This is the second post in a series we are calling MythBreakers, where we dispel common myths about textbooks and other issues that plague college students. We are on a mission in 2010 to make sure that you have access to the cheapest textbooks possible in order to defer other rising education expenses. Our previous post, MythBreakes Presents: Is Renting Cheaper Than Buying? showed that students save more by buying a used textbook and selling it back at the end of the semester at ValoreBooks.com than renting it. In this post, we are revealing some of the hidden costs of renting textbooks. These costs are the additional costs you would incur if you forgot to return your book on time, it was lost or stolen, or if the rental company considers your book damaged at the end of the rental.

If your textbook is not received by the rental company by the return date, you will automatically be charged an extension fee. The extension fees range from about 25% of the rental price, all the way through 20% of the list price. The extension ranges from 7-15 days extra. For the books we tracked, the extension fee ranged from about $3.50 to $36.16, depending on the rental company and the textbook.

What happens if your book is returned after the extension period, or is lost or stolen during the semester? You will be charged a replacement fee, a hefty replacement fee at that. The cost of the replacement fee is about the list price of the book. For our research, the replacement fee ranged from $52.86- $165.80. Keep in mind that the list price is much higher than the rental price. For our research, the average list price was $128.19.

How about damaged books? A damage fee is assessed depending on the extent of the damage, and whether or not insurance was purchased on the book. Please see the expanded data below.

To be sure that you won’t be hit with any unexpected costs, purchase a used textbook from a marketplace such as ValoreBooks.com. You can own the book for much less, and never have to worry about being charged additional fees. Even better, since you own the book, you have the right to sell it! You can participate in our sell back program or register to become a marketplace seller and set your own price! If you have any questions about buying and selling at ValoreBooks.com, please don’t hesitate to contact us! Do you have any other myths you would like us to explore?

* Buy and Sell prices are based on available pricing on 1/28/2010 at 10:00 AM. All prices are subject to change at any time based on the actions of marketplace buyers and sellers. Renting prices are based on the average prices for available book rentals at 10:00 AM on 1/28/2010 from bookrenter.com, campusbookrentals.com, chegg.com and ecampus.com. Rental prices are based on the duration of one semester. All prices are subject to change at any time.

Part of this effort is debunking the myth that renting textbooks is cheaper than buying textbooks. After a weeklong comparison of prices from ValoreBooks.com and four major textbook rental companies, the verdict is in. Buying and selling back on a marketplace such as ValoreBooks.com can save you more money than renting.

Price comparisons from ValoreBooks.com and the average rental prices from four major textbook rental companies on January 18th, 2010 show that you can save more money by buying and selling a textbook, than by renting it. The net cost of buying and selling Biology and Mastering Biology, ISBN 0321543254 on ValoreBooks.com is $37.95, while the average cost of renting the same book is $81.29, a savings of $43.34. The same goes for Calculus:Early Transcendentals, ISBN 0495011665 with a savings of $35.23 as well as Consumer Behavior , ISBN 0136015964 with a savings of $35.16. An expanded list can be found below.

* Buy and Sell prices are based on available pricing on 1/18/2010 at 11:00 AM. All prices are subject to change at any time based on the actions of marketplace buyers and sellers. Renting prices are based on the average prices for available book rentals at 11:00 AM on 1/18/2010 from bookrenter.com, campusbookrentals.com, chegg.com and ecampus.com. Rental prices are based on the duration of one semester. All prices are subject to change at any time.

You can save even more money by listing your textbook for sale on the marketplace. Here, you are able to set your own price for the book, and get paid once the item sells. You can purchase Exploring Psychology, ISBN 0716771411 in good condition for $41.87 from the ValoreBooks.com marketplace and then resell the item on the marketplace in the price range of $41.87-$63.00 when you are done using it. The net cost for the textbook could be nothing, and you could even make money on the transaction!

Since you can acquire your textbooks from several different outlets, it is important to shop around and find an option that best suits your budget.

The ValoreBooks.com Marketplace has over 10,000 booksellers that resell used books to college students across the country.  ValoreBooks.com helps prevent millions of used textbooks find new customers instead of finding landfills across the country! The used textbook industry allows students to Save Green in two ways: Save Cash, and Save Trees.

Here are a few helpful tips that you should know when you are looking to buy cheap textbooks.

SEARCH BY ISBN

• There are many variations of each textbook, and searching by a textbook ISBN will give you exactly what you need. If you do not have an ISBN, you can search by title and author at our Advanced Book Search.

REVIEW BOOK COMMENTS

• Marketplace sellers all list detailed descriptions of their textbooks. This is very helpful when looking to purchase a used textbook. Sellers will note if the used textbook has highlighting, notes, cover wear, software included, etc. View the book comments so you know exactly what you are getting!  If you have any questions about the book before you buy it, make sure to contact your bookseller!

REVIEW BOOK CONDITION

• The majority of textbooks and books on our site are used. If you do not need a new textbook, we suggest to save money and purchase a cheap used textbook. Our Marketplace Sellers offer millions of used textbooks and books at significantly reduced prices.

REVIEW BOOK SELLER

• Click on the Marketplace sellers name to view their feedback from past customers, as well as their confirmation ratings. Buying from a Marketplace seller who has been rated highly by other customers will ensure that your book buying experience will be a positive one.

CHOOSE PRIORITY MAIL

• Priority mail is only $3.00 more than media mail and you will receive your books much faster than media mail. All college students that need their books as soon as possible should order priority mail!  Priority mail orders usually take 2-5 business days to receive, and media mail orders usually take 4-14 business days to receive.

USE OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER

• If you have any questions about your order, or any issues arise, please use our Customer Service Center where we have many frequently asked questions. If you can’t find an answer, you can contact us, and your seller from our Customer Service Center.

ALLOW EMAILS FROM VALOREBOOKS.COM

• Add emails from customerservice@valorebooks.comto your Safe-Sender List or Address book to ensure delivery. Many new e-mail accounts have spam filters that will filter out unrecognized e-mail. Please allow your system to receive e-mails from ValoreBooks.com. We will send out important notifications regarding your order.

LEAVE FEEDBACK

• It is important that all customers leave feedback regarding their purchase. This will help better serve our ValoreBooks.com customers and let them know what type of experience to expect when buying from a specific seller.

KEEP THE RECYCLING PROCESS ALIVE AFTER THE SEMESTER!

When you are finished with your textbooks at the end of the semester, you can donate them or sell them back to ValoreBooks.com for cash!  It does not matter where you purchased your textbooks from, ValoreBooks.com will buy them back. We offer instant price quotes! Click here to Sell Textbooks Back Now!

We are excited to release the new ValoreBooks.com homepage. Don’t worry, everything from the old homepage is still here, but we’ve organized everything a lot better, and added a couple new features to improve your experience here at ValoreBooks.com

New Features:

• The Blog: We added a blog to our site to keep our customers informed with important news and events in the ValoreBooks.com world.
• Streaming Books: We added streaming books across our homepage to promote the buying and selling of our top books and textbooks.
• Organized Header & Footer: You can get to any section of our website at anytime by clicking on the links and buttons of our updated header and footer.
• Account Log In: Our log-in process has been updated so that on the right hand side of our header bar, a drop down menu will appear for customers, marketplace sellers, agents, affiliates and school alliances to select. Select the appropriate account to be re-directed to the appropriate log-in page. All Valore Accounts are located on the footer of our website as well.

What do you think?

We have come a long way from when our textbook marketplace was launched back in 2003. Take a look at how we have evolved over the years according to the Internet archive (some of the images, text and links may appear skewed, and will take some time to load) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and now!

You can check out what any of your favorite sites use to look like back in the day by going to the Internet archive. The site takes a little time to load, but it is really interesting. Take a look at what Google looked like back in 1999.