Fall semester has started and classes are officially in order, which typically means that books have already been assigned. Many of us order our books from the Oswego College Bookstore in advance, while others wait until they receive the syllabus in order to determine which books they will really need. Nonetheless, we all need books for every class we take – but is the College Bookstore really the smart and cheapest place to buy books?
Many students like to be prepared before the first day of classes and buy their books in advance through the College Bookstore, which is great for preparation skills but terrible on the wallet. Although SUNY Oswego offers to sell, rent and buyback books, it may not always be the best financial decision to purchase books from the bookstore. Don’t worry, freshman (and other concerned students), there are many other sources that offer the same books the College Bookstore does but in a more affordable and efficient way.
The first source is the most commonly used online book renter by college students: Chegg. If
you haven’t heard of Chegg, don’t worry, you will in the next couple of weeks. “Just Chegg it” has become a popular phrase amongst college students when referring to textbook rentals. The popular website www.chegg.com offers millions of textbook choices that are available for both rental and purchase. Many textbooks are also offered in different formats such as hard copies (textbooks) or media format (digital textbooks). Their different varieties of formats and books have largely appealed to college students, and their service has been praised as extremely efficient. Chegg offers book rentals for as many days as you need the book and when you’re ready to return it, simply place the book in the original box (you MUST save the box the book was originally shipped in), print out a free UPS label found in your account on www.chegg.com, and drop it off at your local UPS store free of charge. It’s easy, fast, and affordable!
Another online source that is affordable and reliable is http://www.collegebookrenter.com/. This website operates similar to www.chegg.com, however in some cases, books may be even cheaper on www.collegebookrenter.com than Chegg. This website offers three rental periods, free return shipping, and options to buy or rent a book. It’s always great to compare prices between these two websites to determine which one has a better deal.
Other online rental websites that have worked for students in the past include www.ecampus.com, www.bookrenter.com, and www.amazon.com. All of these websites are also similar to Chegg and CollegeBookRenter. It may benefit to check out all of these websites and compare prices to see where there is a better deal to save yourself time and money.
If you’re not quite sold on online rental services, don’t worry; there’s another al
ternative that is only five minutes from campus: Kraftees. Kraftees is great when you’re in a rush to get a book but don’t want to pay full price for it at the College Book Store and don’t have enough time for it to be shipped. Every book that is offered at the College Book Store is offered at Kraftees. Sometimes the prices may be extremely low, and sometimes the prices will be the same as the College Bookstore prices, but never more. Kraftees has a website, www.kraftees.com/oswego/, that allows a class search to be made to determine if they have the book in stock, if it’s available for purchase or rental, and how much the book costs so that before you even set foot in the store, you know the price of your book.
There are so many alternatives to buying books online and outside of campus, so don’t be afraid to explore all of your options before you commit to buying any textbook. These options are great financially as well as reliable and easy. Get your research skills on and start comparing and saving!