Renting vs Buying Textbooks

Assuming you are willing to put effort in selling back your textbooks, and have a habit of taking good care of things, buying used textbooks online and selling them back online is the cheapest way to go other than borrowing your textbooks from your friends for free! You can likely sell back your books close to the same price you paid for them, or potentially even higher if you are patient enough and you don't need the money for the next semester books. If this is not you, or money is tight, renting might be the next best option for you.

Before making any decision, it is imperative to do a quick price comparison. There are a few good websites that give you a very accurate idea on the cost of different options in a matter of minutes. Ours is one of them. Keep in mind that you need to compare prices for every one of your textbooks. There isn't a single store out there that can claim it offers the lowest price on every book! Furthermore, depending on subject, edition and retail price, some books are much cheaper to rent than to buy while on some others, you would be better off to buy them new! As a rule of thumb, expensive textbooks required for heavily attended courses are cheaper to rent than buying them. In some cases, the saving can be as high as 75%! Rental stores are willing to give you a hug discount on textbooks, which stand a better chance to be rented several times before they lose their values due to release of a new textbook or a new edition.

After price comparison, If you find a cheaper rental than used books, should you rent it? Not before answering the following questions.

  • Does the textbook come with online supplements that require special access code?

    If so, and having access to supplements is required by your instructor, you are out of luck. You may have to buy a your book new! The access code is typically valid only for the initial purchaser, and most of textbook rentals do not offer access codes with their rental books. Some publisher offer access codes for purchase separately. If that is true in your case, you need to add the cost of the access code to the rental cost to figure out if renting is still the cheapest way to go

  • Are you are taking a multi-semester course?

    If so, or if the textbook is required as a reference for future courses, it is likely cheaper to buy a used textbook than renting one. Renting a textbook for more than one semester defeats its value proposition.

  • Are you tough on books or often tardy?

    If you tend to be careless, you might think twice about renting a print textbook. Rental bookstores charge you for any damage that prevent them from renting the book again. Even some stores consider excessive highlighting to be a damage. And as with any rental, you have to return the book on time; otherwise, you may end up paying the full purchase price in overdue fees! Renting digital textbooks may be a solution for tardiness or coffee stain issues. However they are likely more costly than print rentals at least for now. Our search engine looks for eTextbook rentals option too.

If you find a cheaper rental than used books and your answer to the above questions is no, renting is the best idea and the cheapest option for you.