We all know books can be extremely expensive. They are the work of thousands and thousands of man hours and research done by upwards of 50 people, so it’s only natural that they charge quite a bit of money. After all, if you’re spending years and years on a single book and that’s the only source of income you have, you’re going to have to charge quite a bit just to make ends meet. These massive costs equate to college students becoming even poorer than ever before.
One way to avoid these costs is to rent textbooks. When you rent a textbook, you pay a minimal fee with the promise that you’ll eventually return it (the rental date is usually set at the time you buy the book, otherwise you could just keep it forever!). This can be done online, in person, or in a library. Sometimes people will even rent textbooks from their friends who have taken that same class before. The best case scenario would be for you to just convince your friend to give you the book for free, but we can’t all be that lucky can we? There are many advantages to renting a book. First and foremost is cost. You’re going to end up paying quite a bit less when you rent textbooks. You’ll even save money if you were planning on buying a used book. Renters can afford the small charge because they know that in the future they’ll be able to rent out the same book again. Or, in some cases, if someone returns the book and its’ not in good enough condition they’ll just end up selling their textbooks. Either way, this style of renting a book equates to savings in your pocket. There are some downsides to renting a textbook, however. The main downside is this, you’re going to have the chance of getting a textbook that is just plain ugly and hard to read. Oftentimes students that rent textbooks will not keep their textbooks in very good condition, and the renters don’t have time to read through every book that they have. Hidden damage is very common. Oftentimes you, the consumer, will have to be the quality control for the company. Most rental companies will take your book back if it really is in that bad of shape, but you may end up having to pay for the return shipping, which no-one wants. Another downside to renting is the fact that you’ll never actually see the book in person until you get it in your hands. Most textbooks have multiple editions that can have very similar covers. You have to be very careful that when you order your books online, you pick the exact book that your professor wants you to get. If you do get the exact book, chances are you’re going to be OK. Renting textbooks is going to be cheaper, but you do run some risks.
The classic way to get your books for either college or high school is just to buy them. You can buy them from your school library either new or used. If you buy the book used, you’re gonna spend quite a bit less money. If you buy the book new, you’re guaranteed a quality book but you’re going to end up paying over twice as much money over a used book. This is OK for some, but unacceptable for many.
The biggest question when it comes to buying books is what do you do with them once you’re done? Most college textbooks cover course material only, which makes them practically useless for day to day life. Sure, you could use it to balance out your couch or piano, but that’s an awfully expensive thing to do. The best solution to this conundrum is selling textbooks. When you sell your textbooks, either to your library or to individuals, you’re going to make approximately 50% of the money that you spent on the book back. Selling textbooks makes sense because you aren’t ever be going to use this book again. You took good care of your books, shouldn’t you be awarded for that?
One downfall to selling textbooks is this. Say you’re a biology major, and you end up selling off all of your 100 level biology class books. This could be a very bad idea, because as you go up in the biology ladder, information builds on itself. If you don’t remember every piece of information from your previous classes, you may end up falling behind very quickly. Also, make sure that you’ve passed your class before you end up selling textbooks. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen students sell off their textbooks before they get their grades back. If you end up getting a D or worse, retaking the class becomes a very good idea. You’re gonna have to re-buy the book which will end up costing you quite a bit. Or, even worse, you’ll have to ask for the book back and give your friend his or her money back. This can very embarrassing. So, before you sell off your textbooks, make sure you pass the class!
Selling textbooks does put money in your pocket. Just make sure that you know what you’re doing, and you’ll be set. Good luck!
James Campos is a representative of webuytextbooks.com. If you are going to be selling textbooks online, then you’ve come to the right place! WeBuyTextbooks buy back and pay cash for used textbooks all year long because books are our business! We make it easy to rent textbooks online!