Why do people rent text books?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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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?

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.

I used my pharm book just the other day to win a bet against DH. He's a paramedic and was trying to tell me that aspirin isn't an NSAID. I whipped out the pharm book and opened it to the NSAID section and there was aspirin ;)

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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.

You're point assumes that the book(s) you are purchasing used are still going to be in demand when you are finished with them. That's a gamble. You also have to hope that you can find a buyer. I don't have to worry about any of that when I rent. I've gotten brand new books shipped straight from Amazon, paid a fraction of what I would have even for a used version, and ship it back at no additional cost to me. I just paid 23.00 to rent a book for the entire semester. When I'm done with it, I print out the shipping label and send it back. I would bet that same 23.00 that I would be hard pressed to find any used books in my college bookstore for 23.00.

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Part of the problem is students are still using their (overpriced) school bookstore. Maybe they rent because they don't know they can afford to buy?

My college bookstore (now sub'd out to Barnes and Noble) charges max suggested retail price. I go to Amazon.com and find the same books for 30-50% less. I can get NEW books for the cost of the used bookstore ones. So if I'm only paying $70 for my nursing textbook, why would I bother with "renting" it just to be locked into shipping it back? And if I find i need to keep it for future semesters (eg. my med-surge text), I have it if I need it.

One of the bigger problems is the textbook racket: publishers insist on releasing new editions every 2-3 years. If you buy it, you never know if the school book store will buy it back at the end of the semester. It's a big racket to get us to buy $100 or $200 books. I don't know any other type of book that people happily pay over a hundred dollars for! So I suppose by renting you're guaranteed to be rid of the book at the end of the semester? But that being said, the rental places must know when books are about to be discontinued, and that's got to figure into their rental prices.

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Part of the problem is students are still using their (overpriced) school bookstore. Maybe they rent because they don't know they can afford to buy?

People that know to look online for textbook rentals probably know to look online for textbook prices too.

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Specializes in LTC, Agency, HHC.

At UoP it isn't worth my money to buy a book for a five week class that is around $150-$200. And most of the books are an ebook I can download. I was lucky to find almost brand new pharmacology books online both the book and study guide plus shipping cost me less than $20. I may never get that lucky again! Many books are updated over and over and you can never find the current edition for under $100. This is where the schools make their money. Where else can you get reamed for the cost of books?

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
Part of the problem is students are still using their (overpriced) school bookstore. Maybe they rent because they don't know they can afford to buy?

My college bookstore (now sub'd out to Barnes and Noble) charges max suggested retail price. I go to Amazon.com and find the same books for 30-50% less. I can get NEW books for the cost of the used bookstore ones. So if I'm only paying $70 for my nursing textbook, why would I bother with "renting" it just to be locked into shipping it back? And if I find i need to keep it for future semesters (eg. my med-surge text), I have it if I need it.

One of the bigger problems is the textbook racket: publishers insist on releasing new editions every 2-3 years. If you buy it, you never know if the school book store will buy it back at the end of the semester. It's a big racket to get us to buy $100 or $200 books. I don't know any other type of book that people happily pay over a hundred dollars for! So I suppose by renting you're guaranteed to be rid of the book at the end of the semester? But that being said, the rental places must know when books are about to be discontinued, and that's got to figure into their rental prices.

When you rent, you're paying to use the book for a specified period of time and the shipping is free (they provide you the label). It's worth it especially if you know you don't want to ever keep the book. However, if you change your mind and decide to keep the book, you have the option of buying it and it's still cheaper than the bookstores (the rental price is credited to yoru purchase).

The worst racket with the college bookstores now (one that my most recent college is doing) is selling some textbooks that are self-published by the college themselves! They get permission to reprint from different textbooks and they come out with their own textbook using content from different sources, one that they know cannot be rented or purchased anywhere else expect their own bookstore. That really stinks. But savvy I must say in that they have found a way to keep their sales intact.

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The books that I've rented, I rented them significantly cheaper than what a used book would have cost. You have to see what is more cost effective. Sometimes its buying, sometimes its renting.

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I don't understand why people sell books back to their college bookstore.

I always buy used on half.com, and when the term is over, I sell the same book again on half.com almost always for the same price I paid initially. My net cost is close to ZERO. Over the past 2 years, I've probably spent a grand total of $100 for books, combined.

With that in mind, renting makes no sense for me. Renting would cost me far more than buying and reselling the books.

And selling on half.com isn't a hassle at all. Once someone buys it, you just wrap it up in brown paper and take it to the post office's self-service kiosk. I'm in and out of there in 3 minutes. Easy peasy.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

My school has a textbook rental store. $35/class is included in our fees. If you choose to buy the book @ the end of the semester you can.

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"$35/class is included in our fees."

:eek::madface::down::no::no::barf02:

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
I don't understand why people sell books back to their college bookstore.

I always buy used on half.com, and when the term is over, I sell the same book again on half.com almost always for the same price I paid initially. My net cost is close to ZERO. Over the past 2 years, I've probably spent a grand total of $100 for books, combined.

With that in mind, renting makes no sense for me. Renting would cost me far more than buying and reselling the books.

And selling on half.com isn't a hassle at all. Once someone buys it, you just wrap it up in brown paper and take it to the post office's self-service kiosk. I'm in and out of there in 3 minutes. Easy peasy.

What's "easy peasy" for you may not be for others. Think about the people who are not as internet savvy as you and me. So for these people, renting through the bookstores may be their most appealing option. You can only drag these people so far technologically into the 21st century! :rolleyes:

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Regarding re-selling being "easy", people's situations are different. Different schools use different books, and for some schools depending on the book they use for the course, it may make more sense to rent, or to buy used rather than to buy new and try to re-sell. Whatever works for that person is what works, and what works for you may not work for someone else.

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