<p>What is the difference between textbook rental and textbook buyback? I have heard that most textbooks can be rented for around $50 and bought for about $100, and that the Cal bookstore will buy purchased books back for around $50. So if the pricing is about the same, which option is better? What about 3rd party sites like Amazon?</p>
<p>rental money is basically down the drain. but you have to do the math, so say you can either buy a book used for $60 or rent it for $50. renting it you lose $50 and will have to return it no matter what. buying it you will be able to sell it back (typically for about 30% of purchased price–that’s what i’ve been told) so in this case you’d make $20, effectively making the used book cost $40. and also, should the book be relevant to your major and you want to keep it, you’ll be able to. so for lower-priced books i’d say its in your interest to buy used, in fact others have told me to always buy used but i wouldn’t be so quick to pay for a $150 statistics book you’ll use for one semester and get pocket lint back for. hope that helps</p>
<p>also about amazon–proceed at your own risk. really make sure it’s the correct version and hopefully you can check the ISBN–but know you can’t always trust random sellers just looking to shove off crappy books,. also many cal classes require custom editions you can only get at the bookstore</p>