Renting vs. Buying Textbooks – Which Option Really Costs Less?
A lot has changed about college since I attended the University of Puget Sound years ago. And while students today are much more digitally-focused – with e-mail, social networks, online news and more – the reality is most textbooks are not yet available as e-books. This means students will still need to search out and buy physical books in preparation for the start of a new term.
When I was in college, I either purchased the books new or used from the school bookstore or was lucky enough to buy books used from another student. At the end of the term, I was thrilled to sell my books back to the bookstore or to other students and pocket some extra cash. Today, students have a variety of ways to buy, or even rent their books online,
- Purchase new or used from online store,
- Purchase used from individuals via sites such as eBay, Craigslist, Amazon Marketplace etc.,
- Rent new or used from online service.
We recently started working with Bookbyte, a company that buys and sells textbooks online and I was surprised to learn the number of options available to students for securing school textbooks.
For the cash strapped student, renting books sounds like a great option, but it is important they read the fine print and to be disciplined about taking great care of their rented books and returning them on time. Failing to return your rented book on time, accessing marking in the text or the theft of a rented book can result in costing a student a lot more than estimated.
As the back-to-school rush is getting underway, there have been a number of articles about textbook rental. Many of these articles tout rental as a way for students to save money, however they only offer part of the story.
Renting a textbook may sound good because the upfront cost is less than buying the textbook, yet in many instances the student will end up paying more for the use of that book than they would have if they bought the text used and sold it back at the end of the term. Clearly, if you do not have the money to buy the textbook, then rental may be the right answer for you. However, buying used and selling the textbook at the end of the term offers the lowest overall cost.
To illustrate this point, Bookbyte recently compared the costs associated with renting and buying a specific book, the seventh edition of, “Project Management: A Managerial Approach” by Jack Meredith and Samuel Mantel. The analysis revealed buying the book used and selling it back at the end of the term would save a student 29 percent or roughly $18 over renting the same book. Multiply that savings by five, which is the average number of textbooks a student needs per term according to a 2009 report from Student Monitor, and a student could save an estimated $90 per semester.
So if you are a student (or a parent of a student), it may make sense for you to look online to buy or sell used textbooks. You may even recoup enough cash to by an iPad as digital textbooks on this platform are arriving soon.
Tags: Amazon, bookbyte, Colleen Moffitt, craigslist, ebay, renting, school, Social Networking, text books, university of puget sound Filed under: Consumer, INDUSTRY, Tech Industry
6 Comments
Eric Osnes |
I’m surprised! I would’ve thought renting was the way to go but after reading your post it definitely makes sense to buy new/old and then resell. Students are smart at figuring out the best way to manage their textbook purchases. I’m one of those who, for the most part, liked to keep mine. And still reference them on occasion, believe it or not!
Nicole Smith |
It is nice to see the textbook renting has become a new trend. But the real fact is that buy used and reselling self on market place through websites like amazon.com, half.com or affordtextbooks.com are the best options.
Students today have a lot of choice when it comes to textbooks.
Michael |
Indeed, buying and then re-selling may be cheaper than renting in most cases but what’s worth mentioning is that international edition textbooks are even a cheaper option. I believe they will continue to shape the used textbook market in the near future.
Chad |
This is not always the case. Often times books that were available for one semester are not available or readopted for the next. Students often get stiffed on these kinds of books so renting becomes the most cost effective way. Renting is definitely the way students are going since most of the time they never want to keep the books in the first place. With recent economic conditions, the upfront savings are far more attractive.
Luke |
I think renting is a deeply flawed approach for any student who might need to reference a textbook from a previous course. For students with a major that’s cumulative, building on previous courses that become “review,” those considering graduate school, or those considering careers as researchers, previous textbooks are a precious resource. For instance, one of my core classes this semester requires that I have access to all my previous engineering textbooks as “review.” The students who rented their textbooks are in for a world of pain in that class, unless they re-purchase their textbooks. At least with buying used textbooks, one has the option of waiting till later to sell them. Since it usually takes several years for a new edition to come out, holding onto those textbooks for a couple more years doesn’t entail much of the risk of their value dropping significantly prior to selling.
Tom |
I always use price comparison websites (usually turn to cheapcampusbooks.com) before getting my textbooks and the results are almost always the same: buying a used textbook and then selling it once I’m done saves me more cash than just “renting” it for a while.
And it’s like you said: so many things can happen to a book, I’d rather not risk losing or damaging it.