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College Marketplace is the student-only buy and sell app for California State University, Bakersfield in Bakersfield, California. Every account is verified with a @csub.edu email address, so you're only ever trading with other Roadrunners — not strangers from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

On-campus living at CSUB is refreshingly simple, and that is exactly what makes a campus marketplace work here. Residents live in Student Housing East, a 500-bed suite-style community made up of Juniper Hall and Pinyon Hall. First-year students are placed together in a special freshman community inside the halls, while a limited number of spaces are held each year for sophomores, transfers, and other upper-division returning students. With the entire residential population in two buildings a short walk from class, everything you need is already on campus. CSUB students post mini fridges, futons, storage bins, desk lamps, monitors, bikes, and gently used textbooks every semester — usually for a fraction of retail.

Rooms arrive furnished, so the smart buys are the extras. Each resident gets a bed with an extra-long twin mattress, plus a desk, chair, dresser, and closet, and the suite comes with carpeted flooring, a shared micro-fridge, WiFi, and utilities rolled into the rate. Twin XL bedding is the size to shop for; standard twin sheets will not fit. Because the suite already includes a micro-fridge, personal refrigerators have to stay compact — housing has capped them at four cubic feet and three feet tall — and standalone microwaves are not permitted, only combo micro-fridge units within those same dimensions. Toasters, hot plates, fryers, electric frying pans, coffee makers, Crock Pots, space heaters, halogen lamps, and anything with an open flame are out too, so double-check a listing against the current housing agreement before you buy. A meal plan is required for residents, which is part of why kitchen gear moves less here than storage, seating, and study setups.

When it's time to hand something off, meet somewhere busy and central. The Student Union is the obvious choice between classes, and the Walter W. Stiern Library, the Student Recreation Center, the Runner Café, and the Runner Bookstore all work just as well. Everything is a few minutes from the residence halls, so there are no shipping labels, no delivery fees, no meeting someone off campus.

Popular categories at CSUB: textbooks and course materials · dorm and apartment furniture · mini fridges and microwaves · bikes and scooters · CSUB apparel and game day gear · electronics and monitors · event tickets · lofting kits and bed risers · storage bins and organizers