With the average college textbook costing over $100, it’s no wonder why college students jump at any opportunity to save money on books. If you outright buy all your books for the term, you’re looking at hundreds of dollars on textbooks you’ll only use for a few months.
Luckily, there are a few alternatives to buying every single textbook (and selling it for pennies on the dollar when you finish the class). Some sites and platforms will rent you textbooks for the term for a fraction of the cost.
So, without further ado, here are sources for cheap textbook rentals that even won’t charge you for shipping:
Free Shipping Both Ways
BooksRun
BooksRun is a one-stop shop where you can buy, sell and rent your books. With a majority of their inventory being used books, you’ll find lower prices than buying brand-new books. With their dedication to sustainability, every rental you receive will come in packing made out of fully recyclable materials.
Along with slashing rental prices for your textbooks, BooksRun offers free shipping both ways on all orders. You just place your order, wait for the book in the mail, and ship it back with the prepaid shipping label when you’re done. See BooksRun reviews on BookScouter.com.
Knetbooks
Knetbooks specializes in book rentals, and their pledge is to make university textbooks more affordable. They’ll help you save up to 85% on your textbooks for the term. On top of that, you’ll get unique benefits like multiple rental options (quarter vs semester), flexible due dates, and text notifications for shipment updates.
Knetbooks also guarantees every order has free shipping both ways, so you can expect $0 on the initial order and a prepaid UPS return label for the shipment back. See Knetbooks reviews on BookScouter.
Free Shipping Both Ways…With Some Stipulations
Chegg
Aside from renting or buying textbooks, Chegg also offers services from schoolwork to career development. In college, you can take advantage of their textbook solutions, test prep materials, chats with experts for solutions, study sessions, and writing resources. Beyond school, they also offer career-oriented courses that help boost your resume and bundle with food delivery services like DoorDash.
Back to the textbooks. You can save up to 90% on textbooks, and you’ll always get a prepaid return label. However, you might need to pay for shipping for the initial rental. It depends on how much you’re spending. For example, they’ll often have promos for free shipping on orders over $35. Keep an eye out for those promo codes.
eCampus
eCampus has options for both higher education (college or university) and K-12 (elementary through high school). You can save up to 90% when you buy or rent your textbooks, which come in new, used, or eBook versions. They also buy textbooks when you’re done with them.
As for shipping, you’ll always get free return shipping when your rental period is up. However, you’ll have to meet the $35 threshold for your textbooks to be shipped to you for free. See eCampus reviews on BookScouter.
Textbookrush
Textbookrush also allows for renting, buying, and selling textbooks. For rentals, you just search your book, try not to mark up the pages too much, and return it at the end of the semester. Rentals are marked up to 90% off their original price.
Like eCampus, return shipping is always free. To get free, same-day shipping on the initial shipment, your order needs to be $35 or more.
BiggerBooks
For BiggerBooks, you can buy, sell, or rent textbooks while taking advantage of their “Daily Deal” offers. They consistently offer coupons for purchases or rentals at different amounts, but the deals usually end at 11:59 PM that night.
As far as shipping, return orders are always free. But to get free shipping with your initial order, you’ll need to spend at least $59. Feel free to check out BiggerBooks reviews on BookScouter.
Free Return Shipping
Valore
On Valore, you can rent, buy, or sell textbooks with over 18,000 vendors. As per their homepage, the average student saves about $500 per school year by buying or renting through Valore. If you have any issues, customer service is easily accessible through their site.
So if you’re okay with spending a few bucks on the initial order, Valore is a cheap textbook rental option. You might have to pay for the trip to you, but return shipping will be free.
eFollett
With over 1,200 college brands available, eFollett sets itself apart from the rest by working closely with partner universities. For example, schools like Stanford University and Arizona State University use eFollett as their online bookstores for all their students. You’ll have the option to rent or buy your books. Because it’s so closely linked to your school, you can usually type in your Student ID or course title to find the books you need, which is especially convenient.
If you choose to get your rentals shipped to you, you’ll have to pay, but return shipping is free. They’ll provide you with a prepaid FedEx shipping label when your rental time is up. However, if your school is partnered with eFollett specifically, you might have the option to pick up your order at your campus store, in which case shipping both ways is free.
Tips to Save on Textbook Rentals
Use Free Perks
What’s the cheapest you can get? Free! While the textbooks themselves won’t be free, textbook rental companies do offer free perks. For example, you could get access to homework solutions in addition to your rental.
Join a Cash Back Program
A Cash Back Program is just what it sounds like—you get cash back on your purchases. While not every store offers a Cash Back Program for their rentals, keep an eye out for the ones that do. You can earn back as much as 10% of what you’re spending just by joining.
Rent ASAP
If you want to catch a rental at its absolute cheapest, figure out what books you need for next semester right when this semester ends. At the end of a semester, everyone is turning their books in, so inventory is high, and prices are low. Check out your syllabus or even reach out to the professor before the syllabus is released to get a head start on your rental.
Find Alternative Editions
Sometimes, the sticker price isn’t the price you have to end up with. Next time you’re renting your textbooks, check if there are eBook, international, or earlier editions available. They’ll work just as well and save you a few bucks.
Stay Organized
Saving on textbook rentals also means avoiding fees. For example, late fees can add up quickly. So as soon as you get your textbook rentals, write down the due date on your calendar and set a reminder. A late fee on top of the rental cost could easily cancel out any savings you made by renting in the first place.
Conclusion
Textbooks aren’t cheap, so college students are bound to look for the most cost-efficient options out there. When you’re using sites like BookScouter to compare prices for textbook rental, pay attention to what vendors you’re renting from.
Lastly, when you’re looking at rental vendors, remember tips for extra savings. Their coupons, free perks, Cash Back Programs, and deadlines make a difference when every penny counts!
