Question of the Week – Do Students Like Slingshot? (Pro) 

Luke Luedy
Staff Writer
 

 With college comes textbooks. And with textbooks comes hassle. Slingshot, an online textbook distributor, aims to relieve that by automatically placing orders for any required textbooks a student may need and shipping them directly to the university or another specified location.  

Their website’s homepage proudly states that they remove the “friction” from obtaining school materials. I conducted brief, informal interviews with four students regarding their thoughts on the system and company to determine if this was the case. 

Sophomore international business major Franco Arena said he “love(s) their mission … I love that they’re a Catholic business.”  

According to their website, Slingshot’s partnered institutions are Christian universities and schools, a benefit often overlooked by students. 

For another student, freshman philosophy major Angelo Ayala, Slingshot had “a short return window” if he ever needed to return any materials. In addition, some textbooks were relatively cheap for him, and he said he “bought some books (for) around ten dollars.” 

Senior English major Margaret McAuley commended Slingshot’s customer service, saying it “has always been really good.” And while McAuley was confused about how the website worked during her first two semesters, ultimately, she said, Slingshot “got me my books on time.” 

Judith Pohl, another senior English major, said she’s used Slingshot for last-minute purchases if she couldn’t find a textbook elsewhere. She added that because of them, she got “one or two books when push really came to shove.” 

I agree the most with Pohl. Slingshot provides a quick and easy way to find the books I can’t find elsewhere or online, and while the prices may be slightly higher than their competitors, at the end of the day, they gave me my textbooks in good condition.