In the midst of these difficult economic times, here's a little good news for parents with kids in college...
Chegg (Chegg.com) is a textbook rental startup that lets college students rent books for a fraction of the price they’d normally pay at their campus bookstores. After identifying the books they need on the website, Chegg sends students their textbooks within eight business days. Once they’re done with the books at the end of the term, students simply toss them in a pre-paid box and ship them back to Chegg. The service is available nationwide at 4,000 universities, and has reportedly saved some students as much as $650 per quarter in textbook fees.
The service will likely spread like wildfire once more
students (and parents) realize how much money they can save. Textbooks
have been notoriously overpriced on college campuses for years, and
even the textbook buyback programs found at most student unions are
blatant ripoffs, often paying as little as little as 15% or 20% of a
book’s original price. With rates that put these programs to shame,
Chegg seems like a sure winner.
Source: TechCrunch
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/17/confirmed-kleiner-perkins-gets-into-textbook-rentals-as-chegg-raises-25-million/