But the school didn’t shut him down. And bargain-hunting students quickly made a beeline to his door.
That expanded to other colleges — Otterbein, Ohio Wesleyan and Ohio State universities and Columbus State Community College.
Comisford worked at the venture during his college years and decided to make it his full-time business after he graduated in 2008.
“I thought I’d just do this after I graduated instead of trying to get a job, and I never looked back,” he said.
“He was out in a tent with a portable heater and his laptop,” Hill said. The laptop was useful not only in keeping track of the books, but in helping to set accurate prices — a function developed for him by David Hummel, a recent graduate of the OSU School of Engineering.
That small venture led to the online rental business, Frewg.
“I’ve always been trying to make money here and there,” Comisford said. “I think it was a natural progression.”
Hummel signed on to the enterprise, and he and Comisford invested their own cash to launch it and are seeking more investors to continue to expand.
The business is Comisford’s only job, with Hummel continuing to provide website development and another friend, A.J. Timonere, handling bookkeeping and accounting.
“If you think about it, a lot of kids buy books, then sell them at the end of year,” Comisford said. “That’s like a rental, but the risk is on them. This (Frewg) sort of shifts the risk to us and has a lower upfront cost to students.”
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