowledge, networks and resources to help grow startups.
By creating a direct connection between college students, Onditi said Mivy has advantages over other companies from which students often purchase or rent textbooks, such as Amazon, eBay, and Chegg.
“You might make more on Mivy than selling it somewhere else,” Onditi said. “It’s a better alternative to other selling platforms.”
Mivy receives 7 percent of each sale, unless a user is a “campus rep.” They retain all of their revenue.
Onditi said other platforms often charge 10 or 11 percent.
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