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EssayBay Press Essay the easy way



New website offers for-pay papers with virtually no risk


By Flynn Daunt, Contributor | Excalibur, York University's Community Newspaper


March 19, 2008

The life of university students can be demanding and stressful at times. The many essays students must write, particularly this time of year, cause a lot of that stress. It is not hard to understand, then, that some students may become desperate and resort to measures such as plagiarism or even having someone else write their essay for them.

Enter EssayBay.com. EssayBay is a website run similarly to the popular auction website EBay but with a few twists. Instead of posting an item and having people bid for it, a person needing an essay posts their essay topic and criteria, such as necessary focuses and length. Writers will bid on the item, stating their price and their qualifications. Then the buyers choose which writer would be the best and for what price. People can even select to have a master’s-level paper written for them and careful selection could lead to it receiving one of the highest grades in the class.

The average price of a paper varies. Testing out the system, I posted an essay topic entitled “America’s War on Mustaches.” I said it should be an essay of 1,750 words and had to get at least a B. Within a few days there were seven bids from writers claiming to be graduates from acclaimed schools such as Oxford and Harvard. The bids had a price range from just over $100 to about $400, so it’s not hard to believe that longer and more demanding essays could reach a few thousand dollars.

Jed Hallam, EssayBay’s public relations manager, said purchasing essays is nothing new.

“The custom essay industry has been around for hundreds of years now, be it in the form of an academic writing an essay for a friend or a student purchasing an essay from the Internet,” he explained.

But, EssayBay is different.

“The market was previously murky, with custom essay companies often employing unqualified writers. By increasing the transparency of the process, EssayBay hopes to drastically improve the industry. Our customers choose their own writer and establish their own code of conduct [this includes their ethical code regarding plagiarism],” said Hallam.

Plagiarism is, in fact, what makes sites like EssayBay very controversial. York University’s Senate Policy on Academic Honesty regards cheating and plagiarism as any work or idea not created by the student but claimed to be his or her.

Hallam disagreed with that assessment.

“It is ridiculous to suggest that using our service as a study aid is cheating, and this suggestion is merely a way for universities and colleges to reflect blame for poor assessment methods.”

EssayBay’s view is that it is in fact the universities themselves who are to blame for students having to have other people write their essays for them.

“Universities and colleges make huge profits every year by cutting back on marking and assessment. By recycling old essay titles and mass marking work, they’ve created their own issues,” said Hallam.

So, how is York combating these services?

“These cases are difficult to prove,” said Prof. Robert Kennedy, academic advisor at Founders College.

Kennedy recommends that those handing out assignments stage the essays by having students hand in a bibliography and thesis statement before the actual essay is due. He also recommends essays be structured in a way that makes them relevant to the course. That way, when a student hands in a paper written by someone outside the class, it shows up as an anomaly compared to the other essays.

“This is really about time management issues,” Kennedy said.

He said that students who use these services often leave their work to the last minute and create a situation where sites like EssayBay are the only option for them. He recommends students use the resources York provides such as the research libraries or writing assistants and sessions.

Marilyn Lambert-Drache, assistant dean of the faculty of arts, sees services like EssayBay as an indication of a greater problem as well.

“I feel sorry when I hear of students purchasing essays, knowing all the resources we have on campus,” she said.

York’s combat of essay services is more pedagogical than direct. The university hopes that by offering services to assist in essay writing, students won’t find themselves considering the purchase of an essay.

“We can’t go after every service out there [. . .] We don’t support these services and we don’t want our students using these services,” said Lambert-Drache. “We give the students the resources they need to acquire the skills they need.”

Essays are supposed to test how much knowledge and skill students have acquired. In theory, if student shave all their work done for them they may be under-prepared for the responsibilities and demands of many jobs. They would have the grades and the degree but not the skill. After all, you can’t buy skills. At least until SkillBay.com launches.

The Price of Plagiarism


EssayBay’s prices range depending on needs. Length, level and due date seem to have the greatest effect, but ultimately the choice rests with the buyer. Here’s a look at some of the going rates.

Middle School Education
Research Paper
Master’s Level
2,500 words
7 days to complete
$540 US winning bid

Cognitive Development
Research Paper
Undergraduate Level
3,500 Words
1 day to complete
$472.50 US winning bid

Service Operations
Summary Report
Undergraduate Level
1,500 Words
8 days to complete
$59.99 US winning bid

Learning Communities
Reflection
Master’s Level
3,000 Words
8 days to complete
$162 US winning bid

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