When you rent textbooks, there’s no getting up early to fight for the best used book, no waiting in lines that wrap in and out of bookshelves to checkout, and no time wasted during finals trying to sell you books back.
So which book rental site is the best? Each rental site has different policies that might be good for some people but bad for others. So we’ve done some research on the top textbook rental sites to help you decide which is best for you.
All of the sites have a few things in common. They all have free return shipping and offer at least 15 day extensions. None guarantee supplemental materials (such as CDs or DVDs that might come with a book), and all allow at least some highlighting. Now, let’s check out the sites:
Good for people who:
- Love free shipping: you’ll get the book in 7-14 business days plus processing time.
- Love free shipping materials: they’ll send you the package to return the books in!
- Might cancel or change classes: you have 30 days to return a book for a full refund.
- Might re-take the class or need the book next semester: you can re-rent a book for 30% less than the original rental price.
- Might damage books: they offer insurance so if you damage a book, you only pay 25% the rental price instead of the full list price.
- Might forget about the due dates: they have a nice 15 day grace period.
- Are attached to their phones: you can reserve your book just by texting them!
Not for people who:
- Want fast, free shipping. To get it fast, you’ll have to pay.
Good for people who:
- Love fast shipping: you’ll get your books in 1-5 business days plus processing time.
- Might need a long extension: you can extend your rental for up to 130 days.
- Like grace periods: you can keep the book for an extra 7 days free of charge.
Not for people who:
- Love free shipping: they charge a minimum of $3.99 for shipping. But hey, it’s fast.
- Will be annoyed by the fact that each rental must be placed in its own box.
- Might damage books: you could be charged up to list price.
- Might forget due dates: they do have a 7 day grace period, but after that, you’re basically buying the book at list price.
Good for people who:
- Love fast, free shipping: you’ll get the book in 3-7 business days plus processing time.
- Might cancel or change classes: you have 30 days to return a book for a full refund.
Not for people who:
- Might lose books: the “lost book” policy is a little confusing. If you haven’t returned the book within 15 days you are automatically charged the list price. If you are 1-15 days late but you haven’t generated a return label (I guess that means that you haven’t printed the shipping label… I told you it was confusing!) you will also charged the list price.
- Might damage books: this includes spilling on it, folding in corners, or highlighting excessively. If it’s damaged to them, you’ll be charged the list price.
Good for people who:
- Love fast, free shipping: you’ll get the book in 3-7 business days plus processing time.
- Like to reuse shipping boxes: you can send them back in the same boxes they came in!
- Would like no limit to the amount of extensions you can have.
- Would like an email or text reminder of when their book is due.
Not for people who:
- Think they might cancel their class: there is only a 10 day period to return a book and you will be charged a restocking fee of at least $10.
- Might lose books: You will be charged 140% the retail price! Say you rented a book for $20, but the retail price is $50. If you lose the book, you’ll be charged $70 and you’ll already have paid $20 to rent it.
eCampus
Good for people who:
- Love free shipping: it’s free for orders over $59 and you’ll get the books in 4-14 days.
- Want a “bill me later” option.
Not for people who:
- Might cancel or change classes: you can return the books within 30 days, but you’ll be charged shipping and a 10% restocking fee.
- Might damage books: they decide what they’ll charge after they see the book. It could be up to list price.
- Might forget due dates: you’ll be charged 20% of list price if it’s late. After 7 days, they charge you full list price (not a big window of time!).
- Will have trouble finding ISBN numbers on books. This is the only way you’ll be able to search for books on their site, though it does guarantee that you’ll be getting the right one.
**Please note that while we try to update the site as much as possible, policies for these sites could have changed since this article was last edited. Before ordering your books, double check the policies on their site so you know what you’re getting into.
