RentScouter

Jessica Gresko

MyBookBuyer.com, a textbook buyback organization, has released the winner of the Textbooks for a Year Scholarship essay contest $ 1,250 grand prize. Jessica Gresko, a Master’s student at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., wrote an essay that has won her textbooks for a year. Runners-up Jamie-Kate Osman of the University of Delaware and Anne Lacher of the College of St. Benedict will get some support from their $ 250 awards when buying or renting textbooks.

The cost of textbooks is rising even faster than inflation, creating a financial hardship for students which is only compounded by a bad economy and a lack of jobs.  “The students come to us to sell back books due to the fact they desperately need the money to purchase books for next semester,” says Michael Der.  MyBookBuyer decided to do something to support the students who come to the site to sell textbooks for money. In the spring of 2010, the web site announced the 1st ever Textbooks for a Year Scholarship Essay Contest. The contest was designed to supply the winner with sufficient funds to acquire textbooks for an entire year and two runner-up awards of $ 250.

The Spring 2010 award was a huge success with hundreds students from across the country writing essays to try and win textbooks for a year. Ultimately, the winner was junior International Health major Danielle Goetter, who wrote about how the book ‘The Poisonwood Bible’ by Barbara Kingsolver had changed her life.  Jessica Gresko’s grand prize-winning essay discussed building schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan as discussed in the book ‘Three Cups of Tea.’ The essay argued that ‘health care can save a life, but only education can better the life of an entire population.’

MyBookBuyer enables users to sell textbooks for cash. MyBookBuyer is the book and textbook buyback service of Beagle Books of Northern California.  Any books MyBookBuyer can not resell are recycled or donated to Resource Region For Teachers (RAFT), a non-profit organization that offers classroom materials to teachers.

According to a 2005 study by the Government Accountability Office, the price of textbooks rose six percent every year from 1986 to 2004. That is twice the rate of inflation. According to College Board, the average U.S. college student spent $ 1,122 on textbooks for the 2009-2010 academic year, a 32 percent boost from five years earlier.

In recent years numerous options have emerged to address the skyrocketing price of textbooks. Websites such as Chegg and BookRenter have emerged offering textbook rental programs. Major online retailers like Amazon and Half.com have answered with used textbook initiatives. Finally, on campus bookstores, in partnership with book retailers such as Barnes & Nobel and Rent-A-Text, have begun offering rental programs at over 1,000 college campuses.

These days students can purchase or rent books online or on campus. The rapidly growing number of options has created fierce price competition. However, a lot of the pricing information was previously unavailable. That all changed this year. In 2008 Congress passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which needed all college bookstores to publicly list their new, used and rental textbook prices no later than June, 2010. CampusBooks is the very first textbook price comparison web site to take advantage of this public data.

Via it’s web site, iPhone and Android applications CampusBooks enables students to compare prices and availability from over 40 of the very best-recognized on the web textbook retailers. Starting today those students will also be able to check prices and availability of books at thousands college bookstores and libraries from across the country. Students who enter their location into the CampusBooks website or use geo-targeting technology on their mobile devices can come across the closest brick-and-mortar locations where their books are obtainable.

“Students still acquire the vast majority of their textbooks at their campus bookstore,” says Jeff Cohen, CEO of CampusBooks. “We are the 1st and only textbook comparison internet site to integrate prices from these outlets. We even tell students if their book is accessible at their college library. So whether you want to buy, rent or borrow, on-line or on campus, CampusBooks provides pricing details from each achievable source of college textbooks.”

With purchase and rental, online and on campus data, CampusBooks is the most comprehensive textbook outlet. A student sitting in their dorm at Notre Dame might search for a biology textbook on CampusBooks and come across that the book is readily available to rent at her college bookstore. An additional student shopping at the exact same college bookstore may possibly not be able to afford a textbook. Using the iPhone app to scan the barcode of a book, this student may well come across that the book is accessible for free of charge at the Notre Dame library.

CampusBooks delivers students the widest selection of books whether renting or buying used textbooks. Students can simply figure out what route they want to take when they have all the accurate details in front of them.

About CampusBooks:

CampusBooks.com is a free service that searches the Web for the lowest prices on used and new textbooks.

Textbook rentals are a fast growing trend for today’s college students. The opportunity to rent textbooks can offer substantial savings, however, renting a textbook may not always be the best option. It is important for students to understand their options when choosing to rent or buy a textbook to maximize savings.

Approximately 500,000 textbook titles are actively used each year at colleges and universities. However, less than 50,000 of those titles may be economical to rent.  Students need to be able to make an educated decision when it comes to renting textbooks to ensure they get the best value. They need to be able to compare textbook costs for new, used, rental and purchase options all at the same time, according to TextbookStop.com founder and CEO Peter Hurtubise. “We recommend renting textbooks as long as you are saving at least $ 20 from the purchase price. If you need a textbook for more than one term, it is usually cheaper to buy.

There are times when a student has to have a new textbook instead of a used textbook. Some textbooks are bundled with other media such as CD’s or DVD’s or they come with internet-based accessories. These supplemental materials may be required or incorporated into a professor’s lesson plans.  In instances where students need access to online programs or CD tutorials, renting a new textbook would be the best financial play for the student, states Mike Clear, Vice President of Operations at TextbookStop.com.  It is far cheaper to rent a new textbook than to purchase one. Also, you have access to all of the supplements that are bundled with that book, adds Clear.

For students today, renting textbooks may be a cost effective alternative. Often a combination of textbook rentals and used textbook purchases will yield the largest savings. It is useful for students to have access to textbook rental and purchase choices to ensure they get their best value. Making informed decisions will guarantee students maximum savings.

TextbookStop.com, a leading online textbook rental and sales company, offers students new and used options on textbook rentals and sales. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, the company’s mission is to make education more affordable by reducing the costs associated with renting or purchasing textbooks. To learn more, visit TextbookStop.com.

Textbook Rentals – Know When to Rent and When to Buy