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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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