BookSwim, or an ocean of books, gives you the flexibility of renting your favorite books without making a trip to the library. "You still are filling up your house with unnecessary books," Burke, a founder of BookSwim said. "We feel it's not necessary to own a book, though you can have the option to buy if you like."
BookSwim aims to be the "Netflix of books." Since 1998, Netflix has become the king of online DVD services by renting batches of DVDs via the mail for a fixed monthly fee, and letting subscribers keep the movies as long as they like.
That's how BookSwim is meant to work. For $15 to $20 per month, the company will send your top five book choices. Return three books in a prepaid envelope, and your next three choices will be mailed to you.
For now, the founders Burke and Siddiqui are the only employees and will handle the mailing themselves. Assuming demand develops, they plan to hire part-time helpers.
Orders can be placed here, along with customers' book ratings and comments. Burke and Siddiqui had an inventory of about 80,000 books when they launched the site's introductory phase in March.
Siddiqui says the website will recommend titles based on customers' past selections.
Source: Startribune
Image: Flickr/Magnus*
Tags: Books | Rental | Online
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