College Textbook Rentals - Ought to You Rent Your Textbooks?
Inside the last two years, a movement within the online textbook industry has explosively emerged: College Textbook Rentals. The buzz is out; my Facebook is full of posts from college students spurting the wonders of this phenomenal enterprise model, as if it had been the subsequent handheld device invention or turbo-charged social networking model.
Getting worked online textbook sales for numerous years, and having the knack to assess the value of time and costs, I'm not completely convinced.
A typical example, making use of realistic averages:
A rental site will provide a textbook, say a book titled "International Business" for $65. In the college bookstore, the book is selling for $180. The current online price on key websites like Amazon.com and eBay's Half.com for a made use of book is about $90. Appears like a no-brainer, eh?
I'm not so certain. If these solutions are viewed from the angle of what you, the student, will NET, renting is actually the second most effective choice.
Here's the inside scoop: Obtaining at your college textbook store is generally the worse alternative for your pocketbook. Should you buy the above textbook for $180, it is most likely your bookstore will provide $45-$85 for it when you sell it back to them. If the buyback amount turns out to be $65, you are net loss on this one book is $115. Ouch. Let's say you're enrolled in 4 other classes with similarly priced books, a most likely scenario. Multiply your net loss amount of $65 by 5 for all of your classes, and your net total outlay is $575 for the semester. Incredi-Ouch.
In the event you rent the above textbook, you will invest $65, and in some cases, $3-$5 for shipping it back to textbook rental business at the finish of the semester (always ship media mail, it's the least expensive route.) Your net outlay equals $69. Multiply this figure by five for all of your classes, and your textbook total expense for the semester is $345. Improved, but....
How about a third choice? Let's say, you purchase the book on Half.com for $90, and at the finish of the semester, you take ten minutes to set up a half.com account (you'll need to have a credit/debit card plus checking account facts), after which sell the book online for $83. You will be mostly reimbursed for shipping (you'll likely net -$1.00 on this for media mail shipments) and half.com will take a ten percent commission. Your outlay: $16.00. Multiply this figure by five for all your classes and your total textbook expense is $80 for the semester.
It's clear that acquiring and selling online will be the greatest route if you want to reduce your textbook expense. And in case you acquire your books early sufficient prior to every person else does (December for Spring Semester and late July/early August for Fall Semester), it truly is likely you will invest only $70 versus $90 on the aforementioned book as the supply will still be plentiful online. In case you sell in the right time (wait until the last two weeks of January or initial two weeks of September), when everyone else is acquiring and the online textbook supply dries up, you might sell your book back for More than what you purchased.
Concerning shopping for and selling online, one of the most typical objection I typically hear is, "But I don't want to handle the hassle of making an account, selling, etc and so on." It is usually a valid objection, but genuinely, what exactly is the value of your time? In case you invest 40 minutes on your initially transaction which includes account set up time, and 20 minutes per book on the rest of your transactions, the quantity of savings per hour you developed by buying and selling versus renting is $132.50 per hour. Is your time worth $132.50 per hour?
Also, for a seamless online selling method, write a super-accurate description when making your listing, and ship the textbook quickly, as in no later than two days after the sale date. And, for those who end up buying an international edition online, Don't sell it on half.com or amazon.com, it is against their policies-sell it on eBay instead. In truth, I'd stay clear of these international edition books if you are just beginning out.
