Textbook rental can save up to $50 per book or more, but finding the best price is time consuming. Prices between stores vary significantly, and not every store offers every book. Instantly search all top textbook rental stores at once to find the lowest price option (coupons and shipping fees included).
| “My books average $120 each and I’ve noticed that most of them I can rent for around $20-$50 each.” – Redditor ugghhno. |
Tips to save on textbook rentals
Use these tips to help you save even more when you rent textbooks.
- Rent from one store to save more: Many textbook rental sites offer free shipping and additional discounts when you order multiple books.
TIP: Multiple books to Rent? Search by Comma Separated ISBN Here
- Explore free perks: Some college textbook rental companies offer additional perks, such as access to homework answers and other study materials. These perks can help you save money, since you won’t need to pay for such services separately.
- Join our cash back program: Cash back programs can put up to 10% cash in your pocket for qualifying rentals made through participating stores. You can put the funds toward next semester’s rentals or cash out and spend them any way you’d like. Learn more about Direct Textbook Cash Back.
- Rent early: Inventories peak shortly after semesters end, which means rental stores are stocked up and prices are often low. Rent as soon as you know which textbooks you need. You might even want to reach out to professors before they release syllabi to get a head start.
- Find alternatives: If the books you need aren’t in stock or if they’re expensive, you can save money with alternative editions like eBooks, international editions, instructor editions and past editions. Alternative editions typically include most of the material featured in the latest edition at a lower cost.
See Also: College Book Rental: Bookstore VS Online stores
- Double check class start and end dates: Determine how many days you’ll need access to your books before you rent to avoid late fees or having to return them before your classes end.
Textbook rentals can save you money and hassle, but there are potential drawbacks.
- Missing access codes: Rented textbooks don’t always include access codes and other supplemental materials, which means you might need to purchase them separately to access required course software.
- Limited highlighting: Most textbook rental companies prohibit highlighting and writing in rented textbooks, since they need to be able to rent them to other students when you’re done with them. Of course, this doesn’t apply to digital textbook rentals.
- Potential for loss, damages and late fees: Some textbook rental sites charge hefty fees if you lose or damage your textbooks. In addition, you need to return textbooks on time to avoid late fees.
- No resale value: Unlike purchased books, you can’t sell rented textbooks when you’re done with them. That could mean you end up paying a little more, since buying and reselling can result in a lower net cost.
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