The college textbook is one of the most expensive parts of earning a degree. One example of this expense is an accounting book: if it’s purchased brand new, whether it is from the university bookstore or online, the average cost is $154.50. Even buying the text used costs an average of $123.17!
Textbooks for Cheap
To a current college student this is old news, but luckily there is new, inexpensive news. Its name is Chegg.com and its game is renting cheap, used textbooks. No matter what classes or subjects the student is enrolled in they will probably have the most recent edition of the book that they need.
The Chegg Textbook Store
Take a look at these facts – they could understandably be seen as advantages over purchasing textbooks for college at the campus store.
- The current subject selection size is in the millions.
- User-friendly site navigation features search by ISBN, title, and author name along with a customer service chat.
- Lower prices – The average price of that accounting textbook rental is $65.30 for the semester.
- Priority shipping with tracking is available for $3.79 for the first book and $1.79 for each additional item. This method will have the book delivered in four to seven days.
- Textbooks are in a respectable condition – there is low or no highlighting; no tears, stains, or loose binding.
- The experience is commute free. A student may shop from the comfort of their home, with no standing in lines, whenever it’s convenient for them.
- Chegg.com will also buy textbooks at anytime during the year. Check out their FAQs on how to sell college books.
Returning a Textbook Rental
The book must be returned at the end of the rental period unless the student decides to purchase the volume. There are semester long options which can be customized to fit the duration of the classes, such as quarterly and 60-day rental. There is a late fee of 25% of the rental price if it is not returned on time.
To return a rental, print off the return label and reuse the box it was received in—make sure to protect the book by wrapping it in something such as bubble wrap. Protection for Chegg.com customers includes a 30 day “Any Reason” guarantee and no charge for incidents occurring during transit, including lost items. At this time, Chegg only ships to the 48 contiguous United States.
Get Cheap College Textbooks to Help the Environment
Chegg.com is also an advocate for the environment. The books (and shipping boxes) are being recycled and for every book that is rented, sold, purchased, or donated a tree is planted in partnership with American Forests. Currently there are renters on 6,000 campuses and over 750 acres of trees have been planted.
Buy College Textbooks
Another textbook rental website is Collegebookrenter.com and, unlike Chegg.com, they highly encourage students to buy new or used books from their company. They have a large selection of rentals available, as well, but one of the biggest differences is that their prices are a bit higher than Chegg’s.
- The same accounting textbook is currently priced 44 cents higher.
- Priority shipping is available for $6.99 for the first book and $3.99 for each additional item, but it will be delivered faster in three to six days.
- A late return extension of seven days is provided compared to Chegg’s 15 day extension.
- As stated on the home page of their website, College Book Renter “makes a gracious donation to the American Heart Association” every six months.
Textbooks for College
It's often more economical to rent college textbooks for the semester instead of purchasing the books outright. This will save the student money especially if the book will only be used for one class during their college career. There are multiple websites available for book renting and Chegg.com is a respected resource in this innovative industry.
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