Renting Textbooks vs. Buying an E-Reader

Go to college without breaking the bank!

Campuses and online colleges alike are expensive—as students you’re learning that and as parents you’re already well aware! According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, approximately 400,000 college-worthy high school graduates delay or decline enrolling in college each year due to the overwhelming cost. A great majority of that cost is college textbooks. So how is a young student supposed to attend college without breaking the bank?

E-Readers are a relatively new phenomenon on college campuses. In fact, many have launched e-reader pilot programs just this past September due to their growing popularity, and in hopes that they will save students money. But while e-readers offer students some benefits—such as having all textbooks in one place, in electronic form and allowing for easy online searches—there are many negatives as well, including:

• Usability issues in the classroom
• High upfront costs of e-readers ( $139 for a Kindle to almost $900 for a Kno tablet)
• Many brands don’t allow students to follow along and make highlights
• Eye strain associated with staring at a computer screen while completing assignments
• Nothing compares to the feel of printed pages in your hands
• Forgetting to charge your e-reader
• Many students are not comfortable loaning or sharing an expensive device
• E-reader book merchants still can’t guarantee the availability of all textbooks

The truth is that until e-readers are widely adopted in college campuses across the country, there will be compatibility issues that still demand old fashioned textbooks. And, many students still prefer, or require the use of, printed textbooks due to cost restrictions. So while a number of e-learning providers are readying to go digital in the future, students are not quite ready yet.

However, another trend that’s growing in popularity for penny-pinching students everywhere is textbook rentals. Students are suddenly able to save a great deal of money (on average $2,000 during the course of their college careers) by renting their textbooks instead of purchasing them new from the campus bookstore. And with so many students feeling the financial stress of tuition costs and tightening family budgets, buying printed textbooks for between $700 and $1,000 per year just isn’t an option for most.

So why would you rent your textbooks online?

To save money – With savings of 50% or more, students are jumping at the opportunity. Textbook rental companies can afford to rent for very low prices, which means students can rent the same book multiple times if they need to.  In addition, rental prices are even a bit lower than purchasing used books.

To save time – Renting a book online also saves students valuable time at the beginning and end of the rental process. When you rent a book, you simply log on and select your title in as little as 5-minutes compared to scanning half a dozen websites and comparing deals. The same goes for when you’re finished with the book. There is no need to try to sell it to make your money back on Amazon or Kijiji. Simply drop your book in the nearest mail box using the prepaid postage slip that came with your book!

Pure convenience – With textbook rentals there’s no guessing.  Book rental sites list books by ISBN number to ensure you get the right book each and every time. No more standing in line at the campus bookstore or guessing at books based on bad eBay descriptions.

The preceding was a guest post