College textbooks are surprisingly expensive. Students can expect to spend an average of $1000 a year and get little return because they lose value so quickly. Buying used books is one option, but renting has begun to catch on.
Why rent textbooks?
Textbooks are a lousy investment. From the minute of purchase they lose a great deal of value and by next semester the course may call for a different or updated book, which means it won't be able to easily resell them. Some online sites are offering a solution that can save college students money on the cost of textbooks by making it easy and cost-effective to rent them.
Chegg.com
Chegg.com is a comprehensive website that allows you to buy, sell or rent books all in one place. A ticker on the home page announces boldly that they have saved students over $56 million to date – and counting. Given the average cost of textbooks, that doesn't seem out of line. The first of it's kind, Chegg.com opened its virtual doors in 2007 and caught on quickly. Their operation policies are simple, rent a book and save 30 – 70% over the cost of a new book, it ships out immediately via UPS in a recyclable box, and return shipping is free. Plus, for every book they rent, they plant a tree. And you can cancel the rental in 30 days without penalty. For a money saving measure, you can't do better than renting textbooks. Chegg.com also offers to extend your due date for free if your class runs longer than the rental agreement.
Bookrenter.com
Bookrenter.com is another popular college textbook rental source online. The website offers no options for outright purchase or sale, but otherwise works in a similar manner to chegg.com. Start your search by title, author or ISBN and you may opt for next day or 2 day shipping. The return process is free and easy, and extensions are available if necessary. You can also choose to purchase the book you're renting.
How much can I save?
To research this, I picked a university at random and accessed their online bookstore, where I chose several current course books at random. Using the ISBN, I compared the cost at the bookstore to advertised rental prices at Chegg.com and Bookrenter.com. Here are the results:
Learning and Assessing Science Process Skills
ISBN: 0757537847
Analyzing Law's Reach Empirical Research on Law and Society
ISBN: 159031896X
- University of Florida Bookstore price: $89.95
- Chegg.com price: $31.20
- Bookrenter.com price: Not in database
CRC Handbook of Lie Group Analysis of Differential Equations, Volume I: Symmetries, Exact Solutions, and Conservation Laws
ISBN: 0849344883
- University of Florida Bookstore price: $219.95
- Chegg.com price: Out of stock
- Bookrenter.com price: $131.95
Points to Remember
When searching for a rental textbook there are a few things to remember in order to guarantee a positive experience.
- Use the ISBN printed on the back cover of the book – you can look it up at any bookseller online - to ensure that you order the correct book.
- You may have to shop around. My researched showed that not every source will have the textbooks in stock.
- Verify that you're ordering the U.S. edition for the book and not an international edition.
- Pay attention to the return date to avoid late fees.
- Be prepared to pay for any damage you may have caused. It's your responsibility to treat any rental property with respect and care.
Regardless of which website you rent college textbooks from, you will save money over buying new. Buying used is another good option, but textbooks may be more difficult to find, are typically more expensive on average, and shipping is not always quick from random sources.