A few years ago when I went to college, I wasn’t even able to rent my textbooks.  Once I saw this concept pop up, it was one of those things that I thought about, “Why didn’t I think about something like that!?”  It’s such a simple concept and what I had found is that it works really well for college students, but will it work great for you?

1.  Start comparing textbook prices

The first thing that I would do is start by comparing textbook prices.  You’re going to want to know how much the book is going to cost, compared to renting.  There’s a great textbook search page that I had created that you can use to find the best prices for your textbook.

Now, to show you what I mean, I wanted to create you an example.  This example is as of July 23, 2010.

The book I’m going to compare is Physical Examination and Health Assessment (ISBN 1416032436)

  • On Chegg, you can rent this book for $39.99 for the semester.
  • On Amazon, I can purchase it new for $81.96 or used for $53.99.

Now, if we take the difference ($53.99 – $39.99), you’re going to get a difference of $14 saved if you rent, but let’s say that you purchase the book for $53.99 and sell it after your semester for $37.  It really only set you back $16 for the book.  Now, you’re going to have to gamble here, but it can pay off.

2.  Do you want it for reference?

Most of the time, if you want to use the book for reference in the future, you will more than likely want to purchase it.  If you want to sell it back, count on getting at least 70% of the value back.  Make sure that you sell quick because if a new edition comes out, you will be stuck with it.

When I was in college, I had found that I kept roughly 30% of the books that I had purchased.  There were a lot of books that I didn’t want such as my Math and English ones.  If you’re going for nursing, programming, or whatever it may be, it may be a great idea to keep them laying around.

3. Every book is different

When you take that example up above, you’re going to find that other textbooks that you compare are going to be completely different.  Some are going to be a no brainer, while you’re going to find that others are going to make you think a little longer.

As long as you use your homework, I will tell you that both renting at places like Chegg work fantastic, as well as purchasing used on major outlets such as Amazon.