Rent Books For College
October 9th, 2005I bought books in college that I knew I didn’t want to keep, but didn’t sell them back because I would get a pittance in return. Now, renting books would have been useful. Rent a math textbook for 120 days for less than half the price, don’t abuse it, and send it back at the end of the semester. That’s the point of Bookrenter.com. More from this this article.
“According to the company’s Web site, students are required to return the rented books in “like-new” condition.
“If the book doesn’t look brand new but there is minimal damage to the cover and pages and very little writing, then the renter will be charged 20 percent of the book’s retail value.”
“If the book possesses scuff marks on the cover, bent corners or minimal damage to the binding and the majority of the pages are present and undamaged, but there is writing or damage to less than 10 percent of the pages, the renter is charged 30 percent of the book’s retail price.”
“If the book is missing pages, noticeably damaged on the cover, a broken binding or stains and writing on more than 11 percent of the pages, then the book is classed unacceptable and the renter must pay the full retail value.”
Sounds like a great idea if the cost is less than the price of buying the book and selling it back at the end of the semester. There is a related article in the NYT about the costs of used textbooks:
“Textbooks are more expensive than other used books, said Jeff Hayes, director of market research for InfoTrends, the consulting firm that carried out the study. Used educational books sell for, on average, $45.63 a copy in bookstores, compared with $6.12 for other used books…”