The search for affordable textbooks is a continuous battle for many college students.
With already skyrocketing tuition and living expenses, the burden of spending more money on textbooks can feel like a gut punch.
That’s why it was a big blow when Amazon textbook rental closed.
Amazon textbook rental was a student favorite due to its low prices and wide availability. So students are understandably upset by Amazon’s recent statement that the company will no longer offer textbook rental services.
This guide will explain why Amazon textbook rental closed and if other alternatives are available.
Let’s begin.
What Was the Amazon Textbook Rental?
For a long time, Amazon book rental was the best option for students looking to rent textbooks, with access to over 10,000 titles. Due to its many benefits, the application was chosen by many students looking for low-cost textbook alternatives.
Amazon textbook rental offered an attractive bundle, with cheaper costs than buying textbooks outright, free shipping, and a favorable return policy.
Students rented books for the entire semester or shorter periods (30, 60, or 90 days) to accommodate their schedules.
Many students found this service an excellent replacement for the costly textbook purchase requirement.
Why Amazon Textbook Rental Closed
Amazon has ended its print book rental service, despite renting millions of books and generating large revenues in the past. They decided after carefully analyzing their print textbook rental business, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and single-issue sales.
An Amazon representative said the choice was difficult because of the company’s efforts to
- streamline operations,
- eliminate less lucrative business lines, and
- increase profits across the board.
This adjustment doesn’t affect Amazon’s new or used book sales or digital textbook rental service. You’ll still have access to Amazon’s inventory of over 1.5 million books for sale or rental.
Amazon textbook rental closed. However, the company is still dedicated to delivering various reading options for students and bookworms alike.
How to Return Your Textbook Rental
If you follow the simple steps for returning your Amazon textbook rental, you’ll get your money back. Remember to follow the steps within the initial rental refund period to initiate the return and get a full refund.
Here’s how to return a book rental for a full refund:
- First, use Amazon’s “Your Orders” link.
- Then, find the textbook you want to return.
- You can send an item back if “Return Item” is a clickable link. If the “Return Item” button isn’t present, unfortunately, that means you can’t send the product back.
To get your deposit back when you return a physical textbook:
- Go to Amazon’s “Manage Your Rentals” page.
- From the list of textbooks, select the one you want to return.
- To get a prepaid label to send back your rental, just click the “Return rental” button.
- Next, get a printout of the return label and packing slip.
- Pack the textbook securely; remember to include the packing slip.
- Finally, attach the label to the package so that it can be returned.
- Give the package to the return shipper indicated on the label. Then, just use Amazon’s prepaid label to send it back for free.
Points to Note When Returning Your Textbook Rental
Amazon stopped offering textbook rentals on April 1, 2023. However, you have until September 13, 2023, to return your printed textbooks. If you fail to return the books by this date, you must either return or buy the textbooks.
Furthermore, you should only return the Amazon textbook rental same packing slip together. There may be additional damage fees for any damages during the rental time.
For more information, check out the textbook rentals terms and conditions, including Returns and Refunds.
Top 5 Alternatives to Amazon Textbook Rental
Amazon book rental has gone out of business. But it doesn’t mean you can’t rent textbooks again. Here are the best places to rent college books:
- ValoreBooks
ValoreBooks is prominent among the several online textbook marketplaces because of its size and dedication to textbooks. However, unlike more conventional bookstores, this platform doesn’t own the books they sell, purchase back, or rent out.
Instead, they deal with over 20,000 verified bookstores and rental outlets to distribute their products. There are benefits and drawbacks to using ValoreBooks as an intermediary between buyers and sellers.
On the plus side, their site offers a wide variety of choices for both buying and renting textbooks. Although all sales are processed through ValoreBooks, the individual sellers are responsible for shipping out the purchased items.
Despite this, the marketplace has a solid reputation as a reliable textbook supply with a long history of satisfied customers.
- Textbook Rush
Textbook Rush is well-known for providing steep discounts to its consumers. Free shipping on orders over $35 is another way Textbook Rush helps students save money and time.
Textbook Rush stands out from the crowd of textbook rental services because it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. This gives students sufficient time to evaluate their textbook requirements and make educated purchases, with the option to return purchases if necessary.
In addition, there is no additional cost for the customer to return the textbooks to Textbook Rush. This means you won’t have to worry about hidden fees, making renting textbooks easier on your wallet and your schedule.
Textbook Rush is a good option for students looking for cheap and quick textbook solutions due to its low prices, quick shipping, and customer-centric practices.
- Textbook Rentals
Regarding finding the best deals on a textbook rental, Textbook Rentals is a go-to comparison shopping company that simplifies the process. Searching multiple textbook rental sites simultaneously save you valuable time and effort.
Using their user-friendly comparison tables, Textbook Rentals provides comprehensive information about each rental site willing to cater to your needs. In addition, you’ll have access to crucial details such as shipping policies, return policies, and more, helping you make informed decisions.
Not only do Textbook Rentals assist with rentals, but they also display prices for new and used textbooks alongside rental prices. This feature ensures that you can assess whether renting truly offers the most cost-effective option for you.
With Textbook Rentals as your trusted resource, you can compare various rental options, consider new and used textbooks, and even explore the world of eTextbooks.
Their comprehensive approach ensures you find the most suitable and budget-friendly solution for your textbook needs.
- Alibris
Alibris is the best place to go if you’re looking for rare books related to your field of study. Alibris is a leading provider of hard-to-find books because of its massive global network of independent book dealers.
Alibris offers several shipping discounts that can significantly reduce the cost of your order. You can save money on shipping costs with Alibris thanks to options including
- flat shipping rates,
- discounted bundled shipping, and
- free shipping on orders above $39 for Super Value eligible items.
Alibris is a great place to look for used textbooks. You can use Alibris.com’s search bar to locate the best textbook price for any ISBN, title, or author. You can select the books that interest you most and put them in your shopping cart.
- BooksRun
BooksRun is the premier marketplace for buying, selling, and renting old books and textbooks at low costs. With over a hundred thousand titles in stock, BooksRun is a good bet to have what you’re looking for in books.
You can rest assured that their products are current because they refresh their collection daily.
BooksRun provides the option to rent for an extra 15 days at a fee of $15. They also allow you to buy the book if you decide to keep it forever.
However, remember that late returns are not tolerated, and the rental fee will be applied to the purchase price if the item isn’t returned on time.
The rental terms at BooksRun range from 35 to 58 days. You may want to look at alternative bookstores if you need to rent books longer, such as a whole academic quarter.
Read More: 15 Sites to Rent Books Across USA
Conclusion
Since Amazon textbook rental closed, finding alternatives that offer you the best services is essential. Unfortunately, you may have overlooked these platforms due to Amazon’s market dominance.
You can save a lot of money if you look outside the box and use resources like Chegg, TextbookRush, ValoreBooks, and BooksRun. These websites are dedicated to meeting students’ textbook requirements at affordable prices.
Finally, you can sell your textbooks at BookDeal if you’re done with them. Again, the selling process is straightforward. Type in your book’s ISBN, choose your preferred quote and ship your books for free.
When the vendor receives your package, you get paid via PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle. Check out this guide to learn more about BookDeal: How To Get The Most Out of BookDeal.