|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The places to buy new and cheap textbooks
One of the most important things needed to succeed in life is education, and education cannot come without books. Some people can buy textbooks at normal cost but for some others it is a struggle since they cannot afford it. The costs of textbooks have gone up gradually and it has become a problem for many more. Unfortunately, it is not our books but knowledge that we carry forward and we have to either give away the books or throw them away which is sad. Not only is it a waste of money but resources too.
However, with new technological innovations and smart minds some people have made it easier for those people who need textbooks to use it till they need it and then give it back. This is done by online campus book rentals, which are online ventures in which people can buy used textbooks cheaper than other places and after they are done with their course, can give it back for some price so that someone else can use it.
Various such services have come up and they are doing very well. This is simply because they have recognised a need and made a business that fulfils that need easily. Below is a list of a few of these campus book rentals.
About:
1) Collegebookrenter.com
This is the first one in our list for campus book rentals. Collegebookrental.com allows students to rent textbooks for as long as they want and then return it back. One has to register and make an account to avail of this service. Delivery and shipping is free under certain conditions. It was started in 2009 and has quickly moved to the top five companies providing this service. It has grown a lot and has had an exponential growth in revenues. This is due to the rise in textbook prices which has forced students to look at other options.
The webpage is the face of an online venture, and collegebookrenter.com has a very good face. It is pleasing and very easy to navigate. Collegebookrenter.com also stocks a huge variety of titles and one can follow them on twitter. Collegebookrenter.com also donates some money to the American Heart Association once every six months. However, paying is a little problem, as papal is not offered while master card, visa and American express are accepted. It offers two types of shipping options, standard and priority. A customer has to pay the shipping charges and it is not allowed outside the US. This is one of the major drawbacks of the website.
2) Chegg.com
This is another web portal that provides a similar service of campus book rentals. It was founded in Santa Clara in California in 2001 by three students. It was a struggle in the beginning as the company underwent a change in 2003 and capital was less initially but it has grown from there on.
Chegg.com goes a few steps further as it allows a student to enter his or her school and course name as well and the textbooks for that course are outlined. It also has a homework help section in which experts answer to questions and interactive guides are available.
Chegg.com leads the pack among the campus online rentals and for various reasons. They make searching for textbooks easier as they allow students to look for textbooks according to their school and course as well. Books come with a 30-day "Any Reason Guarantee" and it has a massive stockpile of titles, which cover almost any course.
Chegg.com also offers three renting options: a) Semester b) Quarter and c) 60-day rentals. One also has an option of extending these options by a number of days. Even selling books on this website is as easy as buying as the website is easily navigable and all one has to do is click a few buttons. Chegg.com also does a Plant-a-tree program by planting a tree every time a book is rented. The usual credit card payment is offered and on top of that, one can use PayPal and gift certificates.
All in all, chegg.com is the leader and rightly so.
3) Bookrenter.com
This online website began in 2006 by Colin Barceloux to pay for beer. He used to collect all the thrown books and used to sell them online. He realised that this was a textbook rental and the business was then born. Bookrenter.com has a more youthful outlook and also has a mascot. It allows students 80% off and provides students with a variety of options. It has become one of the fastest growing start-ups in the US as it reaches to over 5000 US campuses.
Bookrenter.com has a youthful appeal to its portal with its founder who started from scratch and the mascot that it has- Tikiman. The team and the webpage reflect their youthful nature. It has unique pricing strategies which enables bookrenter.com to price its books as low as 80% off on the normal books. However, bookrenter.com is stricter as highlighting and writing in the textbook is not permitted and even the supplemented materials need to be returned which means that it is difficult for the seller but very easy for the person renting the book. It is flexible than most other campus book rentals.
4) Campusbookrentals.com
This company started in August 2007 and has grown to over 5000 college campuses in the US. It has built itself on the amazing customer service that it provides. Campusbookrentals.com has been in the news as it continues to grow rapidly with the other companies.
Campusbookrentals.com has been set up with the motto of "nearly every textbook available for rent". They do follow this motto as they have almost every title one can require. It offers three rental periods with extensions. It offers services very similar to chegg.com and one has a 30-day money back guarantee and on top of that free shipping charges. It also offers a 15-day grace period for students and one can purchase insurance as well for their books. However, one can only use the big four credit cards to make the purchases. The website too seems a bit cluttered but gives all the details. Campusbookrentals.com was founded and is run by college students and they understand them the best.
5) Textbookstop.com
Textbookstop.com was started in2008 and it also offers a similar service and it also allows the user to search by school. It allows services of free shipping as well under certain conditions.
The webpage seems easy but does not have adequate information about the company. However, even in this one has the option of searching for books by school. One can choose between selecting books which are new or those which have been previously purchased. Shipping is free as long as one sells his or her textbooks to textbookstop.com. Textbookstop.com does need to work harder to climb above its current position and come out with various other titles as well.
