Kendall Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Have you found renting textbooks on amazon to be pain free provided your student remembers to return them? Right now it doesn't look like you can arrange a rental for the fall. Is the price likely to be higher later in the summer when you can rent them for fall? Do you know when you can start renting for fall semester? Is this a good option for books the student won't want to keep? Thanks, Kendall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 My dd has rented quite a few. It has been painless. It has always been cheaper than buying used. I don't know when fall rentals start. As a prime member she gets them shipped free in about 2 days, so she doesn't order very early. One nice feature is that you can return the book within four weeks for a full refund. That way if the book wasn't all you were hoping, you drop a class or a friend gives you her old book, etc. you can just ship it back (no charge) and get a refund. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 My adult son has rented several for college classes on my prime account. He has had no issues and says it is very painless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 We've rented several from Amazon. It's easy-peasy. They email you a reminder when it's getting closer to return time. I think you can go online and print the return label. You send it back for free. The cost to rent it through Amazon is generally cheaper than renting it through the college. I'd suspect that the price wouldn't change much between now and the end of the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Fall rentals usually start in August :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 We've rented from amazon for three different students. Painless. Highly recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 We've rented a few times. I love it -- it's simple and cheap. As a matter of fact, we need to return this summer's textbooks since the classes are already over -- thanks for the reminder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 We did one for the spring. It was no problem. I saved the box it came in and used that to send it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 (edited) DD has rented from Amazon a few times. Smooth process and much cheaper than buying/renting from her school bookstore. She does put a jacket cover on the texts and treats them gently. We aren't sure how much "wear and tear" is acceptable upon return so she's extra careful with those books. The email reminder at the end of the semester is VERY helpful because it can be easy to forget which texts were rented! Edited June 29, 2016 by Pegasus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 My daughter just rented books from Amazon for summer classes. They are in excellent condition. If your kids are away at school how do they mail books back? Does campus post office send them back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 My daughter just rented books from Amazon for summer classes. They are in excellent condition. If your kids are away at school how do they mail books back? Does campus post office send them back? When I went to Texas A&M, there was an actual post office on campus. You could walk in and mail packages there just like any other post office. In fact, we had a rental PO box there before I even became a student and would stop in at campus regularly to check our mail. (I guess it was most convenient for my dad when we first moved to College Station) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 Thank you so much for the input. This has been very encouraging! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 We've never had any problems with used books either if your dc wants to mark up books as they read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Have you found renting textbooks on amazon to be pain free provided your student remembers to return them? Right now it doesn't look like you can arrange a rental for the fall. Is the price likely to be higher later in the summer when you can rent them for fall? Do you know when you can start renting for fall semester? Is this a good option for books the student won't want to keep? Thanks, Kendall I just received my book yesterday which I ordered on Saturday. I have done this for 3 other classes and it is easy. The book I just received was the first one with highlighting in it. The first one didn't have the attached CD/DVD attached but that was okay with me. Just make sure you read what's included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingmom Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 can you highlight take notes in rental? I have a junior taking CC courses and was thinking about this but want him to have the option to actively highlight and take notes. Anyone have a good used books source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) can you highlight take notes in rental? I have a junior taking CC courses and was thinking about this but want him to have the option to actively highlight and take notes. Anyone have a good used books source? No, I wouldn't mark up a rental unless you are prepared to pay full price for it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200974590 "When we receive a returned textbook, we will determine in our sole discretion if it is in acceptable rental condition . If the returned textbook is determined by us not to be in acceptable rental condition, we may in our sole discretion charge you the buyout price (calculated as the full purchase price of the textbook as of the time of rental, less any rental fees and extension fees you have already paid), and ship the textbook back to you to keep." Amazon's acceptable rental conditions include: "No water damage (wavy, swollen or discolored, crinkled, stains, rings), No broken spine or binding, Cover is not torn or taped, No missing, torn, or loose pages, No burns, fire, or smoke damage, No odor of any kind (including musty odor, cigar or cigarette odor), No excessive writing or highlighting. " I would buy him a book if he plans to mark it up at all or if you think he won't be able to keep it in the condition in which it was received. Check www.allbookstores.com . It's a good place to compare prices for rental, used, and new. Another consideration is that rentals aren't guaranteed to have supplemental materials. I've chosen to buy my daughter's ASL text new as it included dvds that will be required for the course. I did find it cheaper on Amazon new from a third party seller than the college bookstore offered it. Edited July 4, 2016 by KarenNC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livetoread Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 Make sure the class doesn't require a textbook with an online code too. I ordered a rental for my son's DE class and ended up having to purchase the code from the publisher because he needed it for his homework. Renting the text and buying the code cost more than just buying the book would have. Live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in NC Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 We have rented text in the past, it was easy. I just ordered a text for next fall two days ago and received it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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