The average college student spends $900 a year on textbooks. But who says you have to be average? Save your student loan money and put away your credit cards: Instead of buying your textbooks this year, consider renting — and save hundreds of dollars.
Online book rental sites like Chegg and BookRenter.com work a lot like Netflix: You pick the books you need from over a million titles, you get them delivered straight to your door, and then you send them back — on the company’s dime — at the end of the semester when you’re done.
Save Money — And Go Green
Chegg and BookRenter advertise savings of up to 75 percent or more on new and used textbooks. Some of Chegg’s customers have saved as much as 95 percent by renting.
On Chegg’s “Save Big” page, you’ll find real-life examples of some students’ mega-savings: A student at Ohio State saved 93 percent on a 2005 edition of Accounting Information Systems, which brand new would have cost her $171.80 — she paid $11.27 to rent. Another student from Syracuse saved 93 percent on her General Chemistry book, which lists for $177.96 — she paid Chegg just $11.04.
By renting your books, besides saving money, you’re reducing demand for new books, which can help reduce the number of new books that are printed each year. According to Chegg, 4 million trees are consumed each year just for textbooks; 20 million trees each year go into the production of books in general.
On average, BookRenter re-uses a book five times, which cuts down the demand for virgin fiber paper, the kind used to print textbooks. Chegg goes one step further: In addition to helping you re-use books, Chegg will plant a tree for every book you rent. So far, Chegg has funded more than 100 acres of new trees.
How Textbook Renting Works
-
Search Chegg or BookRenter for the books you need — you can search by title, author, or ISBN.
-
Decide how long you need to rent each book. Chegg lets you choose between a semester, a quarter, or a summer; BookRenter offers one- to four-month rental periods. Both sites will let you pay for a rental extension if you need it.
-
Choose from standard (7–14 days) or priority (2–6 days) shipping at Chegg, and from standard (3–7 days), two-day, and next-day shipping at BookRenter. You’ll be charged a base shipping fee, plus a per-item fee.
-
Return your books for FREE. When you’re done with them, just ship them back with the prepaid label provided to you.
Related Articles: