The Future of the College X Change
Thoughts for the Future
With a platform such as the College X Change, the difficulty in acquiring users is surpassing the existing culture. Peer-to-peer college markets have always been around in one form or another, but there has yet to be one established method in which college students can sell to and buy from each other. There has yet to be a tool that understands and maximizes the unique qualities of the college environment. After conducting my interviews with students from Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale, I realize that students want the process of buying and selling to be more efficient. They all see a need for a peer-to-peer market, for it is a way to acquire books and other college essentials in a more affordable manner.In order to address the difficulty of changing a campus’s current culture, I have partnered, and will continue to partner, with organizations that can help me establish this platform on campus. I have been able to get College X Change fliers displayed on the digital monitors of all dining halls, partner with Harvard College Library to post about the platform on their social media accounts, and more. One of my current goals with the platform is to finalize the marketing video that will be shared to all Harvard Facebook groups along with various emailing lists. I believe more visibility will lead to students trying out the platform and using it more frequently than other mediums. As the website attains more visibility, I will also continue to polish the platform itself and make different aspects of the site run more efficiently. I have already begun to do so by making the uploading process easier for students. I added drop-down menus to indicate quality type and separated information boxes to provide clarity as to where to place information such as current price, retail price, and more.
The Harvard UC and I must continue to spread awareness for the College X Change and attract users. We will accomplish this by partnering with other student groups on campus such as the Advising Programs Office, Freshmen Deans Office, Bureau Study Council, and others. Specifically, next year there needs to be a big push for the platform angled towards the incoming first years. There needs to be an environment created in which the College X Change is viewed as the go-to platform. The more it becomes standardized the better the transition will be.
Further, one of the last potential initiatives for the College X Change will be a physical storage facility in which students can drop off unwanted items and pick up what they desire. One of the difficulties of a peer-to-peer market is the coordination of pick-up/drop-off by the seller and buyer. If there is a storage room where sellers can deposit their goods and buyers can pick-up whenever they are free, this could potentially be a more efficient and convenient system. In order to accomplish this goal, a partnership with the Office for Sustainability may be needed in order to establish a physical storage facility. Given that the Office for Sustainability has a commitment to minimizing waste on Harvard's campus, I believe the mission of the College X Change would align well with this goal. Ultimately, it will take a group effort and willingness to try something new in order for the College X Change to have an impact and make peer-to-peer selling more efficient on campus. This is a journey that I am excited to be a part of, and I am looking forward to what is next for the College X Change.
