Rent College Textbooks

In today's economy, there are a lot more money saving options for college students when it comes to textbooks.  While it is true that some textbooks still need to be purchased, often college proprietary books, now students can use their internet savvy to find better options for at least part of their textbooks.

There are several online sources for renting textbooks that have excellent reputations.  Some college bookstores have also jumped on the bandwagon to keep the revenues from textbook rentals.

One of the best sources, not surprisingly, is Amazon.  Amazon has an entire section for college textbooks, including rentals, selling back old textbooks, and electronic textbooks for Kindle.

One of the advantages of using Amazon for your college textbook services is that it is Amazon, which is already a trusted source, and you can use any of your regular Amazon benefits like Prime Membership to further cut your book costs. 

Another very highly regarded textbook rental company is Chegg.  Chegg offers a good textbook rental program, as well as a textbook buy back program.

Companies that rent textbooks are cropping up, but be sure that you understand the rental terms before you agree to rent.  The entire point of renting is to save money, so there is no reason to spend more when you rent.

While renting textbooks is your best option as a student right now, there are others that you can use to save money on textbooks.

• Selling back textbooks: Selling back books is an old college standby, and should not be discounted.  Unless you think that you need a book as a reference for your next semester, you should sell back your book.  Why not offer a cheaper book for another student?
• E-books and E-readers: More and more, colleges are finally looking to e-textbooks.  Many schools already allow students to take some online classes, with study guides online or part of their textbooks online.  This is a relatively new development, but with the use of laptop computers, iPads, and e-readers, most students are set with the equipment that they need.  Now, schools are starting to put whole textbooks online, which is much cheaper for students, and saves a lot more trees.  This means that students won't have to carry as much weight around, and all their resources will be in one place.
• Sharing textbooks: Don't forget about sharing with classmates.  If you can work out a schedule, sharing a book with a classmate is a good way to keep your cost down.  The tough part of that idea is finding someone who you can share with.
• Price comparison shopping: Just like anything else, you can look for your best price for your books, even if they are new.  Only proprietary books cannot be shopped.  Look online for your books to save money.