For decades, buying textbooks was one of the most frustrating, expensive parts of a new semester in college. It was a dark underbelly of the college experience: students had no choice but to dole out hundreds of precious dollars on books that often would hardly be used, only to be returned for a fraction of the value at the end of the year (if they could be returned at all).
But over the past few years, college textbook retailers have sprung up all around the web, offering students an extensive variety of options to rent, buy, and sell textbooks – minimizing the initial overhead at the beginning of the term, and maximizing the return after the hell of finals week is over. Here are the five best textbook rental sites for college students:
Campus Book Rentals
What's the best part about owning a textbook? Being able to write in it, highlight important parts, and make it your own personal study guide – and Campus Book Rentals not only allows it, but encourages students to make their books their own (within reason, of course).
With one of the largest textbook databases on the web, Campus Book Rentals has garnered a lot of attention in the press over recent years – and their great customer service, option to insure rentals, and free round-trip shipping has furthered their reputation as one of the most trusted services around. They also allow students to rent out their own textbooks: after they've rented it out a couple times, they'll sell it and send the profits back to you (minus a small service fee).
BookRenter
Book rental sites are still fairly new entities – but they're already experimenting with different way to approach rental services. BookRenter, for example, offers flexible pricing plans for their rentals, allowing users to pick from a selection of rental lengths, depending on how long you'll need a textbook for.
In addition, BookRenter offers a store credit program for students who are looking to rent new textbooks and sell their old ones off. With store credit in your account, it'll be a lot easier to shop without having to funnel funds back and forth from a checking account or credit card – and with BookRenter coupons a mere click away, there are opportunities for huge savings on textbook costs.
Skyo
Skyo is one of the younger services around, but they've quickly established themselves as one of the most student-friendly sites around. Along with offering both print and digital copies of many books, they feature the most flexible renting options available (with multiple increments from 30-120 days). They're also a very socially active site: both their Facebook page and our Skyo coupon page are constantly updating with new deals and promo codes to take advantage of.
Chegg
Chegg's goal is to be the “one-stop shop” for the college student – and although renting and selling textbooks remains the focal point of their site, they offer a number of other helpful features for students to utilize.
Some of this is related to textbooks (students can buy, rent, and sell new/used textbooks and some e-books), but where Chegg really sets itself apart is the other services they offer: from helping students find courses they're interested in to providing a database to find extra scholarships, Chegg takes their services a step further than most of the other comparative businesses on the web.
eCampus
The only service on this list that offers international shipping, eCampus has a natural advantage for students traveling abroad or those studying year-round overseas. Their services are comparable to other sites on the list – and though they don't offer anything particularly innovative, they're a fantastic option for students looking to keep things simple when renting, buying, or selling their textbooks. And they're prices are competitive with other sites – throw a eCampus promo code on top, and students are looking at big savings.
