Amazon is trying to lighten the load for college students heading back to campuses this Fall. The company announced today that they are launching a textbook rental service for co-eds to get books on a per semester basis.
Textbook costs have always been a significant portion of a student’s yearly fees, forcing kids and parents to spend upwards of $600 a year at collegiate bookstores just for class required materials.
With Amazon’s new service, students simply search for their required reading books on the site and pay the fee (Amazon says its service can save students as much as 70 percent off the retail price). At the end of the semester, students must return the book — Amazon will even foot the cost of return shipping.
Students will have to pay for the original shipping costs though. Luckily, Amazon offers its’ Prime membership to students so expedited and free shipping become options. Or students can order more than $25 to waive shipping fees — something that won’t be too difficult with usual courseloads.
Last year, Amazon began offering rental digital books on Kindles, but this new service opens up access to students who are required to bring hardcover books to class or who like the feeling of old-fashioned paper and pen studying.
The company allows textbooks to be rented for 130 days, the usual duration of a college semester, but students can renew books for an extra 15 days for an additional fee. The terms and condition are somewhat strict on the condition books are returned in, including no excessive highlighting and writing and no stains or missing pages.
Amazon isn’t the first to take on traditional bookstores and their skyrocketing prices; Chegg is a company solely devoted to textbook rentals and Barnes & Noble has offered rental textbooks for some time now. Apple also sells digital textbooks through its iBookstore.
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