Online Textbook Buyback Sites a Better Deal for College Students than Textbook Rentals, According to MyBookBuyer.com

(Vocus) August 19, 2009 -- Much-hyped textbook rental services lose out in a side-by-side comparison with textbook buyback (www.mybookbuyer.com/buyback.htm) sites like MyBookBuyer.com where students sell used textbooks back at the end of the school term, who provide the best value for students.

Innovative online businesses, including textbook rental services and online textbook buyback sites, have found success recently by offering more convenience and greater savings than traditional campus bookstores.

Students are finding that earning a college degree is more financially demanding than ever. Textbooks average over a $1,000 a year and are a major portion of education expenses, up to 20% of the total cost of tuition and fees at public institutions. Campus bookstores are not addressing this growing problem, and actually have a variety of disadvantages for students.

First, their prices are generally significantly higher than used copies of the same title which are available for purchase on sites such as Half.com or Amazon. Secondly, these bookstores offer no guarantee that they will buy back the textbooks they sell at the end of the school term.

Online Textbook Rental Sites

Textbook rental services allow students to use textbooks for a fixed rental fee, provided that they return the book prior to its due date. While the idea seems innovative, even revolutionary, a closer examination reveals several aspects renting textbooks which don’t live up to their hype.

1    Claims like “Save up to 85%” are based on full retail price of a new textbook, a price far higher than students would generally be charged by any of the numerous websites that sell used textbooks.

2    Rental periods are a fixed length, not based on school schedules, meaning return dates can come before students finish their final exams. Extension of the rental period comes with an additional charge, and very late books can be subject to penalties up to 140% of the list price of the book.

3    Side by side comparison shows these rental fees are often still higher than the net cost of buying and selling textbooks (www.mybookbuyer.com/sell-textbooks.htm).

For more details, see the Textbook Cost Comparison Chart in the “Attached Files” section.

Online Textbook Buyback Sites

Textbook buyback sites buy back more books than traditional bookstores, giving students a much better chance to sell textbooks (http://www.mybookbuyer.com/sell-textbooks.htm) they’re done with and get back some of their money, thereby lowering the overall net cost those books.

Opting to sell used textbooks (http://www.mybookbuyer.com/textbooks.htm) on these sites also gives students a little cash in their pocket at the end of the semester, at a time when their peers who rented their books have nothing to look forward to but the possibility of late fees.

Unfortunately, awareness of textbook buyback sites isn’t nearly as high as it ought to be. An informal survey conducted by MyBookBuyer.com indicated most students learn about its service after finding that their campus bookstore would not buy back their books.

"The book I had bought new my school wouldn't buy it back. I checked around and not very many websites would buy the book back. This site (MyBookBuyer) offered the most money so I shipped it in for free and I received my check within 2 weeks,” explained C.P., a MyBookBuyer.com customer from Kokomo, Indiana. “Its money I wouldn't have had otherwise. I will definitely use this site again." There are countless similar testimonials from users who have found it easy and convenient to sell back textbooks (http://www.mybookbuyer.com/list_feedback.htm).

Michael Der, founder of MyBookBuyer.com sees it as a matter of educating students about their options and showing them the value of buying textbooks from online marketplaces like Amazon a or Half and selling back to buyback sites. “Once they see what they can save by buying online and selling to sites like MyBookBuyer, they love it. They come back again and again,” says Der.

MyBookBuyer.com is the online book and textbook buyback (http://www.mybookbuyer.com/aboutus.htm) service of Beagle Books, the largest online book seller in Northern California. MyBookBuyer.com serves as an alternative to the campus bookstore for college students who need to sell used textbooks. Thousands of students have turned their unwanted textbooks into cash by using the easy interface at MyBookBuyer.com.

Textbook buyback sites like MyBookBuyer.com buy back more books than campus bookstores, and reduce the overall cost of textbooks, giving students the best value for their money.

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