During the last week of classes, students are faced with the question of whether to wait in long lines to sell books back, post fliers on campus or keep them for another semester.

Penn State students now have another option with the Web site www.fintu.com, which was created by Ben Carnes, a 2000 Penn State graduate. The Web site allows students to post available books online along with the prices they are asking for them.

Carnes said, however, that no books are actually sold on the Web site. "The Web site is only a way for students to get in touch with one another in order to sell their books," he said. "No books are bought or sold on the site."

Students can log onto the Web site and search for books by title, author, ISBN number or class. Carnes said if a class is not listed on the Web site, students can send an e-mail message to info@fintu.com, and it will be added.

Carnes said he created the site after experiencing frustration when trying to sell books back as a student.

For a student to post a book for sale, they must register with the site.

The Web site, created last fall, currently has 260 members and 170 books for sale. "We have had 45,000 hits on the Web site in the last month, covering students in 21 states and eight countries," Carnes said.

The Web site is exclusive to Penn State students, including students from Commonwealth Campuses who are looking to sell books, Carnes said.

Although the Web site is growing in popularity, Penn State Bookstore assistant manager Tom Fankhauser said he was not worried about losing money because of it. "[The Web site] is the same thing that people have been doing for years, just in a different format," he said. "We will do whatever we need to do to stay competitive."

Robert Nelson (sophomore-information sciences and technology) said he is planning on removing his book from the Web site. "I could probably get the same price or better for it at the bookstore," he said.

Fankhauser added that at a bookstore, students could get immediate cash back for their books without having to wait for response from a seller.

Kelly Ice (freshman-stage management) said she registered at fintu.com about a week ago and plans to keep her books listed on the site until the end of the semester. "If I don't sell my books on the Web site by the end of the semester, I will take them off [and] sell them back to the bookstore," she said.

The site only covers Penn State, but Carnes said he and the site's other developers are looking into expanding to other schools. "We are currently exploring our options," he said.