College-Style

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Saving Money: Renting Textbooks Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:43 AM PDT By: Lori of University of Georgia. Follow me at forestrobin37. photo credit Nobody needs to be told that college is expensive. With tuition and other expenses on the brain, you don’t need to be worried about spending a small fortune on books. If you know you're not going to reuse a book (particularly if you're just getting a core class out of the way), then renting is an extremely appealing option for saving money and space. As a way to stick it to the college book stores on campus, who have the nerve to charge you an exorbitant fee for books and then pay you a measly amount when you return them, I tried renting a textbook last year and not only was it cheaper (I'm talking about a $50 difference), but I didn't have to worry about selling it back later. I received a brand-new book (that I personally chose) for $30 and easily returned it, with no extra charge, on the last day of the semester. With renting, not only are you saving greenbacks for your wallet, but by reusing books, you're saving resources and performing a very eco-friendly good deed. There are several reliable websites that offer you ways to rent textbooks if you don't want to risk the hassle and cost of buying, and even some that offer eBooks. Chegg.com photo credit Chegg.com is a popular book rental site that wins my bid for the most user-friendly site and the site with the most services for students, such as homework help and class reviews. Chegg offers prices based on the rental period you choose (between 60 days and 125 days), plus a small shipping fee, so you aren't comparing prices between individual sellers. Although you can't choose the quality of the book you receive, Chegg only accepts books that are in very good condition, meaning books that don't have significant damage to the spine and pages or excessive writing and highlighting. You simply have to return the book undamaged, by an established standard time period, wherein return shipping is free. Slouching isn't attractive on anyone, so if you're interested in lightening the load on your back, Chegg also updated their site to include eBooks. Chegg's eBooks can be streamed via their website only. [For an exclusive site just for eBooks, which can be accessed from iPhones, iPads, Nooks, computers, Sony Reader, etc., visit ebooks.com]. Another plus of using the site is that Chegg.com plants a tree for every purchase or rental that you make, from textbook to eBook. And if that doesn’t make you feel better about renting, I don’t know what does. Half.com photo credit Half.com is my go-to website for buying books. Almost every time that I have compared book prices (textbook or otherwise) between Half.com and its competing juggernaut, Amazon.com, Half's prices have been cheaper. While this site makes it simple to buy and sell new and used textbooks, very recently, they launched a feature on their website for renting books, which makes getting textbooks from the site even easier. One of the biggest pros of renting from Half is that you can compare prices between individual renters and choose the best deal for you. However, like with Chegg, you don't get to choose the quality of the book, while the site does require sellers to provide books without extensive damage, stains, or writing and highlighting. On Half, you can rent books from between 30 days to a full-semester long (125 days). Half offers free return shipping for undamaged rentals, as well. Amazon.com photo credit I haven't updated to a Kindle yet, and clearly Amazon.com has not updated to regular book rentals yet (come on, old girl), but for now, Amazon is offering textbook rentals for Kindle users. Like both Half and Chegg, Amazon allows you to choose your rental period. Amazon, however, offers the longest rental period; you can rent a book on Kindle for up to 360 days. According to Amazon, their rental prices can be up to 80% cheaper than the listed textbook price. Pricing is based on how long you intend to keep the book. A major plus is that notes taken on the Kindle remain on the cloud even after the rental period is finished. Is the book even necessary? Before buying or renting, be sure to check whether the textbooks that are supposedly required for your class are actually used. I checked ratemyprofessor.com for comments on specific courses and how important owning the textbook was. As it turns out, I didn't need to read the books to do well in some of my classes, so I didn't bother buying them, and saved a lot of money in the process. If you absolutely need to get the book and even if you decide not to rent, try to buy your books online where they are often much cheaper than in-store. Thoughts? What are your experiences with renting textbooks? Do you prefer buying and owning textbooks or renting? Any feedback on renting through the websites featured above?

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