The De Anza College bookstore is expanding the textbook rental program this fall in an attempt to provide affordable access to more texts, and to lure students away from online and off-campus retailers.
The bookstore is now renting out 86 used textbooks at about half off the retail price. These rental books compliment the 15 rental texts already available in the older rental program that sold for two thirds off the retail price. These books, unlike the half-off books, are usually newer editions and have been specially requisitioned by instructors to be available for two years.
The new rental texts were requested by the bookstore administration because of their high demand and/or expense, and are subject to change each quarter, said Jeri Montgomery, Director of the De Anza Bookstore.
The bookstore’s profits have declined in the past year because of competition with online book retailers like Chegg.com, Rentals.com and Amazon.com, said Montgomery. Premier Off Campus Textbooks, formerly Aidas, is also one of De Anza’s primary competitors; they do not offer rental textbooks, but offer a selection of discounted used textbooks.
Montgomery says that the new rental program is a better alternative to online options because it doesn’t charge shipping and handling costs, and often students from semester schools order all available texts before De Anza students get a chance. She also emphasized that money spent at the De Anza Bookstore stays inside the school. “You can line Amazon’s pockets or you can help with the college’s budget … we’re also easier to deal with,” said Montgomery.
The new rentals are acquired through a used book retailer that purchases them from publishers to rent to other colleges including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Montgomery says colleges are turning to these companies as an alternative to buying from publishers because book prices are too high.
All rentals are due back at the bookstore by Dec. 11. Students unable to return textbooks will be charged the difference of the book price, and holds will be placed on their records. Montgomery expects the 101 rental texts to fly off the shelves as they do every year.
Rental books can be recognized from the stickers on their spine. Books that are two thirds off are marked with a teal “Rental” sticker, and 50 percent off books with a blue “Rent it!” sticker. Students can only rent textbooks at the bookstore if they have a De Anza Student Body campus ID and there are no holds on their account.
