<p>In my opinion, renting textbooks seem like such a scam. Sometimes, the rental price is almost as much as the purchase price</p>
<p>I imagine that there might be a few cases in which it might be advisable to rent. However, in most cases, it seems like a raw deal.</p>
<p>What do you think? What have your (or your friends') experiences with book renting been like?</p>
<p>If it’s a case like you said where the rental is as much or about as much as buying the book, I’d just buy the book and sell it later. Especially if it were a book for a series that you’d just need to extend the rental for. If the class is a major class that you might need later, I’d say to buy in that case too.</p>
<p>I’ve only rented once, and it was because of two factors. First, the rental price was a lot cheaper than the used buying price. Second, I talked to the professor and he mentioned that that was the last quarter using that edition and subsequent quarters would be using a new edition (where the older editions wouldn’t work for the purposes of the class). Given those factors, I felt that there was no point in buying the book, especially since it was a GE class. The rental process gave me no issues, so I’ll gladly do it again if a similar case happens later.</p>
<p>That’s another point: If the price is significantly lower than the buying price and it’s a GE class (ie a book you know you’ll never need again), I don’t see much of a point to buying. On the other hand, I had a roommate that preferred to buy so that she could sell the book the following quarter and get some money back. She’d usually end up saving slightly more than I did by renting that one textbook, once she had sold her book of course. That method works too, if you’d prefer doing that.</p>
<p>Edit: I just looked at your link. From what I see, the buy tab puts the book at around $52 while the rental tab puts it at about $26 for the longest rental. That’s not too bad, but in that case I’d say it depends on your preference as far as buying versus renting (after all other factors are taken into account).</p>
<p>If you think renting is a scam, try buying some books. My daughter spent $400 on Organic Chemistry books on discount sites. Then a new edition came out and those $400 worth of books were worthless, well they did offer her $20 for them. She would have rented the books but needed them for multiple semesters. </p>
<p>The example you give makes your statement true ~ for that case. Of course the cheapest book I see is $32.95 in the “Acceptable” category which is below New, Like New, Very Good, and Good! I wonder what the $28.49 book looks like! </p>
<p>My daughter has rented many books for a fraction of the discounted, used purchase price. My son rented a university edition English book for $12 that would have been $65, new edition, no used books available. Had he bought the book he would have had to shell out the $65 for the semester and then at buy back time deal with the hassle of selling the book for a fraction of what he paid. It was easier and cheaper to rent it. </p>
<p>Sometimes renting is easier and a great deal, sometimes it is not. In my experience with two kids, renting is the preferred method about 2/3 of the time. The only time my kids buy books is if they need the book for multiple semesters or if it is a book they want to keep for reference.</p>
<p>I haven’t rented yet, but I am also one year in at my community college so the books aren’t necessarily rare on the market. But what I generally look for is the best method of resale.</p>
<p>Beforehand I look for which is the best investment, with buying new or used online or at the bookstore. Usually it’s buying used on Amazon and the bookstore is usually a last resort for the more obscure or precise book. With my experience buying used online, sometimes the condition is over or under exaggerated, I paid $1.99 for a used book in Good condition that was really like new, and I paid $5.99 for a Good condition book that was much more beat up and worn. It’s a gamble, but it’s still incredibly cheap (both were current editions).</p>
<p>I then look at which groups can generate the most revenue for said book. My two primary groups are Amazon trade-in (free shipping and redeemed in Amazon gift card dollars, which are essentially my online “cash” fund with which I buy movies, music or whatever else is on Amazon) and the campus resale market (My college campus has a little board where people put up flyers for selling or requesting specific textbooks. I put up a slightly more attractive and colorful flyer and wait for someone to call. A safer option than Craigslist). I avoid campus buyback at all costs.</p>
<p>I look to Amazon when a trade-in is more profitable, usually around 20 bucks or more. Sometimes I’ve scored though, I once traded in a math book for over $100 (funded my Xmas gifts). I go for campus resale when I can’t seem to get any profit online and I can get a book for better value where it has more value: on campus!</p>
<p>Whatever means of resale, don’t expect to gain a surplus or earn back all your money; the key is to find the best method of profiting from that stinking book as much as possible. I know this has almost nothing to do with renting, I’m just offering my side of the coin. Textbook resale is pretty much the backbone of my entertainment fund being a poor college student, and being a business major I love to talk about this kind of stuff. Good luck on the textbook market!</p>
<p>Son just graduated in engineering. Smart kid and cost conscious. (We paid for all text books, etc. , so cost savings were for us!!!)</p>
<p>Son rented many text books. Easy and cheap. My sons also purchased books on Amazon, cheap. </p>
<p>Son just told me there are many rental textbook companies online. He used a variety of them. Half.com are purchases, not rentals.</p>
<p>It obviously depends on the book, but I’m inclined to agree for the most part. In my experience, rentals are rarely much cheaper than buying, and you don’t have the option of reselling with a rental. I’ve always bought my books, and I’ve usually been able to recoup 2/3’s of my investment or so by reselling them. This last semester for instance, I think I spent around $600 on my books. I was able to resell them all for about $375. Had I rented them instead of buying them, it would have cost me roughly $500, versus $600 spent on buying them. So, overall I saved a little more than $100.</p>
<p>A lot of courses will use the same book for several semesters too, which is important to keep in mind. A lot of introductory calculus sequences will use the same book for 3, or sometimes 4 semesters. In this case, buying is obviously a wiser choice, considering that you would have to rent the same book 3-4 times. This would end up costing significantly more than just buying it outright. The same is true for a lot of university physics sequences, and a lot of two semester chemistry sequences. Many other upper level courses like one year sequences in electromagnetism, or classical mechanics will also use the same book for two semesters. You just have to weight out the options and do a little bit of math to figure out where the best savings will be.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m the kind of person that likes to hang on to a lot of my books, particular my math and science books. Not everyone is like that though.</p>
<p>I rent mostly. It has been cheaper for me to do that for the most part.</p>
<p>I’ve rented many textbooks. It’s often (but not always) cheaper to rent. </p>
<p>They are not a scam.</p>
<p>Here’s a suggestion: ask your professor if it would be okay to user a slightly older edition. Professors often consent.</p>
<p>More than likely, there’s not difference between the 6th edition and 7th edition released just 2.5 years later.</p>
<p>I’m actually doing that in my chemistry classes for the next two semesters. I’m taking a two course sequence in general chemistry, and the textbook is optional, but recommended. We aren’t given assignments out of it, but the professor recommends it for studying. I happened to get a free copy of the same text book from a couple of editions ago, and I contacted him to see if it would be sufficient, and he said it would be just fine. I guess he actually used to use this edition, and he said in many ways it’s actually superior. I got it for free, and I would have had to pay a couple hundred dollars for the new edition. So needless to say, I was pretty happy about that.</p>
<p>just get ebooks. theyre so much cheaper and portable. i barely spend anything on textbooks anymore.</p>
<p>Just get the second-most recent edition. I doubt Eric “Soviet” Foner has come up with any important new distortions of American history since the last edition.</p>
<p>I rent plenty of books, especially the ones that weren’t related to my major. I figured I wouldn’t need to keep a biology textbook, as a history major I didn’t see myself referencing back to that too often. So if I can save 50%+ on it, I’m going to rent. Also like everyone else has been saying, buying used or buying the older additions is a great way to save money, along with ebooks if you have a reader.</p>
<p>Books are such a racket, they really deserve to be pirated.</p>
<p>I don’t rent- I never know if it’s a book I’m going to want to keep or not. Besides, I like the freedom to highlight/underline/add notes to the book if I want to and not worry about what the rental company is going to say about it. After all, it’s my book.</p>
<p>I buy books from other students and sell them for more than I bought them for.</p>
<p>Buy the book, then resell it. Unless the price goes down like crazy recall buying a old chem book for 99% off B&N</p>
<p>I generally think rentals are fair deal, plus many sites have the option to buy it later if you decide to keep it. Some rental programmes let you write in the book and others don’t, so I would check on that.
Another good option is contacting your professor ahead of time and asking if you’l really NEED a book, if if only a chapter will be used. If it is only a chapter or two it might e easier to just borrow or share. You can also ask if an older edition will work, as those can be bought far cheaper.</p>
<p>I rent a lot of the books that I don’t intend to keep or books where there is a significant difference between the two prices. I have never had it be a scam, but to each their own. I find renting incredibly useful. </p>
<p>For this semester, for instance, my renting of certain books has reduced the cost from about $500 to $325.</p>
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<p>My thoughts exactly.</p>
<p>Why not buy a book and then resell it (at any place except the bookstore) after the semester’s conclusion?</p>