With millions of U.S. college student’s struggling to survive on ramen noodles and $5 pizzas, any opportunity to reduce costs is a godsend. As a current student, I know that one of the most frustrating expenses we face is the high price of textbooks; buying a textbook for $100 and only getting $5 when you sell it back is a major slap in the face. Luckily, more textbook options have emerged over the last few years. Many students now rent textbooks, instead of buying them, a service that can save several hundred dollars per semester. TextbookStop.com, one of the primary companies pioneering textbook rentals, is now giving students another textbook solution, and it’s revolutionary.
TextbookStop.com has just announced RentBack, a new program that allows you to sell your textbooks in the middle of a semester, but hang onto them until finals are over. Confused? Don’t worry; it’s really quite simple.
To illustrate, let’s picture an average college student, Ben, attending Acme University. For spring break, some of Ben’s friends are heading down to Florida, but he’s a little short on cash. Not wanting to stay home with nothing but his Netflix queue, he looks around his room for something to sell. Suddenly, his eyes fall onto his stack of textbooks; cha-ching! Knowing how much textbooks cost, Ben realizes that selling them could easily produce enough cash to pay his way down to Florida.
The problem? Ben is floating C’s in his classes, and he really needs to do well on his finals to keep his grades up. Herein lies the conundrum: If Ben sells his textbooks, he won’t be able to study or complete assignments, resulting in a low GPA and class retaking. If he hangs onto his books, however, he won’t be able to go to Florida with his friends; social suicide.
Enter RentBack. Ben goes to one of TextbookStop.com’s U.S. locations, and sells his textbooks for beautiful cash. He then rents his books back for the mere price of an item on the extra value menu ($1 each). Ben heads off to Florida, and is able to study and pass his finals when he gets back. Once his finals are aced, he returns the books back to the TextbookStop.com location.
As shown by the example, RentBack truly has the potential to change the way college students use and sell their textbooks. RentBack gives students the power of choice; we can sell our books when WE want to, allowing us to spend the money on something better, like spring break.
To find a participating RentBack location near you, go to TextbookStop.com’s website.