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Save Money On Textbooks By Renting

By //  by Sherrian Crumbley

One of the most expensive and tedious things I had to worry about in college was purchasing my textbooks for class.   I hated trying to find the best deals online, or holding off for the first week or two after classes started, hoping that someone who dropped would try to unload their books at a discount.

There were many times when I did give up the fight and just pay whatever exorbitant price the school’s book store was charging, of course buying used if it was available.

Thankfully, things have improved quite a bit over the past few years, and smart students have many resourceful ways to save money on textbooks.  Seeing the necessity, websites like ecampus.com and the ValoreBooks textbook marketplace are offering, not only great deals, but making the process quick and simple for textbook consumers.

Textbook Rental Reviews: eCampus

Right from the home page, one has the option to buy, rent, or sell textbooks. RENT TEXTBOOKS?  This was something I would have done all through college.  There is nothing worse than buying a textbook new for $200, and then selling it back to the bookstore for $17.  The renting option is broken up into three price tiers based on the length of the rental: the longer the rental, the better the deal in price.

Save Money On Textbooks With e-Textbooks?

I was also impressed that many textbooks are available in an e-textbook format (no more lugging heavy texts around).   With the examples I perused, one would be purchasing a subscription for the e-textbook for a period of 180 days.  In these examples, the cost of the e-textbook was quite a bit higher than purchasing the physical texts.

In at least 2 cases, it was almost twice as much as purchasing a new hard copy.  While this would dissuade me from using this function, I can see how one could justify the extra cost for the convenience.

Besides showing the available new, used, rental, and e-textbook prices, there is also a “The Marketplace” tab, which allows you to purchase the text from private sellers at prices set at their discretion.  This option could offer you possible additional savings, and makes it quite easy to provide  textbook rental reviews, when their are multiple options to save and make money on a site.

The site offers other products such as DVDs and college clothing and other paraphernalia.  I compared the price of the DVDs to Amazon.com, where I usually purchase them, and the difference in prices were negligible in many cases.

I also compared a few textbook prices to my favorite site for textbook purchases, and that is where the difference was more noticeable.  In all fairness, this site in particular is all “marketplace”, and so the private sellers were asking for a great range of prices for the textbooks.

Compared to the prices at other bookstores and online retailers, ecampus.com is definitely a great bargain.

Since I am considering re-entering academia again in the future, I am glad I had a chance to review this site.  I will certainly revisit it for the textbook rental option, especially since they have free shipping on orders over $59.   Not only that, but they supply you with a shipping label to send the book back at the end of the semester.

Good prices, stress-free experience, and finishing touches to make sure you’ll come back – ecampus.com is worth a look.

Reader Questions

  1. How have you been able to save on textbook costs?
  2. Do you have a lot of professors who don’t require them at all?
  3. Have you had success using and following the previous edition of a textbook?
  4. Do you have any other tips that should be included here?

Filed Under: Education, Reviews Tagged With: book stores, chegg, e textbook, ecampus, rentals, renting, Saving Money, sell textbooks, shopping, student, Textbook Rental, Textbooks

7 Ways to Save Money on College Textbooks

By //  by Khaleef Crumbley

College textbooks can sell for upwards of $250 for some subjects and then sell for less than $20 only 3 months later! The markup on textbooks is unbelievable and can present a serious strain on a student’s finances. That’s why it’s important to learn all of the ways to save money on textbooks!

When I was a college student, I rarely ever purchased new textbooks.

How To Save Money On Textbooks

Don’t Buy Them!

The first thing to do is to contact the professor and make sure that the book is required for the class (many book assignments are made by the department, and some teachers will hardly use them).

I had a number of professors who announced on the first day of class that we shouldn’t buy the book because we would be taught and tested on their notes!

Many students were then left in a terrible position because they had already purchased and opened the book – thus making it used (like driving a car off the lot)!

Save Money On Textbooks By Shopping Online

You can save money on textbooks by purchasing them used from Amazon.com, or if you have (or are considering purchasing) a Kindle, buy the electronic version of the book. Amazon advertises that you can save up to 90% on the cost of textbooks by shopping on their website. You can even rent textbooks on your Kindle.

Also, if you sign up for their Amazon Student program (completely free), you are eligible for free 2-day shipping on any order directly from Amazon!

If you can’t find your book on Amazon, be sure to check out Barnes & Noble for their textbook deals.

Buy The Previous Edition

Many textbooks (just about all Economics and Finance books) will simply make small updates and change a few pages around and release a new version.

Check with your professor to see if the previous version will be acceptable. I actually had a few nice professors that put the chapter and page numbers of the current and previous editions for all assignments!

Buy The International Version

Many textbooks sold in the US will have an international counterpart that is nearly or completely identical and sells for a fraction of the cost!

Buy In A Group

Get together with a group of classmates and buy one copy of the book to share. This will work wonderfully depending on the subject.

Finance and other business subjects, where students are often called upon to do group assignments, give ample opportunity for this.

This just calls for a little coordination and trust, but to save over $100 per book…it’s worth it!

Rent Your Textbooks

This is another option that is becoming quite popular. Sites like Chegg and Campus Book Rentals have become very efficient at renting books recently. Even Barnes & Noble offers textbook rentals for my alma mater!

Visit Your School’s Library

Many textbooks – especially older editions – can be found at your school library. If the book is popular, there will probably be a limit on how long you can check it out, but it’s still worth it to take a look.

Call or visit your campus library as soon as you find out what books are required. A benefit of larger universities (like my alma mater), is having a network of dozens of libraries to choose from, some at different schools.

Reader Questions

  1. How have you been able to save on textbook costs?
  2. Do you have a lot of professors who don’t require them at all?
  3. Have you had success using and following the previous edition of a textbook?
  4. Do you have any other tips that should be included here?

photo credit: Marquette La

Filed Under: Education, shopping Tagged With: amazon kindle, amazon.com, barnes noble, budget, chegg, College, college student, e book, Education, mass media, save money, shopping, textbook sell, Textbooks

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