Online book rental companies are a new alternative for college students in need of textbooks. So the question is, “Is it better to buy or rent?” It depends on each individual’s situation and preference. If you’re the type of person that buys your book at full price and never gets around to selling it, then renting textbooks is definitely for you. But, if you shop around for the best deal, when purchasing a book and then use a site like Bookscouter to sell it back, then buying textbooks is the way to go.
I’ve just finished adding 5 new buyback sites in time for the busy season. More competition means higher prices for everybody. That brings the total number of vendors searchable on the site to 39, and 52 sites are available to have feedback submitted.
- MyBookCart.com
- BookStores.com
- Bookit Buyback
- FreeTextbooks.com
- TextbookRecycling.com
I’ve just added a few more new features to the site. Users now have the ability to create an account at BookScouter.com and customize the list of vendors that are searched. This should make it so that you only see the vendors that you’re actually interested in selling to. You can still click a link to view all of the vendors as well. If you are not logged in, then some of the most reliable sites are shown by default. I’ve also fixed a few problems that people have let me know about. We Buy Textbooks recently changed their site, so prices weren’t being displayed, and that has been corrected.
I’ve been working for a while on some significant changes to the website. The first thing you’ll notice is that the old template has been replaced with a much cleaner (and I think nicer looking) page. But the changes go much deeper than just a new template. I’ve completely reworked how most of the back-end systems work. The new design should allow for much greater flexibility and scalability. I’ll be able to add new websites quickly, and I’ll have the ability to work on some new tools for higher-volume users. The site should also load faster throughout. Every page should load quicker due to some HTML and CSS changes. I’ve also reconfigured some server settings to better take advantage of browser caching. The actual price comparison page should finish quicker as well. I’m using some different technology to make all of those lookups happen simultaneously.
A lot of people have been asking for the best way to package a book, so here are some tips that I thought would be helpful.
The following sites were the most popular in January 2010 according to the number of visitors sent from BookScouter. This is a good indication of which websites offered the highest prices during the month.
I’m happy to announce, that after much work, the BookScouter iPhone App is available in the App Store. This allows you access to the full power of the BookScouter pricing comparisons on your iPhone.
The following sites were the most popular sites last month, according to the number of visitors sent from BookScouter
I’ve just finished adding Blue Rocket Books to the site. Their pricing should be showing up now, so please leave feedback for them as you have a chance to try their service. From what I’ve seen, it looks like they purchase more fiction and other non-textbooks than many other sites.