An undergraduate student will spend an average of about $450 each semester on books, according to the N.C. State Web site. Some students feel the price of textbooks is too high, and the price they receive when selling books back is too low.

Jason Kafer is one of those students. Kafer founded and presides over Starvingscholars.com, a Web-based business that connects buyers and sellers of used college textbooks. Users can post books for sale, along with pictures, and buyers can search for books by their campus or region.

Some students think the idea is a good one, such as Morgan Monday, a sophomore in First Year College, who said she gets tired of searching endlessly for reasonable prices.

“It’s a hassle to go to different book stores to find the best deal,” Monday said.

Kafer said the idea for the organization stems from his earlier years as a freshman at Rochester Institute of Technology.

In September, Kafer found the funding and support for his idea and set it up, enabling students to buy and sell with other students through the Internet and eliminating the bookstores, who make a profit from students by selling high priced used books with low buy back.

Some students said they like the convenience of the Internet instead of shopping around.

“If there’s an easier way, I’d go with that alternative,” William Winslow, a sophomore in psychology, said.

There are, however, some skeptics as to the benefit of the company.

“It’s a nice goal to have, but it’s not doing anything spectacular — there are already companies selling books cheap and used,” Brian Ingram, a sophomore in chemical engineering, said.

Starving Scholars is an organization run by students for students. Kafer said it is not looking to make money off of students, but it does make a small profit during the online purchases. The main profit comes from the businesses they promote on the Web site.

“The only people who don’t like us are the book stores,” Kafer said, hoping to eliminate some skepticism students may have about scams.

Starving Scholars is and plans to continue taking business away from book stores as more and more students learn of the Web site, and the ultimate goal is to expand and become the complete student resource.

The organization has many plans for the future, including expansions and advertisements on MTV from August to September.

Kafer has high expectations and hopes for his company, saying time will tell if it will make its place in the Internet world as the complete student resource.

“We’re taking over the Internet one step at a time,” he said.