A study released by a Maryland-based book company suggests that the cheapest way for college students to purchase textbooks is not to buy and rent online, but to simply buy and sell cheap.
BigWords.com is a price comparison website for students shopping for textbooks online, comparing prices of Half.com, Chegg, eBay, Amazon, etc.
“Despite the growing trend of renting textbooks, the data and research we’ve gathered suggests that buying and reselling books at the end of the semester is more beneficial, saving students more money,” said Jeff Sherwood, founder and CEO of BigWords.
The average annual cost for textbooks at a four-year university is $1,137, according to a study done by the U.S. Government Accountability Office — the total for a four-year college career being $4,548.
After researching the top 1,000 most-searched-for textbook titles nationally by college students, BigWords found that after buying the cheapest used book and reselling it at the end of the term, students save an average of $56.64 per book, as opposed to renting, according to the company’s study.
Some examples found in the study showed students who broke even when shopping for textbooks while simply buying cheap used textbooks online and selling them back for the same price.
For sophomore Caitlin Bowling, the concept of selling her books online after using them is becoming somewhat of a necessity.
“I think it’s crazy that you can pay $100 at the bookstore and they only buy it back for $2,” said Bowling, who is studying middle childhood education, mathematics and science. “It’s not even worth my time. I would rather keep it.
“It makes me want to sell it on Amazon or to a friend. I would get more money for it that way.”
The concept of buying cheap used books online sounds sweet to Josh Stalnaker, a senior studying economics, after spending hundreds on a book for his Italian class.
“Textbooks are too expensive … if they didn’t cost so much, I would have a lot more bar money,” he said.
jb351009@ohiou.edu
