Second hand school uniform and textbook website sees up to 600% jump in visits as parents look for bargains

As the cost of school education continues to rise, a website that allows parents to buy and sell second hand school uniforms, text books, sports equipment and musical instruments has experienced a dramatic jump in its usage.

Listings overall in the past 12 months are up 350%, text book listings a staggering 600% and school uniforms up 200 % on schoolxchange.com.au (www.schoolxchange.com.au ) started only two years ago by Sydney mother  Claire Pearson.

The site now gets 100,000 hits a week from parents in all states and territories across Australia.

“Mums and dads are finding it increasingly tougher when it comes to the cost of their child’s education and whether you’re at a private or state school there are many families looking for savings,” Claire Pearson, a mother of two, said today.

“I think one of the reasons for schoolxchange.com.au’s success, apart from being able to save between 50% and 60% on uniforms and books, is that it allows parents locally to deal directly with each other.

“The website simply provides a connecting platform, with the description of an item for a particular school, an assessment of its quality and the price the selling family wants. Contact details are discreet and that gives both the buyer and the seller confidence to make contact, check the item, whether it’s a Year 7 uniform or Year 11 maths book, or maybe a tennis racquet or cricket bat.”

Mrs. Pearson said the most sought after books are Maths, English, The Arts, and Science which contributed to the increase since last year of 600%.

“Once the word spreads, I find the number of listings for a school will begin to increase significantly. Mandurah Baptist College in West Australia currently has 57 listings, while Barker College in Sydney has 134 items listed at the moment,” she explained.

“New South Wales has the biggest number of listings, but Queensland last year increased by  200% and we think that will increase dramatically this year with the devastation of the floods, Victoria was up 340% and West Australia up by 240%.”

More than 7,000 public and private primary and secondary schools are listed on the site from all states and territories.

At any time it has more than 2,000 items for sale.

“Because you’re dealing locally, there’s no cost for packaging or shipping involved. A parent can check the items personally and pay the other parent directly,” Ms. Pearson said.

Families wishing to list items on schoolxchange.com.au pay a small fee ( a percentage of the value of the items they list) to the site. There are no additional fees or time limits and no costs to buyers.

“The fee is a small fraction of what they’ll recover from selling old or used items rather than just becoming more clutter in the bedroom or around the house,” she added.

A snapshot of 2010:

• Listings up 350%
• School Uniforms up 200%
• Textbooks up 600%

Visits to site up 225%

Total number of hits 4.8 million averaging 12,500 per day which is up 280% over 2009.

Biggest Increase:

Textbooks: Maths, English, The Arts, and Science increase since last year 600%

Listings from States other than NSW:

• Qld up 200%
• Vic up 340%
• WA up 240%

Stand outs for school uniforms include:

• Barker College NSW (134) listings and
• Mandurah Baptist College WA  (57) listings

Enquiries from people searching for items average 120 per week

Textbook listings up 300% since advertising on targeted Facebook ads