The textbook publisher Cengage Learning will begin renting college textbooks to students in December for 40 to 70 percent of what buying the volumes would cost. “Students who choose the rental option will have immediate access to the first chapter of the book in e-book format and will also have a choice of shipping options,” the company said. “Once the rental term is complete, students can either choose to print a return label from CengageBrain.com and ship the textbook back, or purchase the title.”
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2 Responses to Big Textbook Publisher Will Begin Renting Books to Students
babo1990 - August 14, 2009 at 11:18 am
Useless. The cost of books is beyond outrageous. Some of these publishers claim that their book is used by most universities. If that is the case, then you could suspect the book would be used by 20,000 plus students. At $150 per book, that is $3M for that book in revenue.
I know that publishing costs are miniscule nowadays when you look at places like createspace.com. Unless royalties are $100 a book, I am wondering why there is so much fat in there for support of the organization.
Renting does not do anything. If you have to rent the book, then the book to me is not worth the quality to be used. Your books from your college should become a reference point for the future.
redweather - August 17, 2009 at 6:37 am
But don’t just blame the textbook publishers. What burns me up is how the college book store sells the same textbook three and four times at ridiculously inflated prices.