Textbook Rental

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Almost every college student these days must purchase textbooks for classes. No matter what your classmates may tell you, you cannot get through all of your classes without at least one textbook. When I took Oceanography, I just barely passed because I only had my notes to study off of.

While students try many methods of lowering the cost of textbooks, I think the best solution is book rental. Sites like Amazon.com and half.com are costing bookstores, and therefore the school, money, and they are not saving students much when you consider the inconvienence and the fact that they may not be able to sell their books again.

Textbook rental would save students a lot more money, help school bookstores and still be convienent. Everyone wins. Publishers would also not want to make new editions because they could continue to make money off of the old editions. This is assuming that publishers and authors would get a cut each time a book was rented, something that does not happen when students sell their old books on the internet.

Currently, there are options for renting books. Chegg.com is the most popular. I ordered my books there this year, and although I cannot comment on their delivery service since I only ordered the books yesterday, it was much cheaper than buying them on Amazon. And with my recent troubles with my old standby, I do not think I will be using them for textbooks for awhile.

Renting textbooks is not a new concept; according to my mom, that is how she got all of her books. I believe that it is a method that will help everyone that is involved in buying and selling textbooks. Bookstores are often seen as villians, but the fact is that they are trying to make a profit just like any other business. Textbook rental could help them do that, while at the same time ensuring that students can still afford to get the best education possible.

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Sorry about all the links, its a popular topic.