Students regard textbook use, price during renting vs. buying discussion

New schedules require new books, and with new books come choices.

This semester that choice involves buying versus renting, with both T.I.S. College Bookstore and the IU Bookstore heavily promoting the option to rent this year.

“We try to supply what people are asking for,” said Tim Lloyd, textbook manager for T.I.S. “In terms of a benefit, you’ll find that typically a book will rent for about half the cost of a new one.”

Although T.I.S. began offering students the option to rent books last semester, Lloyd said the store has heavily promoted it this semester and has seen an increased demand.

Junior Mallory McShane said she spends hundreds of dollars each semester on textbooks for her psychology and sociology majors.

For her, the choice to rent was easy. Textbook rental, she said, is simply a matter of deciding which books are available to rent and where she can find the best prices.

“How many times do you actually keep your textbooks?” McShane said. “I think renting textbooks is a great idea. A lot of people think they will sell their textbooks back, but it really isn’t that much. I think renting is a lot cheaper overall.”

T.I.S. has been selective about which books are being offered as rentals, Lloyd said.
Expensive books, ones that will be used in other classes and texts that are used by multiple professors or in larger courses are ones that are primarily being rented.

Junior and English major Melanie Addleman, however, said she tries to buy and keep her books — her classes are smaller, the reading lists more specified and the content more universally applicable.

“I’m one of those people who likes to have things to source back,” Addleman said. “If I need to quote something or use something from a previous class, I just like knowing I have it and I don’t have to worry about finding it again.”

If she decides she won’t use the books again, Addleman said she sells them back.

However, Addleman also said she has been in education classes where she never touched the book, and going through inspections when returning the book can be a hassle.

“You don’t want to end up with books you can’t use,” she said.

Both Addleman and McShane said there are many options available and they should all be carefully considered.

“For an English major, books are not as expensive as they would be for pre-med books or biology books,” Addleman said.

“I think renting books is a good option to add to the things you can already do to
find books.”

In the end, price might be the deciding factor.

Addleman said she generally spends 50 to 75 dollars on each book she buys, and she pays for the texts herself.

McShane said sometimes her books can add up to 500 dollars, with some of the larger books being in the price range of 100 dollars a piece.

“My parents pay for my books,” she said. “But obviously they want them to be as cheap as possible. Renting will end up being cheaper overall.”

Renting books has been around for a long time, Lloyd said, and has recently become more popular.

“As students and administrators and professors are looking for ways to save money, it is another avenue to explore. Will it stick around? Will it stay? Sure.”