RentScouter

We all have these preconceived notions of college being this wonderfully glamorous place that will translate into the best years of our lives. And while that may be true for some, the majority of us get a good whiff of reality when our dollars start dwindling.

The truth is, while college will probably be one of the most memorable times in your life, it is very expensive. It’s not just your tuition; you have to also consider other costs, like transportation, textbooks, food, computers, entertainment, etc.

The costs associated with being a college student, and/or sending your child off to college are rising exponentially. We have ideas of how to save money in college, but here are a few things you may not have thought of:

continue reading…

Amazon Textbook Buyback or Cash for Textbooks – Your Best Option?

It is the time of year when lots of textbook companies are hoping to buy back textbooks to sell back in the fall.  As someone endeavoring to get the highest price for your textbooks should you attempt to get cash for textbooks or try the new Amazon Textbook Buyback program which only offers Amazon credit?

Cash for Textbooks or Amazon Textbook Credit?

Amazon has been heavily pushing their Amazon Prime program to college goers via their Amazon Student Savings program.  Amazon Student offers free two-day shipping on eligible products with a year of Amazon Prime shipping benefits and other special offers via email.  Amazon offers this program for free to students that provide their school, major, and .edu email address.

Amazon claims students can get back up to 70% back on their used textbooks, but haven’t recently gotten into some legal action with the National Association of College Stores over their claims.  The Amazon textbook buyback program has been getting good reviews here at RentScouter with the program building a great deal of popularity despite only offering credit.  However, since Amazon sells everything from diapers to gourmet food, people are generally pretty happy with getting credit when they sell back books instead of cash for textbooks.  Plus, Amazon’s buy back program offers a great deal more than most companies offering to buy back textbooks.

Let’s look at a couple examples of cash for textbooks versus Amazon textbook buyback credit:

9781416056171  Physical Examination and Health Assessment by Jarvis

Amazon is currently offering $71.10 in credit, while the next best textbook buyback price is $9.00 from BookByte.  The cheapest price for this textbook is currently $15.63 used on Amazon.

9780495800187  A Concise Introduction to Logic by Hurley

Amazon is currently offering $56.86 in credit, while the next best book buyback price is $7.84 from Moola4Books, while it can be purchased used on Amazon for $16.00.

9780321558145  Campbell Biology with MasteringBiology 9th Edition by Reece

Amazon is currently offering $95.00 in credit, while TextbookRus is offering $103.00 and it can be bought as a used textbook for $141.95.

As you can see, sometimes you can get more cash for textbooks than Amazon credit, but are textbook buyback companies and Amazon equal?

From our own textbook trade-in tests to Amazon they are very picky on condition and supplemental materials.  They will reject most books that contain any sort of marking or do not include a CD or DVD or even access code.  Meanwhile, most companies that buy back textbooks will certainly take books with a reasonable amount of marking or highlighting, though most will not take textbooks missing required CDs or DVDs.

How does Amazon offer so much credit instead of cash for textbooks?

Amazon’s textbook buyback program is run by NorAm International which ultimately becomes Nebraska Book Company (NBC) one of the largest wholesale textbook companies that supplies new and used textbooks to hundreds of college bookstores across the nation and textbook rental companies as well.  NBC can offer more for textbooks through Amazon only for school books it knows they can resell for a much higher price, or sell to a book rental company that will offer it as a textbook rental several times.  So while you are getting a good deal of Amazon credit for your textbook trade-in, whoever has to buy that textbook next is not getting a bargain.

That is why a used book might be selling used on Amazon for $15.00 and they are offering $70.00 in credit – because NorAm is offering Amazon more because the book can be resold at a higher price, or used as a textbook rental several times.  However, remember that Amazon often loses money on certain products to make money on others, and they know if they give you $70.00 in credit, they are making 15% back in the commission they charge on every item you purchase on Amazon.  They also know that by giving you Amazon credit they are helping to retain you as a future customer that will spend more and more money with them – for instance, buying new textbooks that they will make a pretty penny in commission.

Cash for Textbooks or Amazon Textbook Buyback – if you need the cash get the highest price, otherwise you probably make out best with Amazon credit unless you don’t order much from Amazon.

eCampus.com Pays Cash To Students For Renting Textbooks

eCampus.com is proud to introduce the eCampus.com Entourage, a brand ambassador program aimed at providing cash rewards to students for doing what they do anyway: renting, buying and selling textbooks.

Students sign up for a free account at http://www.ecampusentourage.com and are given a unique code to use at eCampus.com. Each code is good for a 5% discount on all purchases and rentals as well as a $ 5 bonus when selling books back to eCampus.com. Ambassadors are encouraged to build their own entourage by sharing their unique code with friends who will then receive the same benefits when placing orders. For every rental order placed with their code, the ambassador will receive a $ 5 referral bonus. The larger an ambassador’s entourage, the greater the earning potential.

“The eCampus.com Entourage will allow us to harness the energy and enthusiasm of our ambassadors to promote the savings offered through eCampus.com,” said eCampus.com CEO Matt Montgomery. “We look forward to sharing the power of our brand with students nationwide.”

In order to ensure that the ambassadors have every opportunity to be successful, eCampus.com will provide continual marketing support and direction to students hoping to grow their entourage. The eCampus.com Entourage web site (http://www.ecampusentourage.com) has been built to include a myriad of social media sharing tools designed to help ambassadors market their codes through Facebook posts, Twitter, blogs, email, text messaging and video. They will also have the ability to print flyers with their custom ambassador code that can be distributed at campus hot spots.

Montgomery continues, “We know our customers are always looking for easier, faster and cheaper options for their textbooks. Now, by joining the eCampus.com Entourage, students can earn cash and other rewards on top of the savings already offered at eCampus.com And by providing students innovative social sharing tools on eCampusEntourage.com, we make it even easier for them to grow their own entourage.”

In addition to creating an easy revenue stream for ambassadors, students may also be able to receive college credit by participating in the program. The eCampus.com Entourage has been structured in such a way that students will receive valuable marketing experience that is both measurable and educational.

eCampus.com is the only textbook provider offering new and used textbooks for purchase as well as textbook rentals and downloadable eTextbooks. Entourage coupon codes will be good for all textbook purchase options as well as on a large selection of DVD and Blu-ray titles as well as college clothing.

More Rent Textbooks Press Releases