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August 13, 2010 (WPVI) — “The more expensive an item is, the more money you’re going to save by renting.” So says Rental Industry Expert Eric Ginsburg.

Planning a camping vacation? You could buy a Base Camp 4 tent for $349, or rent it from REI.

Once you pay a one-time membership fee of $20, the tent can be yours for $25 the first day, and $15 for each day after that.

There are similar deals on a $299 REI XT-85 backpack and a $259 REI Halo +25 sleeping bag. Both rent for $15 the first day and $10 each day after that. Whether renting makes sense for you depends on how often you’re going to use the item.

“People who go camping all the time, you’re better off buying it,” Ginsberg explains. “But for people who do it once in a while or who want to try it, definitely rent before you buy.”

You can even rent books to read while you’re camping.

Ginsberg says, “You can rent everything from paperback classics up to hard-cover new releases from BookSwim.com.”

“Bookswim.com works a lot like NetFlix does. You have no due dates and late fees. You add all the books that you want into the pool and they send them to you in the mail and you send them back whenever you’re done.”

Plans start at 10 dollars a month.

And if you’re more into music than literature, check out Guitar Affair.

“If you go to Guitar Affair.com you can rent some VERY nice guitars,” Ginsberg says. “A lot of them are custom-made for a fraction of the cost (of buying).”

Everyone’s heard of rental cars, and traditional services are great if you need a car for several days. But ZipCar.com allows members to rent cars by the hour — and they don’t have to be returned a central location.

“You can become a member of ZipCar.com and then rent a car for as little as $11, depending on how long you need to rent it for,” Ginsberg says.

And just about anything else you would want to rent is available through RentCycle.com.

“Rentcycle.com is a really great aggregator of the things you can rent,” Ginsberg explains. “You can punch in your zip code and/or whatever it is that you’re looking for and they’re going to find a number of online and local solutions for you.”

You can rent formalwear for a special occasion by going to Rent The Runway. And you can even rent pets from animal shelters for the weekend through FlexPetz.com.

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Some websites now let you rent books the same way you rent movies.

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(WHAS11) – This Consumer Watch takes a closer look at the high price of college textbooks. After tuition, housing, and meal plans it’s a cost that many students aren’t prepared for.

Since 1980, the cost of college textbooks has risen at twice the level of inflation. Jacqueline Hingle spent $248 on books this semester. Timmy Alexander spent more.

“$265.26. Every dollar I had in my wallet. It’s completely empty now,” said Alexander.

Like a lot of students, Alexander is getting them as he goes. A bag of books on campus is like a bag of gold.

$200 or $300 is what Michael VanSickle has spent on books at the University of Louisville.

VanSickle has spent six years at the University of Louisville. Vansicle was asked if he’s ever considered renting books.

“No, I didn’t know that you could do that,” he answered.

You can, and Eric Ginsberg says you should, at an average savings of 60%.

“Very few people are going to go through college without taking calculus and this book is going to cost you over $200. But you can save up to 75% by renting text books online,” claimed Ginsberg, VP of Marketing for Bookswim.com.

There are no due dates, no late fees, and books are returned with pre-paid shipping when you rent from BOOKSWIM.com. Other options in the book rental business are COLLEGEBOOKREADER.com and CHEGG.com.

The book retailers say they would prefer that you don’t write in the books, but many renters do off alternatives.

“We do ask that you don’t write in a book or dog ear it. But we give you bookmarks and we give you little post-it’s and we do ask you don’t drop it into a lake somewhere but other than that we do accept average wear and tear,” explained Ginsberg.

The only way to guarantee the true lowest price is to compare prices at your bookstore with prices online.

And renting isn’t just a trend that’s catching on for college textbooks. With a simple GOOGLE search you can rent entertainment like DVD’s and video games as well as necessities on many college campuses like laptop computers and those expensive calculators.

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What is being called “transumerism” by the rental industry seems to be on the rise. Some say you can save hundreds of dollars by simply choosing to rent instead of buying certain items.

Eric Ginsberg, vice president of marketing for “BookSwim.com,” says transumerism is the “common desire to get beyond paying the high premium of ownership and just have what you need when you need it.”

Ginsberg says you can rent just about anything you can think of; just by doing some quick searching online. He says especially right now with a new school year, students can save money by renting text books instead of buying new or even used. Ginsberg says students can save an average 60% on books each semester by renting through websites like BookSwim.com.

To learn more about “BookSwim.com”, click on the big red bar.

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Eric Ginsberg, a rental expert, joins us with details on how you can save the most on your college expenses.

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As college students head back to local campuses, many are looking for ways to save money.

Rental Industry Expert, Eric Ginsberg joined us on Daybreak Friday morning to tell us why renting goods may be a better idea for college students than buying them.

He said students can save hundreds of dollars a year by renting textbooks, video games, laptop computers, even cars.

It’s becoming more popular and works similar to how Netflix works to rent movies.

For more information or to get started renting items, visit www.BookSwim.com.

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