BookSwim Demo Review

BookSwim presented at the September NY Tech Meetup. BookSwim is a book rental service similar to Netflix/Blockbuster for movies. While they didn't want to speak about price or show a live demo (no idea why!) it appears the service is $19.95 a month. They noted that while they claim to offer 150,000 books, they don't have those in inventory. They use a JIT (just-in-time) inventory model which allows them to keep costs low.

The idea came about from sitting in bookstores reading the initial chapters of books and only buying one or two. BookSwim is helping you to "try before you buy". It's basically a rolling library which you pay a monthly charge for. It's an interesting model, the shipping charges alone could be killer for them - they don't note how long it takes to receive the books. I also see they are seeking funding - here are their funding documents.

Here is their video demo: