Because of overhead costs, physical bookstores have a hard time competing with online prices. But the MIT Coop is finding that this new program is probably worth it.

"We are not necessarily losing money because we are bringing in more business," Hendricks said. "Instead of online people getting business, we are."

The Harvard Coop, however, does not currently have plans to follow suit. According to J. David Sullivan, general manager of the Harvard Coop, the Harvard Square branch currently has no plans to offer a system like that at MIT.

The Coop has not ignored the new competition--it now offers students the option of buying books online at www.thecoop.com. The prices, however, are the same as in the physical bookstore, with a shipping charge added on.

The Coop has also begun to recognize the lower prices of its competition by offering more used books.

"We've been emphasizing used books," says Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy '73. "Price is always an issue for students, so we've been trying to bulk up the number of [used] titles we can offer students."

Murphy claims that the Coop still has several advantages over online book vendors--for example, its return policy, which allows students to return books for a full refund by March 1.

Returning books to most online vendors, while allowed, requires mailing the item back--which can protract the process and makes refunds less reliable.