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College Marketplace is the student-only buy and sell app for the University of Montana in Missoula. Every account is verified with a @umconnect.umt.edu email address — the UMConnect mailbox every UM student gets — so you're only ever trading with other Grizzlies, not strangers from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

Montana requires every student with fewer than 30 earned college credits to live in the residence halls, so essentially the entire first-year class lands in the same nine buildings. Aber Hall, Craig Hall, Duniway Hall, Elrod Hall, Jesse Hall, Knowles Hall, Miller Hall, Pantzer Hall and Turner Hall cover singles, doubles, triples, the three-person pods in Miller and the four-person suites in Pantzer. At 60 credits — or 24 credits with a 2.5 GPA and a clean conduct record — you can move into an apartment at Lewis & Clark Village on South Campus. Mini fridges, futons, storage bins, desk lamps, monitors, bikes and used textbooks get posted every semester, usually well under retail.

Check the specs before you buy bedding. Hall beds take standard twin sheets with two exceptions: Turner Hall and Knowles Hall have extra-long beds, so ask which building a set came out of. Housing offers standard, captain or lofted bed height in every hall except Miller's fifth floor, where ceilings are too low to loft, and bunks beds only in doubles where both roommates request it — worth knowing before you buy a used loft kit or risers. Rooms already include a desk, chair, dresser, closet, bookshelf, overhead light and a network connection, so the extras are what's worth buying used: a mini fridge (under 4.0 cubic feet of interior space), a microwave, a rug, a small fan. Skip window units — air conditioners are not allowed in the halls unless the Office for Disability Equity approves one. Hot plates, toasters and toaster ovens are banned, along with candles and incense; the only pets allowed are fish in a 10-gallon tank or smaller. Pantzer suites and Miller pods already have a shared refrigerator and microwave, so compare notes with your roommates first.

Agreed on a price? Meet somewhere public and busy. The University Center, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The Lodge Dining Center, the Recreation Center and the Adams Center are all central, easy to describe to someone you have not met, and busy at any hour. Hand it over between classes: no shipping labels, no delivery fees, no going off campus.

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