RentScouter

How to rent textbooks online is a question many are asking themselves in the quest for cheap textbooks.

Renting books online has been a growing trend over the past several years not only because of the rising cost of textbooks, but also with the worsening economy.  Anyone that has recently attended college, or knows someone that has, can certainly tell you about the rising costs of getting a higher education.  Various reports state that the typical college student spends around $800 on new and used textbooks each year.  How did the ability to rent textbooks online begin?

Save Money: Rent Textbooks Online

Some frustrated students decided to try and do something about the high costs of textbooks.  Out of this dilemma textbook rental companies were born like Chegg and BookRenter. Over the years, these companies have made the process to rent textbooks online streamlined and easy.  Despite the ease of renting books online, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Get the exact ISBN your professor requires for class, not just title and author because often there are old editions of the same title and author textbook.
2. Ask your professor if there are any required supplemental materials (CDs, DVDs, InfoTrac, etc) as most used textbooks will not always have these supplemental materials.  If these materials are required see if you can buy them separately as often a used book and new access code will still be much cheaper compared to a new textbook.
3. Always read the terms and conditions of whichever textbook rental company is offering you the best price.  Each company has different policies regarding length of rental, marking in the rental book, rental length extensions.
4. Many companies that allow you to rent textbooks online have multiple day unconditional guarantees, but try and make the best decision before the book arrives in your hands.

When trying to decide whether to buy textbooks online or rent them, keep in mind renting a textbook is generally a fixed cost.  However, if you buy a new or used textbook you will be able to sell back your textbook when you are finished.  There is no guarantee you will get any cash when you sell back school books, but you should use a rule of thumb of 20% of purchase price on older editions and 50% on newer editions.  If you want, textbook rentals are generally available for purchase at the end of the rental term.

You can do whatever you want with the money you save if you rent textbooks online as it has the potential to save you up to 70% off the purchase price of buying a textbook at your local school book store.

Find A lot more Chegg Articles

Here is a simple video to show you how to buy textbooks online with BookRenter:
1) Search for your book, ideally do an ISBN search with the 10 or 13 digit ISBN number that can be found on the material from your professor, on the back of the book, or on the front copyright page.

2) Once you have selected your textbook, pick your textbook rental period

3) Hover your mouse over the book back, and click “check out”

4) Log-in to your BookRenter account or create a new one

5) You do not have to enter your school information to buy textbooks online

6) Please you enter your shipping address to ensure it is correct

7) Pick your textbook rental period, and remember you can always extend or even purchase your book later if you desire

BookRenter allows you to rent textbooks online by paying with a variety of methods including all major credit cards.

9) Once your order is completed, you will be sent an email confirmation

10) Congratulations, you have just rented your textbooks online quickly and easily with BookRenter.com

Not sure why you should rent textbooks instead of buying used textbooks online?  Search our textbook blog for answers, but briefly:

a) When you rent books, your costs are fixed.  You know exactly what you are going to pay for the book for a specified time.  If you buy a used textbook, you know the purchase price, but there are no guarantees what sort of textbook buy back price your are going get.

b) There are no guarantees a used textbook or a textbook rental will come with required media like CDs or DVDs; however, you can usually purchase these items separately and with the money you save still come out way ahead over buying a new textbook at your college bookstore.

c) Another advantage of renting is that most companies have anywhere from a 14 to 21 day “Any Reason” return policy so if will not be stuck with an unwanted textbook if you have drop the class early or your professor goes crazy and changes the required reading on the first day of college.

Today, Chegg announced a new book rental coupon good for 10% off rentals until 6/30:

SUMMER

Yesterday, BookRenter.com announced their own textbook rental coupon also good for 10% off:

D2CE-76F7-DB09-3E2D

Don’t forget to sell last semester’s books before the supply increases (and prices fall).  Chegg is still offering you an extra $5.00 for book buyback with the following coupon code:

CC128296