Summer is finally here. Many of us have summer jobs and internships where waking up at 6 A.M. to get ready for work is a daily event. We can finally reunite with old friends and catch up on our past year at school. However, as soon as we know it, we will be getting ready to go back to school. This means that we have to start the agonizing ordeal of buying textbooks. This is an annoying and painful process where we are cheated out of our money by the schools even when they claim we can “get money back for our books” at the end of the semester. We can spend up to an average of $700 per semester on textbooks from the school, but only earn about $60 dollars when we sell them back at the end of the year. Are you kidding???
…thoughts going through our head when we find out how much money we get back for our books.
Well there is good news. Fortunately, Wazood.com is a new and easy online site for students to sell and buy books. Wazood.com is “Run by students, For students.” Dominic Purpura, founder and CEO of Wazood.com, is a current junior at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA. Dominic, “Dom” to those who knew him in high school, and I graduated together from Nazareth Academy in 2012. I personally know Dom as a fun-loving guy just trying to have a good time. He is also a hard worker with a great ethic. If anyone from our high school were to become an entrepreneur, it would be Dom. Dom also plays on the baseball team for Orange Coast College.
Let’s meet Dominic and see what he has to say about Wazood.com:
How did you find the innovation to create Wazood.com?
I really just wanted to create a useful system for college students across the whole country. Being a college student, I see first hand the different ways that textbook fee’s affect us as students so it all started with an idea to help create a place for students to buy and sell their textbooks with each other rather than working through the textbook store at the end of each semester.
Who are the other business partners of Wazood that helped get this website started? Why did you choose to work with them?
I have four other business partners, and they go to various schools across the country. Each of them provides a different aspect to the company. Ryan, a football player at Miami University is an amazing graphic designer. Johnny, a hard working student at Vanderbilt university runs our student internship program. We try to bring in a ton of different diversity and pride ourselves on being a company that is completely ran by college students.
What was the process like to start Wazood since you are still in college?
The process has been amazing. I started Wazood when I was 19 and currently playing college baseball as well. I have learned lessons from this experience that no schooling can ever teach, and stepping out of your comfort zone to work on a business like this at such a young age has given me a business advantage that I can carry with me my whole life.
How much has Wazood grown since its creation?
Massive. We have grown to thousands of postings, surpassing 5k followers on all of social media, and have drawn attention to some big investors that are looking to jump on board. The potential for Wazood is endless and someday we want to take over every aspect of college. We are continually growing slowly and want to help every student have a place to go where they can find everything they need in one place.
Why is Wazood different from other online sites where students can sell their books or other services?
Simply because we aren’t in this business to make money. Everything on our site is completely free for all students. Along with being an extremely fast way to buy and sell things on campus, we feel that students everywhere will love using our site instead of things like Craig’s List where there is a lot of sketchy deals and people that use that site.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time (which I have hardly any these days haha) I like going to the beach and living my life like any other college student. Baseball takes up most of my days but living in California definitely has its perks as a college student.
Do you have any advice for anyone who has a creative business that they want to start?
Don’t wait. Do it, now. You have such a small opportunity in your life to experiment with starting a company because once you graduate college you will most likely be completely on your own and it discourages a lot of people from starting companies because of the money factor. If you have any business ideas and would like some advice you can reach out to me at anytime and I will be more than happy to help you! Who knows, maybe you’ll have a first investor! You can email me at Dom@wazood.com.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”
So there’s that, everyone! The purpose of Wazood.com is to provide students with a “quick and simple platform to exchange items.” The website also provides multiple services of advertising off campus housing, tutoring, roommates, and more. So help Dom and his fellow partners have their business take off by spreading the word and using Wazood.com the next time you want to sell or buy books or any other service you want advertised to your school.
To all you current roadrunners and alumni out there, “Everyday is a great day to be a roadrunner!”
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Photos provided by author