With classes starting next week, it’s time to start thinking about—yes, your favorite—purchasing college textbooks.
Remember the days when all of our textbooks were free? Why didn’t we cherish those beloved hardcovers? Now we have to spend and arm and a leg to simply lay hands on books that we will only use for one semester. This is before we have to choose to either keep them or sell them all over again.
There must be a cheaper, easier way to do this, right?
It’s called renting. It will save your life. And your wallet. Here’s why:
Buying textbooks is ridiculously expensive; you can spend anywhere from $500 to $1000 purchasing all the books you need for your classes.
As college students, we try to convince ourselves that we will get a majority of that refunded when we sell them back; but if you have ever tried this at the University Bookstore, you know that you only receive a small fraction back of what you spent.
Conversely, renting is exceptionally cheaper. Websites like Knetbooks, Skyo, Chegg, or Amazon allow you to rent books for a fragment of the cost you would spend at the Bookstore of Barnes & Noble to buy them.
Not only are they cheaper, but most rental sites like Skyo.com and Knetbooks.com give you free shipping as well. Check it out for yourself by comparing prices online — you will be amazed at the difference.
You may be wondering, “Can I write in the textbook?” The answer is yes — textbooks rental companies allow you to write in 25 percent of each book. As a person who loves highlighting and annotating, this is more than enough room for me, especially considering that most professors do not use the whole book.
One of the best parts about renting is that the textbook companies send you the boxes to send your books back in at the end of the semester. Just login to your online account after exams are over, and you can print off a free return label. No walking all the way to the Bookstore to wait in a line of twenty people just to sell back your books. Instead, just attach the label over the box, mail it, and they’re off your hands!
Why have the hassle of buying books, spending loads of cash, and then having to either keep your textbooks or go through the trouble of selling them for after exams? Renting removes all the stress that goes into acquiring textbooks. Plus, you’ll have extra cash on hand at the beginning of the semester that you would have blown on textbook purchases otherwise.
So pull up Google Chrome, locate your textbooks on one of those websites I gave you, and rent away! Trust me, you will thank me later.
