UMass-Amherst, Amazon Reach Deal To Sell Students Textbooks
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) -- Online retailer Amazon has reached a deal with the University of Massachusetts to supply textbooks to students at the Amherst campus, saving them hundreds of dollars per year.
Under the deal announced Tuesday, the bricks-and-mortar on-campus bookstore will be replaced by an Amazon.com virtual bookstore that will allow students to buy new, used and digital textbooks.
This will be Amazon's first online university store in the Northeast, its third nationwide.
The deal is expected to save students an average of $380 per year.
The five-year deal that takes effect in May also provides free one-day shipping of books and course materials to campus and nearby communities.
UMass-Amherst vice chancellor of administration and finance James Sheehan says the partnership is a way to help students struggling with the high cost of textbooks.
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