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College Marketplace is the student-only buy and sell app for Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Every account is verified with an @iastate.edu email address, so you're only ever trading with other Cyclones — not strangers from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

Where Cyclones buy and sell

ISU housing splits between two main neighborhoods. Whether you're in Richardson Court at Barton, Lyon, Freeman, Birch, Welch, Roberts, Linden, Oak, Elm, or the Maple-Willow-Larch towers, on Union Drive in Friley — one of the largest residence halls in the country — or in Helser, Eaton, or Martin, in Buchanan, Geoffroy, Wallace, or Wilson, or in apartments at Frederiksen Court, Schilletter Village, or University Village, everything you need is already on campus. Cyclones post mini fridges, futons, storage bins, desk lamps, monitors, bikes, and gently used textbooks every semester — usually for a fraction of retail. Students living off campus around Campustown use it too. Same rule applies: verified students only, and the person on the other end is someone you'd pass on the way to class.

Air conditioning is the deciding factor here

At most schools the big difference between halls is location. At Iowa State it's AC. Maple, Willow, and Larch are air-conditioned high-rises; Helser is not; Friley has AC in most rooms but not all. That shapes what students actually buy — fans move fast in August, and a good box fan or tower fan is worth listing rather than tossing when you move out. Worth knowing which side of that line your building falls on before you shop.

Meeting up on campus

Handoffs happen at landmarks everybody already knows. The Memorial Union, Parks Library, State Gym, and the Lied Recreation Center are all easy meeting points between classes. Richardson Court and Union Drive sit on opposite sides of campus, so if you're in MWL and the seller is in Friley, meet at the Union or the library rather than walking across. CyRide covers the rest. No shipping labels, no delivery fees, no driving across Ames to meet someone off Craigslist.

Textbooks without the bookstore markup

Course materials for engineering, agriculture, design, and the sciences run into the hundreds of dollars a semester, and the same editions circulate through campus year after year. Buying from the Cyclone who took the class last term beats the bookstore buyback spread on both ends — the seller gets more than the buyback price, and the buyer pays less than retail.

Popular categories at Iowa State: textbooks and course materials · dorm and apartment furniture · fans and cooling · mini fridges and microwaves · bikes and scooters · Cyclones apparel and game day gear · winter gear · electronics and monitors · lofting kits and bed risers