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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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This is it! The week you drive, head to the airport, jump on a train, or kiss your college student goodbye. But it is also a time of the year where spending on the college students certainly increases. But we have some ways you can save a lot of money without losing any of the educational value.

Today on Good Morning Maryland @ 9, Eric Ginsberg, a retail industry expert, sat down with Jamie to talk about how college students can now RENT their books, equipment, and other items in an effort to save them money.

Eric explained how the program works a lot like NetFlix does for movies. You can rent the books you need for the class and just return them in a pre-paid envelope at the end of the semester. You can do the same for equipment like expensive calculators you may only need for one semester of your college career. The advantage? You don’t have to pay a lot of money up-front for something you may not need again in four months.

To hear more of Eric’s examples and get other ideas, just click on the video box to the right of this article and see the segment again. And we have provided links to the left for more information.
Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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