Why do people rent text books?

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Jan 20, 2011

My school used them too. I looked into it and I was kind of shocked at all the info and paperwork that was required! I mean, I don't know if this was school specific requirements for renting or what, but I was like "What the hell is this? A real estate closing??" ... Chegg and BookRenter don't have those hassles, and I rent from whoever has the best deal at the time. Not loyal to either, though I have rented more from Chegg on average.

Really? My daughter (who usually calls for every little thing) did it all by herself..just needed her name, student number etc and a credit card..easy..nothing out of the ordinary for paperwork and such. Maybe its your schools policy for all that paperwork.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jan 20, 2011

Really? My daughter (who usually calls for every little thing) did it all by herself..just needed her name, student number etc and a credit card..easy..nothing out of the ordinary for paperwork and such. Maybe its your schools policy for all that paperwork.

Knowing my school and everything else they do, I am pretty sure it's THEM. Thankfully I was only attending there to complete prereqs and I am done with that school.

wannabe an rn · Jan 20, 2011

Now I'm starting to get curious as to why the math isn't working the same for me as it is for most of you. I don't know what it is but I don't think it is the bookstore factor. Of the 5 books I still need this term, two are not availabe for rent from Chegg, one rents for the same price, and two rent for more at Chegg than at the bookstore. I'd never looked at Chegg so I thought maybe that was the difference. My curiosity is piqued, so I compared other classes I've taken and most are less at the bookstore. Only one was less expensive to rent at Chegg.
My first thought was simply luck but it has been six semesters. That seems a bit too lucky to be just luck.

I use collegebookrenter.com. I checked the rental prices of other sites and they were the cheapest. I pay a fraction of what I would to buy, plus when I'm done with the book I simply print out the shipping label and ship it back- no additional cost. I love it.

CluelessNursingGuy · Jan 21, 2011

I think it depends a lot on the book. I buy all my books, but I'm also the type of person who is willing to look up textbooks and monitor prices weeks at a time. Usually I'm able to find books that cost less than if I had rented them, but this usually involves more effort and time than most would be willing to put in. But hey, if you're on a budget like me and don't have the much money to go to new textbooks, you'll make that effort.

Saysfaa · Jan 21, 2011

Not directed at anyone in particular (general concensus of some of the comments here, overheard at the bookstore, and other places) but.... pointing out that $XXX for a new book vs $XX for renting does nothing to help me understand. I get there is a difference in initial costs between the two.

I also get that sometimes I buy a book and can't sell it for anything like what I paid for it. How often do you rent a book that you could have bought used and resold for nearly the same price?

CluelessNursingGuy, I'm with you... what time I've spent on it has been very, very well compensated by the resulting savings. I don't think you will have to monitor for weeks for very many terms, you'll pick up on the patterns and, at most, check in a few times to gauge where the cycle is and note shifts in the patterns.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jan 21, 2011

How often do you rent a book that you could have bought used and resold for nearly the same price?

Only if it's a book in high demand can you buy it used and often sell it on eBay or Half.com for the same or more that what you originally paid ... believe me, I have done it. But really, it's more of a hassle than renting!

pjb63 · Jan 26, 2011

I rent because there is no way I can get a used book for what I can rent it for. I could have bought my mental health book for about 65 used, but I rented it for only $21. Being a full time student, saving the money now is more important than taking a chance and thinking I can get the same amount back by selling them. That is not often the case since the authors feel they need to update the edition so often making the book you are using obsolete.

Miz_Que · Jan 26, 2011

I have had great luck with buying my books at Amazon or Half.com and then selling them back to my college bookstore. As a previous poster stated, it does take some time to hunt the good deals down, but it has been worth it for me. My best deal yet was the new Micro book I purchased at Amazon for $100 with free shipping and I sold it back to my college bookstore for $94.

Miz Que

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2011

So far, I've been able to sell my used books for about what I paid for them (I always buy them used), except the consumables like lab packets. Renting costs almost as much as a used book and then the money is gone - there is no option to sell it afterwards. So, why do people do it?

I've NEVER been able to come close to the amount I paid in reselling a book. And for a lot of books I like to keep them. When I was pricing books for nursing school the rentals were significantly cheaper than used copies. I opted not to go that route because I thought I'd want to keep most of my books for reference (and honestly just stopped buying the ones I thought I wasn't using).

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2011

I've NEVER been able to come close to the amount I paid in reselling a book. And for a lot of books I like to keep them. When I was pricing books for nursing school the rentals were significantly cheaper than used copies. I opted not to go that route because I thought I'd want to keep most of my books for reference (and honestly just stopped buying the ones I thought I wasn't using).

I felt that way with my 1st year law books, and by the time I graduated I had given them all away. As you can see, they would have ended up being REALLY useful for me (sarcasm) ... Besides, with the internet being so much more updated and fluid than printed books, it's my better resource.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2011

I felt that way with my 1st year law books, and by the time I graduated I had given them all away. As you can see, they would have ended up being REALLY useful for me (sarcasm) ... Besides, with the internet being so much more updated and fluid than printed books, it's my better resource.

Law books are updated so frequently too, that it really doesn't make sense to keep them (plus any law office you work at should have a library and subscription to LexisNexis). I took a criminal law class and from the start to the end of the semester the book had been updated and the old version was worthless. That would have been a good book for me to rent.

But I actually am still using my nursing books as a new grad.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jan 26, 2011

Law books are updated so frequently too, that it really doesn't make sense to keep them (plus any law office you work at should have a library and subscription to LexisNexis). I took a criminal law class and from the start to the end of the semester the book had been updated and the old version was worthless. That would have been a good book for me to rent.
But I actually am still using my nursing books as a new grad.

Unfortunately, the concept of renting textbooks did not exist when I was a law student. And to boot, I was also a law student when the internet was just entering the mainstream as we know it (I mean for goodness sake, I was using Lexis and Westlaw in DOS :eek: ). Even CLE classes I attended in the early 2000's, no use for me now. I did however take Medical Terminology last year and the text and dictionary for that class are quite good, those are worth keeping.