Katharina Buczek
Then, about two or three weeks into the course, she realized that it would be best if she just found herself the textbook.
So, at that point, she set out on another online search. Yet again, though, she had no luck.
Well, that was until she eventually found a PDF version of her textbook for $40– a fraction of the original textbook price.
And since she thought that price was totally worth it, she decided to purchase the PDF and go on her merry way.
She ended up reflecting on the whole situation, though, and realized how hard it was, in general, to locate those PDF versions online. So, she figured that she might as well offer a cheap alternative to the rest of her classmates.
More specifically, she decided to send an email to everyone in her course about the PDF version she found. But, instead of her peers having to spend $40 on it, she offered to sell copies of her own PDF version for $5.
“I thought this was a win-win; fellow students would get an ultra-cheap version, and I would offset my costs,” she recalled.
“And I didn’t feel like I was extorting anyone because $5 is literally the price of a coffee. No one was going to be getting rich, and obviously, other students can look for their own version.”
In order words, it’s not like she was forcing anyone to purchase her version as opposed to the original textbook.
Plus, she just put herself in her classmates’ shoes and realized that she would have appreciated the option to purchase a cheap version had she been struggling to locate one on her own.
After she sent the email, though, it appears that her seemingly good intentions kind of backfired on her.
