After a test period in spring 2009, the HSU Bookstore launched its textbook rental program in July 2010. In partnership with a national book rental service, the bookstore now offers students the option to rent their textbooks at a lower immediate cost than new or used books. Shipping is free and returning a book is free and convenient.
Best of all, the money students spend on textbooks through the bookstore stays on campus and a large portion goes to student wages. “We’re one of the biggest employers of students on campus,” says Clarinda VanHorn, HSU’s Textbook Manager.
As a current HSU student, I wanted to check out the new textbook rental program for myself. I’ve used similar services in the past, so I decided to do a little comparison-shopping.
I expected the bookstore’s services to be reasonable, maybe a bit more expensive than what I would find online. And I would be willing to pay a little more since the money would stay on campus. But what I actually found was that the bookstore had the most competitive prices for my textbooks.
I rented my “Media in America” text through the bookstore web site for $17.95. That same textbook would have cost $52.50 new and $39.50 used at the bookstore. But it would have also cost $27.49 used, plus shipping from Amazon’s Half.com. The Bookstore also beat out several other textbook services, some which had higher prices, shipping costs or didn’t have my textbook in stock.
Best of all, when my rental period is up, I can just walk into the bookstore to return the books.
There are more than just books there, too. “We have computers and software at academic pricing here,” says Linda Thompson, Bookstore Manager. “We’ve gone online with textbook reservations and have iPads now.”
But making it easy for students to get the lowest prices can be hard work. “Clarinda and I spend a fair amount of time researching textbook prices, looking at hardback versus paperback, old editions, even loose-leaf format,” says Tura Brink, Assistant Textbook Manager. “And if a professor only wants you to read part of a book, we look it up and see if it’s cheaper just to pay the copyrights.”
One key factor in lowering prices is receiving instructor textbook requests in on time. When departments submit textbook requests by deadline, the bookstore saves money on ordering and shipping costs. As an incentive, the bookstore offers a total of $1,000 in student scholarships to departments that turn in text requests on schedule.
Book buy-back is another way students can lower their costs. If a textbook is being reused for a class, a student can sell it back at 50 percent of the purchase price. If not, the bookstore will give students the best wholesale price. “We’re not arbitrarily picking a number and saying ‘Take it or leave it,’” Brink says. “We’re trying to bring the best possible prices for students.”
“In May, we put over $143,000 back into students’ pockets,” Thompson says about buy-back. For students that missed the end-of-semester buy-back period, they will have another opportunity to sell back their books from Aug. 23 – 25.
And students who save their textbook receipts this semester will be entered into a bookstore drawing when they sell back their books at the end of the semester. The first-prize winner will get 100 percent of their next semester’s required textbooks paid for by the bookstore. Second- and third-prize winners will get 50 and 25 percent of their required textbooks paid for, respectively.
For more information on textbook rentals, visit the HSU Bookstore online.