Anyone need a pet snake or cheap bowling lessons? How about a used loft or electric guitar?

If these things strike any student’s fancy, he or she can purchase them on the virtual market at Eastern’s new Student Panther Information Network Web site, spin.eiu.edu.

The virtual market, which is similar to the Web site e-Bay, was offered to Eastern as part of the SINAPSE program, and it is there to, “give students the ability to buy, sell and trade anything within reason,” according to the SPIN site.

Items “within reason” include electronics, furnishings, housing/apartment openings, miscellaneous items that do not fit in the other categories, services such as music lessons or offers for odd jobs and items students want that are not posted on the market.

“We have categories that try to direct (market users) to what is appropriate and what’s not,” said Vicki Phillips, the Web services technicians for Information Technology Services at Eastern. “When they post advertisements for a business, it’s frowned upon, and they are warned. Nobody has been banned yet, but if someone is repeatedly warned, they can be banned.”

To use the virtual market, which is free to students, faculty and staff, one has to create a log in account and password, which is the same as an individual’s Eastern e-mail account and password, Phillips said.

Because the SPIN site and the market are new this year, ITS personnel have not received any feedback about them, Phillips said, but students who are using the market said they think it is a good idea.

“I think the market is a great idea,” said Daniel Cox, who has his pet snake listed for sale on the site for $60. “(The market) is kind of an alternative to classifieds, but from what I have seen, the student turnout is not so great.

“I get the impression that no one knows or is familiar with the Web site and the market,” Cox said.

Cox’s impression is correct.

Because Phillips and others from ITS are spending most of their time setting up the other modules offered on the SPIN site, publicizing the site, and in turn the virtual market, is yet to happen.

“No marketing has been done so far because we wanted to make sure all programs and the entire infrastructure were solid,” Phillips said. “We’re just now starting to do presentations and get information out.”

Though not much publicizing has been done, students have seemed to find their way to the site to buy, sell or trade pretty much anything they want.

“I heard about it just by surfing around on the Internet one day,” Cox said. “I came across the market accidentally and thought that maybe it would be a good idea.”

Cox is not the only student who has stumbled across the virtual market. Several other students have posted items and services for sale as well.

Currently, there is a Sony Playstation 2, Zip drives, an electric guitar, a loft bed, bowling lessons, trumpet/voice lessons, CD’s, desktop computer and Cox’s snake up for grabs on the market.