The Green Frugal

• Tweet
• Share
• 2 comments.

Sell Used Video Games Online with GameRevive

March is well underway, and here’s a way to put aside some money for your Spring Break getaway or get some cash toward the most anticipated video game releases of 2012: sell used video games online to Cash4Books.net’s new website, GameRevive.com.

I don’t have to tell you that it’s spring cleaning time, and here at the Green Frugal, we are big fans of clearing out clutter and making a few extra bucks in the process. We’ve been buying and selling used books at Cash4Books and MKZBooks.com for years now (and developed a loyal following too), and now we’re offering the same great deal and same great customer service to all of the gamers out there (we know how college students love to play video games–doesn’t everyone?). At Cash4Books, we’ve been buying your used textbooks for years, and now we want to do the same with your used video games.

Do you have a pile of used video games that you have already conquered (and are now just collecting dust)? Looking for a way to sell your used video games in order to offset the high cost of new video games? Or do you just need extra cash deposited into your account?

Here are the 7 key reasons why you should sell us your used video games:

Reason 1: Easy checkout process

Simply enter the title or UPC code in the search box, and you will get an instant quote for your game. When you’re done, you can print a free shipping label–voila!

Reason 2: Online convenience

Just like Cash4Books, you can go through the whole process online, so you don’t have to lug a big box of stuff out to a brick-and-mortar store.

Reason 3: Gives you fast cash through PayPal instead of sticking you with store credit

When you sell your video games to brick-and-mortar stores, you often have to choose store credit to get a competitive price, but GameRevive can give you what you really want–cash–to do with as you will.

Reason 4: Free Shipping

That’s right, I’ll say it again: we pay the cost of shipping.

Reason 5: You’ve conquered the game, now get reimbursed with cash through the GameRevive website

Get some cash for the used video games you’re not playing; it’s as simple as that. Use PayPal so we can quickly and efficiently deliver that electronic payment to you. After we inspect the game, it only takes about a day.

Reason 6: Use the money to offset the cost of new games

Here’s a secret that voracious book buyers know: the best way to afford the cost of new books is to sell back your used books that are just sitting around on the shelf. Now gamers have that same opportunity with GameRevive.

Reason 7: Wide variety of games

We are currently purchasing hundreds of used games for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii games. Check out the homepage at GameRevive to see some actual sample quotes that we’ve offered customers.

We are very proud of our new website and checkout process at GameRevive (we think it’s a very handsome website, indeed), so please come and visit us to find out why we earned a stellar reputation as the go-to place for selling textbooks online and sell us your used games today. Easy process, free shipping, and fast cast deposited into your account. Check it out and tell us what you think.

• Tweet
• Share
• no comments yet

Attention college students: as you get settled into your new fall classes and start shopping for the best textbook prices, here are a few things to look for in a writing handbook that will help with your term papers and essay assignments.

Once you get past the introductory writing courses like English 101, your professors are going to expect competent, college-level writing in your assigned essays without giving you a lot of steps and support. Hopefully you learned all of the basics from English 101, and even if you did, an excellent writing handbook can provide a lot of quick support and resources at your fingertips.

All college writing handbooks will give you the basics about starting your essay (brainstorming, mapping, outlining, and drafting), and all handbooks will give you the grammar basics (how to make sure your sentence isn’t a fragment and how to tell if your sentence has a comma splice), but here are a few things to look for in a writing handbook that offer extra support to make your writing shine during college (and maybe beyond college too).

Have you selected a college writing handbook yet? Image credit: Unhindered by Talent, flickr.com

#1 – Sentence Style

In the beginning of your undergraduate days, you will probably be most concerned with creating error-free sentences. However, as you go deeper into your degree field and start taking upper-level courses, correctness is no longer enough; you want to have style. Learning the intricacies of subordination is essential for advanced college-level writing, especially if you want to go on to graduate school. It takes a lot of practice. For example, do you know how to use parallelism in order to convey the multi-part meaning of a complex idea, capture your audience’s attention through stylistic devices, and display a sophisticated level of critical thinking with your grammar? Make sure your handbook has an entire section on sentence style that gives plenty of ideas and instructions for a variety of sentences.

#2 – MLA/APA Updates

Your professors will expect you to use MLA or APA format (or maybe something else) to document your sources. Make sure your writing handbook has the latest updates. For example, MLA format has now been updated so students no longer need to include cumbersome urls in their citations. As far as I can tell, most of the updates for documenting electronic and online sources are very helpful for students, so it’s better to make sure you’re using the new format.

#3 – Glossary of Style and Usage

There are a lot of things in college writing that your spellchecker will not pick up. For example, do you know whether or not to use “toward” or “towards”? “Further” or “farther”? “Hanged” or “hung”? Do you know the differences between “lay,” “lie,” and “laid”? Should you capitalize seasons? A good glossary of usage will provide easy answers to all of these things and a lot more. If you think your professors don’t notice stuff like this, you’re wrong. They notice, and it doesn’t take very many little usage errors to add up and make an overall bad impression.

Use a writing handbook to easily develop a spiffy resume. Image credit: The CV Inn, flickr.com

#4 – Resumes and Cover Letters

During college and after, you’re going to need to make awesome resumes and cover letters for job hunting. All of the lessons of effective college writing come into play with these documents that can make or break your job search: how to write for a specific audience (your prospective employer), how to craft concise and impactful sentences, how to persuade, how to use powerful verbs for dynamic style. Making a perfect resume and cover letter is an art form–it takes style. In addition to these features, there are very specific conventions regarding format and presentation for resumes and cover letters. Too many people stop at correct format without making their sentences powerful. You want your writing handbook to give you all of this information within easy reach. Spend at least as much time editing and revising your resume as you would a college term paper that is ten times as long.

Some of you out there might be thinking, why should I bother paying for a writing handbook when all of this information is available online? It’s true that you can find most of this information online, but you have to find it first. As a working writer myself, I can tell you it is much more time consuming to go searching for a usage question online (and sort through all the results that pop up) than it is to flip open my handbook, which is always sitting on my desk.

Do you have any questions about finding a writing handbook? Or do you have any other questions that you always wanted to ask your professors but were afraid to ask? Leave your questions in the comments section and I can give you all of the inside information.

• Tweet
• Share
• 1 comment.

As we get closer to the new school year, a lot of college students out there are making big decisions about their fall schedules, including whether or not to take online classes.

As an online instructor for a community college, I’ve noticed some common pitfalls and challenges for the first time online college student. In order to help with the transition to the online learning environment, here are six tips for students taking online classes.

Tip #1: Manage Your Time

Tick, tock, tick, tock ... Photo credit: RBerteig, Flickr.com.

To be a successful online college student, you need to be able to work independently. For example, are you the type of student who can read a chapter in your textbook and complete a homework assignment without any direct instruction in a face-to-face classroom? Are you able to plan your time to work on your online class without someone looking over your shoulder?

If you currently have trouble planning time for your homework for face-to-face classes, chances are you will have trouble planning your “class time” in the online environment. If you need a lot of structure, the online classroom is probably not the right choice for you.

Tip #2: Order Your Textbooks Early

Order your textbooks as soon as possible. It’s very tempting to search high and low for the cheapest textbook online. However, any value you get from a super-low price isn’t worth being behind the first week while you wait for your textbook to arrive in the mail. In many online classes, the textbook is especially important as there is not any class time for the instructor to personally deliver any content to you.

Every term I hear long sob stories from students who are waiting for the textbooks to arrive, sometimes in the second or third week of the class. Believe me, online instructors have no sympathy for this.

If you don’t purchase from the school’s bookstore, only order from a reputable vendor (a vendor with lots of sales and lots of happy customers), and order in plenty of time to be ready on the first day of school.

Tip #3: Don’t Freak Out!

Resist the urge to hit the button. Photo credit: star5112, Flickr.com.

It can be scary and anxiety-producing being a first time online college student. Generally speaking, however, there is never a reason to completely freak out. By freaking out, I mean sending the instructor multiple panicky emails, calling the department secretary in tears, or desperately searching for the instructor’s office on campus (chances are the online instructor won’t be there).

If you find yourself freaking out about something, first take a deep breath. Next, give your instructor 24 hours to answer your email. If something is really urgent, most online programs have help-lines that you can call (sometimes these are open 24 hours). These help-lines are especially useful if you are having any kind of technical problem with the online classroom.

Tip #4: Follow the Online Rules of Etiquette

Online classrooms have certain expectations for etiquette and behavior. Hopefully, these guidelines are posted somewhere in the introductory materials for the class. One of the most important rules for first time online college students is to write on discussion forums with correct spelling and punctuation.

Online classes have social, interactive components, but this is not an informal setting like Facebook. An online classroom is a formal, business-like atmosphere. In addition to using correct spelling and punctuation in discussion forums, remember to do the same with emails to your instructor. Always begin your email with a greeting and use the same care you would use if you were writing a homework assignment.

In addition, be respectful of your peers. If you find yourself getting upset about something in an online discussion, don’t post your response until you are calm and able to read your post objectively. The worst thing you can do is distinguish yourself in the class by attacking a classmate or posting an angry or highly emotional response.

Tip #5: Start Out Without the Right Technology or Computer Skills

You should probably know how to use one of these before you start an online class. Photo credit: izzymunchted, Flickr.com.

Most online programs give students a clear set of technical requirements in order to use the online classroom. You can most often find this on the school’s website.

But more importantly, do you have the right computer skills? Are you comfortable using a computer? Do you regularly visit social networking sites? Shop online? Use online banking? Contribute to a blog? When you decide to go to a movie, do you still call the theater for show times, or do you buy your tickets in advance on fandango? To succeed in an online classroom, it’s imperative that you’re comfortable navigating through the online environment. Taking an online class doesn’t require a deep technical knowledge of computers, but it does require being comfortable with the online basics.

In addition to software requirements and skills, you should only take an online class if you have a reliable internet connection. Every now and then, a student will disappear for a week or two, only to reappear with a story about not being able to afford the high speed internet bill. Unfortunately, most online instructors will not be sympathetic with this plight.

Tip #6: Visit Frequently

To succeed in an online classroom, you need to visit the classroom frequently, at least as much as you would go to a face-to-face classroom, but probably more. Sometimes, students think they only need to check in every week–not true. The best approach is to be as active in the classroom as possible, contributing to discussions, following the instructor’s announcements, and keeping track of the deadlines. My recommendation is to visit every day!

Online classes are actually a lot of fun–just make sure you actually have enough time to devote to them. Don’t take an online class because you don’t have time to go to school. Online classes provide a lot of flexibility, but they are still very time consuming.

Hopefully these six tips help you make the right choices for your fall schedule. Good luck with your studies this fall!

- Professor Chad

• Tweet
• Share
• no comments yet

Greetings Green Frugal readers!  My name is Chad, and not only am I a weekend Shipping Associate for MKZbooks/Cash4books, but I’m also the author of a forthcoming book of horror poems called The Vampire Bridegroom.  Now that Halloween is long over (and if you’re like me), you might still have a few leftover pumpkins rotting with green fuzz on the front porch, a diminishing bowl of candy that needs to be dropped off in the break room at work, and a few pesky vampires still hanging around that need to be staked and burnt up.  As the resident vampire expert here at MKZbooks, I thought I would offer a couple of environmentally friendly ways to dispose of those bloodsucking fiends without mucking things up for Mother Nature.

First off, you want to wear a heavy garlic necklace (think a Hawaiian lei of garlic cloves).  This stuff is like Kryptonite for vampires, so you’ll find them much weaker and more pliable if you come prepared.  But here’s the key: your garlic must be organic.  I recommend a local farmer’s market.  Believe me, vampires know the difference.

Next, you have to stake your vampires through the heart.  I know a lot of salesmen will tell you that you have to use brand-name vampire-killing hardware with a toxic chemical varnish.  Folks, I’m here to tell you that’s a bunch of hooey; a wooden stake is a wooden stake after all.  You can re-use a table leg with a slight modification for a sharp tip.

Most importantly, when it’s time to burn up your staked vampire, instead of polluting the atmosphere with a wasteful funeral pyre (remember: you’re not supposed to burn up those raked leaves, either), use what Mother Nature gave us for quick, effective vampire immolation: the sun!  Solar radiation will burn up a vampire lickety-split with almost zero carbon output.

I hope that gives you a few (extra-green) ideas for dealing with those lingering Halloween guests who can’t take a hint that now it’s Thanksgiving’s turn.

A final note: for all of you vampire fans out there, remember to send your vampire novels to Cash4books.net for some quick cash.  We love all kinds of vampire books here: vampire romances, vampire histories, vampire encyclopedias, and even vampire D.I.Y. guides, but please remember not to send us any books you read while actually drinking blood–those little dribbles make resale impossible!