Renting Cheap College Textbooks Online- A Review of Campus Book Rentals

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 You may be taking a look at your different options to finding cheap college textbooks, and you've come across renting your textbooks from Campus Book Rentals.

Let's take a look at a few of the important points about renting your college textbooks, and getting them from Campus Book Rentals.

The service they offer is relatively simple. Instead of purchasing your textbooks, either new from the college bookstore, or online at Amazon for instance, you can rent your specific textbooks from them for the exact time you need them for your particular class.

First let's cover some problems associated with dealing with college textbooks in general. Yes, they are expensive, but moreso:

• After years in school, you collect very heavy boxes of textbooks that you may never have to look at again (as most things in life, it will probably boil down to 2-3 books that are your go-to reference books.)
• They may be stolen.
• You have to spend time sourcing them out.
• You end up in long lines at the college bookstore.
• When you're done with your classes, if you don't want the books, you have to spend time selling them.
• When you drop certain classes, you've still paid for those books.
• Getting all the books you need, in time, can be very stressful.
• A teacher may decide to change the prescribed textbook mid-class.

Without a doubt, dealing with the books can be a hassle.


Campus Book Rentals - Burro/Moped from Vaughn Armstrong on Vimeo.

Campus Book Rentals have been in business since 2007. They are based in Ogden, Utah.

Not exactly old-timers, but they are pioneers in the field of renting cheap college textbooks, and been successful long enough to sort out the bugs in their business. Base solely on their feedback, they have developed a workable concept, and they've done a worthy job in executing their business model.

Here are a few key factors in their business practice.

1. All shipping costs are covered by Campus Book Rentals, both in receiving and returning your textbooks. This is a pretty big deal, the cost of shipping a lot of heavy textbooks has to add up, as the whole idea of renting your books is to save money, it's smart of them to cover this.
2. They have live help available to answer questions. This is actually an important point as well. If you are dealing with a company strictly via email, and it takes a day or two to get a reply, AND you are under the gun to get your textbooks before your classes start, this can greatly compound the stress level. Being able to give fast answer, and you being able to get fast answers, is key to survival in any business.
3. All book rentals come with a 30 day money back guarantee. You've got 30 days to decide if either the class, or the textbook, is the one you want. Again, this is a smart business practice on their part. This one is no doubt a response to customer feedback, and is probably what maintains their long-term customer base.
4. They have a number of rental periods, to accommodate different student schedules. Your choices include for a quarter, a semester, or for a summer period. This is smart, as here again they are accommodating students with different needs, with either standard schedules, accelerated classes, or post-graduate studies.
5. They have a grace period, after the rental term ends, of 15 days. This is evidence again of their having listened to their customers, and is a smart practice. Make-up exams are a fact of life in college. With a tough major, you may focus on getting through your main classes, but one or two of the less-important classes slide. You still need them, so you do a make-up exam. Keeping those books that extra 10 days or so can make the difference.
6. they offer 15 & 30 day rental extensions, and a 30% discount on re-rental. Here again are real-life student demands they are providing for. By doing so they are giving value to their long standing customers, at the expense of an extra quick buck.
7. They offer rental insurance. The cost for their insurance by all accounts is nominal. Taking out insurance is always a case by case situation, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't worth the extra expense (think consumer electronics extended warrantees.) As the stolen college textbook black market has exploded with the rising cost of college textbooks, this one does make sense.
8. They do not get upset if you return a book with some study notes you've added. They are making a realistic appraisal of college life here, this a smart point on their part. While I'm sure the doodles of a bored student are not appreciated, this also recognizes that for most students it's always nice to get a used textbook where someone has already done some of the thinking and evaluation of the information contained therein!
9. Should you decide to buy the book when you're done with your class, you have this option available as well.
10. And as a final point, if you have college textbooks you want to get rid of, you can sell them through Campus Book Rentals.

This covers the main points of practice of Campus Book Rentals.

It's easy to spot a business that has been founded with and operates from a strong philosophical basis. Taken on a strictly financial basis, they usually think in terms of maintaining long-term customers, rather than short-term profits.

Quite often the owners and employees are philanthropically minded. That is the case with Campus Book Rentals. As they've become bigger, they have donated a greater portion of their profits to charitable contributions. This has included the "One Laptop Per Child foundation", as well as educational, sports equipment and, key point, their time to elementary schools in poorer neighborhoods.

Taking a broad view, their customer feedback tends to show they have a solid sense of providing exchange and value for your money. Campus Book Sales should be a strong contender on your options list for finding cheap college textbooks.