Launch of VarsityBuys.com

ScholarBuys LLC is excited to announce the launch of VarsityBuys.com! This new website was created specifically to manage discount agreements made available to students and faculty.

Unique Features of VarsityBuys.com:

*  VarsityBuys.com is a fully functional ecommerce site that is designed to manage purchases made online via student/faculty technology agreements.

*  The site supports a number of agreements including but not limited to; Microsoft Student Select, Microsoft Campus Agreement Work at Home and Adobe Student/Faculty licensing.

*  Each enrolled institution receives a customized portal with a unique URL (Vstore). Your Vstore can be accessed directly via the custom URL or via the drop down menu on the VarsityBuys.com home page. This makes word of mouth promotion of the discounts much easier at the school/department level. 

*  Each Vstore is customized and tailored to list only the products available to that specific institution. This is crucial because not every institution has the same discount programs available to their student/faculty population.

*  VarsityBuys.com offers a quicker check out process by offering “eVerify”. This service can authenticate most higher education students instantly online by using the Academic Student Clearinghouse database.

*  For those students not covered under eVerify (as well as faculty) an academic ID or class schedule can be uploaded directly to their VarsityBuys.com account.

*  Most Microsoft products are now available via ESD (Electronic Software Download). ESD with single license key delivery has been shown to significantly lower the cost of goods sold while improving the end users acquisition experience.

*  We now offer ESD for the Microsoft Campus & School Agreement.  Eligible institutions can offer Work at Home copies of their licensed Microsoft software to faculty/staff for just $9.95 per title!

*  The site also has all the necessary Microsoft End User License Agreements (EULA) built in and automated during the check-out process.  So there is no need for additional paperwork to be filed by the school or customer.

*  Most software products can only be purchased one time per 365 days via publisher rules. The site has a feature built into it that will prevent end-users from purchasing more than one of the same product in a 365 day period.

*  Once academically authenticated the student/faculty member’s account stays active for 365 days. After that it is required to be re-authenticated. This insures current academic status and compliance.

*  Customer Service for the site is supported via Live Chat M-F 8-5 Central. Additionally the site is very web 2.0 friendly and customer service is also supported via Twitter 7 days a week.

We are requesting that each enrolled institution post their custom Vstore link somewhere on their website for easy access to the student/faculty discounts. Additionally, we are encouraging that this link be posted on each institution’s Twitter and/or Facebook account.

Additional Marketing Support Available:

·        PDF Flyers

·        Posters

·        Email copy

·        Newsletter copy

·        Facebook/Twitter copy

For additional information or marketing material please contact our marketing department.

info@scholarbuys.com

877-999-9294

2010 C2ES CONFERENCE

Last week I attended C2es, a technology conference for the K-12 through higher education market, hosted by Douglas Stewart in Madison, Wis. For most guests it was a time to meet face to face the sales reps that only exist on the phone or through email the rest of the year, or to learn “How College Students Think” (break-out session 1), or to eat mashed-potato cocktails (in martini glasses- clever idea!), or snack on the hour every hour.

For me, it was a time to geek-out, which is my way of explaining my face suddenly flushing and the goofy grin I had when by a vendor I particularly liked. This “reaction” happened most notably around the Wacom, Adobe, Skullcandy, Quark, Mindjet, Dell, V-moda and Techsmith tables. They also happen to be some of my vendor favorites. Weird…

Here’s a brief vendor breakdown:

For one thing the Techsmith reps were full of helpful tidbits, not only about their products but about everything else as well. Have you ever heard of Jing? Well now you have- check it out. Do you know how vendors can give away such awesome, customized swag for free? I do. Industry secret, can’t tell you.

Skullycandy had a Plinko board and dj, V-moda the svelte laid back reps that oozed L.A chic. Dell had a bunk bed and was giving away 4 Netbooks while Abode gave away a full CS5 suite (I can’t believe I missed that!)! And around the corner Professional Cable used an iPad app to randomly choose a winner…for the iPad!

Insanity ensued.

And although I didn’t win the Netbook, CS5, the iPad or that trip to the World Cup (kidding), I did win a Flip HD camera (thank you Nuance Communications), a pair of Skullycandy and V-moda headphones. Expect reviews in the near future.

The Wacom reps let me take over their Cintiq demo and bombard them with fan-dom questions while NovaThink wowed me with their solar powered recharge station for the iPhone. Chill Pill’s speakers made me wish for college days in the Quad and William from Moshi is probably the biggest Bon Jovi fan I’ve ever met.

The On Your feet breakout sessions were an innovative and fun way to network and Alloy Media (yes, THE Alloy Media) had some helpful tips as well. The Douglas Stewart Company fed us about every 3 hours with snacks in between on the dot: I ate far too much. The hotel was easy to navigate, which was great for a first timer like me, and our room faced the Capital building which is quite a sight at night. In all, I had a blast at C2es 2010 and am excited for what next year’s conference will bring!


Blog Contributor
Sabella Flagg
Design & eCommerce Coordinator
ScholarBuys Academic Marketing