Rent Textbooks to Save Money and the Planet
Why pay outrageous prices for a college textbook you'll only use for one quarter or semester? You can save money (typically 50 - 75% off the new price) and trees by opting to rent textbooks. It's easy, fast, and sure to save you money!
Why Rent Textbooks Online?
Save money, time and trees
College textbooks are expensive, but that's not the only reason renting makes sense. Here are some other good reasons to drop the book buying habit:
- You can save 60 - 75% or more on new or used textbooks
- You'll help save trees (and maybe even plant some new ones!)
- There's no waiting in line at the college bookstore
- You'll get quick delivery and easy returns
- You can save 60 - 75% or more on new or used textbooks
- You'll help save trees (and maybe even plant some new ones!)
- There's no waiting in line at the college bookstore
- You'll get quick delivery and easy returns
Save Money, Save a Tree with Chegg Textbook Rentals
So now that you see the benefits of renting textbooks, where do you go? Chegg is a site that can help you save money and the environment. In addition to helping the planet by reusing books, Chegg will plant a tree for every book rented from their site.
According to the Chegg site, "More than 20 million trees a year are destroyed to make books! Renting helps make sure we get the most out of our resources, and by planting a tree for every book that's rented, together we're giving a little back to Mother Nature. So far, we've funded over 100 acres of trees. That's 100 football fields or 25 city blocks of worth!"
So you get a great price on the book you need and the environment gets a helping hand! What could be better?
Chegg offers over a million textbooks for rental. Rentals are offered for quarter, semester and summer periods, and they also offer extensions of 15 or 30 days. Delivery is available via Priority or Standard mail. Return shipping is free.
According to the Chegg site, "More than 20 million trees a year are destroyed to make books! Renting helps make sure we get the most out of our resources, and by planting a tree for every book that's rented, together we're giving a little back to Mother Nature. So far, we've funded over 100 acres of trees. That's 100 football fields or 25 city blocks of worth!"
So you get a great price on the book you need and the environment gets a helping hand! What could be better?
Chegg offers over a million textbooks for rental. Rentals are offered for quarter, semester and summer periods, and they also offer extensions of 15 or 30 days. Delivery is available via Priority or Standard mail. Return shipping is free.
BookRenter.com
Rent textbooks and save money
Another online textbook rental store is BookRenter.com. This site offers over a million textbooks. Rentals are available from one to four months and they offer three shipping options: Ground, 2 Day, and Next Day Air. There are no late fees and you can choose to extend or buy any books you rent. Return shipping is free.
Campus Book Rentals
Rent a textbook and support the One Laptop Per Child Project
At Campus Book Rentals, you can rent your books and do a good deed at the same time, asthe company will make a donation to a humanitarian project with each purchase. In 2008, the company supported the One Laptop Per Child Project.
Rental periods are semester, quarter and summer, and extensions are available for 15 or 30 days. If you need to retake a class, you can also re-rent the same book for 30% less than the original rental fee. Campus Book Rentals offer optional book insurance to cover the cost of any book lost, destroyed or stolen while in your possession. They offer free shipping both ways.
Rental periods are semester, quarter and summer, and extensions are available for 15 or 30 days. If you need to retake a class, you can also re-rent the same book for 30% less than the original rental fee. Campus Book Rentals offer optional book insurance to cover the cost of any book lost, destroyed or stolen while in your possession. They offer free shipping both ways.
How Much Can You Save If You Rent Textbooks?
Save 60 - 75% on average
How much you save by renting textbooks instead of buying obviously depends on the books you need. But here are a couple examples. (Prices were accurate as of July 8, 2008 and may be subject to change. Check the sites for up-to-date information.)BookRenter.com offers Biology: Concepts and Connections Media Update (5th Edition) for 125 days for $82.60 or 90 days for $75.02. A new copy of the same book on Amazon would cost $145.60.
Chegg offers American Nation Volume One To 1877 : A History of the United States for $47.14 for a semester or $42.43 for a quarter. The same book purchased new on Amazon would cost $100.00.
Why Rent Textbooks?
If you have rented or considered renting textbooks, what's the main reason?
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Rent or Buy Used?
Buying used college textbooks is another way to save
If you don't want to rent or can't find the book you need, you can also save money and trees by buying used textbooks. ecampus.com is one site that sells used textbooks. They also offer new books, college apparel, DVDs and more, and shipping is free on orders over $59.
Sell Textbooks or Donate Textbooks Online
Don't throw out those old books! Sell or donate them!
Whether you already have old textbooks lying around you want to get rid of or whether you know you'll have to buy some books this year, two good sites to know about are sellbackbooks.com and Better World Books.
As the name suggests, sellbackbooks.com will pay you to unload those used books you no longer need. Simply enter the book's ISBN, see the offer, and send the book. Shipping is free! Once the book is received, you'll receive a check or a direct bank deposit.
At Better World Books, you can donate textbooks copyright 1998 or newer. Books will either be sold to generate funds for Books for Africa, Room to Read, the National Center for Family Literacy, or Worldfund, or they will be given to a nonprofit partner or recycled so they don't end up in a landfill.
As the name suggests, sellbackbooks.com will pay you to unload those used books you no longer need. Simply enter the book's ISBN, see the offer, and send the book. Shipping is free! Once the book is received, you'll receive a check or a direct bank deposit.
At Better World Books, you can donate textbooks copyright 1998 or newer. Books will either be sold to generate funds for Books for Africa, Room to Read, the National Center for Family Literacy, or Worldfund, or they will be given to a nonprofit partner or recycled so they don't end up in a landfill.
Donate Money to Africa When You Buy New Textbooks
If you have to buy new textbooks, consider visiting Africa Aid.org first. This nonprofit organization helps communities in Africa achieve basic levels of education, health, clean water, and economic empowerment.
And you can help support their work without spending a penny extra. Africa Aid has partnered with Amazon.com to generate donations for their programs every time someone shops at Amazon. You simply click through Africa Aid first and buy your textbooks as you normally would from Amazon. Amazon will then donate 7% of your purchase price to the organization - at no additional cost to you! A $60 textbook purchase can feed one refugee child for one month.
If you have to buy new books, this is a great way to not only get the books you need, but help someone in need. Check it out!
And you can help support their work without spending a penny extra. Africa Aid has partnered with Amazon.com to generate donations for their programs every time someone shops at Amazon. You simply click through Africa Aid first and buy your textbooks as you normally would from Amazon. Amazon will then donate 7% of your purchase price to the organization - at no additional cost to you! A $60 textbook purchase can feed one refugee child for one month.
If you have to buy new books, this is a great way to not only get the books you need, but help someone in need. Check it out!
Africa Aid Textbook Campaign
See a short video about the program described above.
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Let Us Know You Were Here!
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- Sharada Sharada May 3, 2009 @ 5:00 pm
- Great lens on a great cause. Never heard of text book rentals before! Blessed by a Squid Angel today! :o)
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- lisadh lisadh Feb 10, 2009 @ 4:33 pm | in reply to Margo_Arrowsmith
- Chegg discusses highlighting on pages (allowed) and writing in the textbook (not allowed) on the How it Works page. I imagine it's really not much different than buying a new or used textbook and then trying to sell it back to the bookstore. Way back in the olden days when I was in school, the bookstore would buy back books with some highlighting, but excessive highlighting was out. The only real difference I can see between renting a textbook vs. buying a book and then selling it back is the upfront price.
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- Margo_Arrowsmith Margo_Arrowsmith Feb 10, 2009 @ 4:00 am
- Love saving the trees, but how do you highlight? or make notes? Seriously, that and making notes on the pages. I am having an anxiety attack.
And I hope that the people who are writing the books are still making a living so they will continue to write the books.
I LOVE that you make places where people can pass this wealth, though, and this is a GREAT lens, ***** complete and wonderful
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- kellywissink kellywissink Feb 9, 2009 @ 9:03 pm
- Welcome to the Squidoo 100 Lens Club.
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Reply
- tdove tdove Jul 12, 2008 @ 2:33 pm
- Thanks for joining G Rated Lense Factory!
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- cherangelry cherangelry Jul 11, 2008 @ 9:12 am
- Oooh! Great idea! Books are a pain to purchase. I've spent probably over $1000 in the last year alone on books for classes. Alternative ideas are always welcome. My latest preference has been e-books. They are much lighter and often come with a search feature that can be much more efficient than the index.
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- chemrat chemrat Jul 9, 2008 @ 11:18 pm
- Welcome to the group "Sustainability and the environment!"
Jim greenchemistry.wordpress.com/ and
nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/
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- MarcNorris MarcNorris Jul 9, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
- Definitely a cool idea - renting text books. I hate to think of the boxes of textbooks I have in the basement from my college days collecting dust. I could have saved the tress instead...
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You're Helping Room to Read!
While every child in the United States has the opportunity for a free education, children in developing countries are not always so lucky. According to Room to Read, 30% of rural children in developing nations are not enrolled in school, and there are 770 million adults in the world who are illiterate.
Room to Read is a nonprofit organization that helps build schools and libraries, and offers scholarships to girls. By visiting this lens, you are helping to support their work, as a portion of the proceeds from this lens are donated to Room to Read. Thank you for your support!
Room to Read is a nonprofit organization that helps build schools and libraries, and offers scholarships to girls. By visiting this lens, you are helping to support their work, as a portion of the proceeds from this lens are donated to Room to Read. Thank you for your support!
More About Textbook Rentals
Information about renting books is also available on HubPages: What's Better Than Used Textbooks? Rentals!
by lisadh
Hi, I'm Lisa, a Giant Squid with two kids, two dogs, four cats, and a Squidoo addiction. You can learn more on my lensography.
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