Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

SimpleSource is one of MBS’ most talked about new tools. As Textbook Buyer Sylvia Martinez at Chaffey College Campus Store discovered, streamlining wholesale and marketplace orders has never been easier. One shipment, one invoice and one easy tool: SimpleSource works for every campus store.

“Well, I thought it was going to be more complicated than it actually was, so I put it off longer than I should have.  Finally, my rep Robin [Stegen] convinced me to give it a try and Lillian [Brooks] helped me to get started,” Martinez said. “Lillian gave me a demonstration online, then the two of them walked me through setting it up and setting my parameters. We did it all over the phone.  With their help, I generated my list, and it was really easy.”

Simplify wholesale and marketplace textbook sourcing 

For a campus that uses a lot of older textbook editions, efficient sourcing is a must. While older editions can provide students with a lot of cost savings, they can also be hard to find and time-consuming for staff.

“On my end, it just saved me so much time. Our faculty are really price sensitive, so they prefer to use old editions. Wholesalers don’t always carry those older editions, and I have to go out to the marketplace. There is usually a lot of research and a lot of different sites that I have to visit to find the best prices. SimpleSource has saved me from having to do that,” Martinez said. “I was also able to determine the prices immediately.  Again, that was another thing that I didn’t have to worry about. I think I got the same number of books as I would have otherwise, but I got them faster and the process was easier.”

The process of creating different purchase orders for every marketplace purchase was cumbersome and time consuming. With SimpleSource, Ms. Martinez was also able to better streamline her duties and simplify her purchasing process.

“The marketplace was great. It helped me consolidate all of my quantities, so I didn’t have to create the number of POs that I do with other vendors. I had one PO and all of my quantities consolidated. It all came in one invoice, which saved me a lot of time.  It saved me at least two days of work,” Martinez said. “The books arrived in good condition.  They weren’t shabby or damaged.  MBS checks them before they ship them out, so I also didn’t have to worry about receiving counterfeit books — which is one less thing to worry about.”

SimpleSource is easy to use and works for every store, big and small. Simplify your wholesale and marketplace ordering. Contact your MBS Field Territory Manager today to get started.

“Don’t wait too long. You want to give MBS those few weeks to get the books in and check them and ship them out. Get your list out as soon as possible,” Martinez said.