Where can you find the cheapest college textbooks online? With education costs on the rise, college students are seeking ways to save money wherever possible. However, a person can only eat so much ramen soup or mac and cheese. Enter the online textbook marketplace.
Fair
In 2001, BiggerBooks was started with the plan to keep college textbooks affordable by selling and renting books to consumers. They say their used textbooks are the answer to all of your problems - if your problems happen to be finding the cheapest textbooks.
Website needs updating
The website for BiggerBooks could use some serious updating, as the body font throughout is only 9 point. The "about us" page says it was updated to bring a "new modern look" and provide students with "a top-of-the-line customer experience" over a decade ago. Oof.
Rent more to save more with flexible terms
BiggerBooks says you can rent more and save more with the code BBRENTAL, though specifics aren't given. They permit you to choose the term of rental based on how long you need the books. Rentals may be purchased or extended if you desire. To extend a rental, you can decide if you'd like it for 15, 30, 60, 90, or 130 days from the original due date and pay based on your choice. Return shipping is free. The detailed rental agreement is available to read before you agree to it. Excessive highlighting (more than one-third of content), excessive or inappropriate notes, water damage, a broken spine, missing pages, and missing or torn covers are considered damage to the rental book and subject to a fee on your stored card, up to the replacement cost of the book.
Discounts may be offered
Their Daily Deal feature gives customers a reason to keep coming back with unique discounts each day of the week. However, when we clicked on it, we weren't provided with any deal. BiggerBooks calls themselves a "premier" vendor "specializing in highly discounted" textbooks, claiming to use technology to "scour prices across the web" for you, but we didn't notice a difference in prices on the book we checked on each retailer. Here it cost $84.99 to rent (average price), $174.99 to purchase used (average price), and $59.94 for digital purchase (average price but with a "digital delivery fee" tacked on, it's slightly higher). We're simply not impressed with BiggerBooks's big talk about their offerings.
Shipping costs are higher than rivals
Free standard shipping is available for any order over $59, significantly higher than the best rated retailers on our list. Below that amount, shipping costs $4 per shipment plus $.99 per item, and items will arrive in 6-10 business days. Expedited shipping is available for $6 per shipment plus $3.25 per item, arriving within 3-5 days. If you need it faster, BiggerBooks offers two-day shipping ($20 + $5.99) or one-day shipping ($32 + $7.99). With fees like those, be sure you order with plenty of time for standard shipping. A digital delivery fee of $3.99 is charged per item if you buy digital textbooks, so keep that in mind when comparing prices.
No-questions returns with fee
Returns are permitted "no questions asked" for 25 days from the original ship date at BiggerBooks. A 15% restock fee is charged and shipping fees are deducted from the amount of the refund, and items must be in the original condition. Rental books may be eligible for a return and refund within 25 days as well but short-term rentals are only allowed if within 15 days. Refunds can be expected within 30 days of receiving your return.
Get cash for your textbooks
BiggerBooks will buy back your unwanted textbooks in good condition. They will make an offer and pay to have your books shipped to them. You'll receive payment via direct deposit.
Customers aren't satisfied
As another company related to eCampus (who we've reviewed separately), BiggerBooks is owned by A Book Company, LLC, and has no listing on the BBB. The listing for eCampus showed an accredited business with the best possible rating of "A+," despite 70 complaints in the past year. Across online review platforms, however, it's clear that customers are unsatisfied with BiggerBooks, giving ratings of 2.4 to 3.2 out of 5 stars from over 1,700 reviews. Complaints of the company taking payment and not sending a book (later saying it's out of stock) as well as issues with rental returns warn against this retailer. While about half of the reviews were 5 stars, it's the other half we're concerned about. Unless you're feeling lucky, we suggest looking elsewhere for your textbook needs.
Look at other options first
Though they talk a big game, BiggerBooks simply doesn't deliver on their promised better prices. When taken into consideration with their low customer reviews, we suggest looking at other options first for your online textbook purchases or rentals.
Continued from above...
With education costs on the rise, college students are seeking ways to save money wherever possible. However, a person can only eat so much ramen soup or mac and cheese. Enter the online textbook marketplace.
Instead of visiting the school's bookstore where books will cost the most, countless students are turning to online options to purchase their required textbooks prior to the start of class. These retailers provide unique money-saving options, such as rental titles, eTextbooks, and used books, often at significant savings for students across the country.
Not only can you save money by purchasing a used textbook, but you may even be able to slash costs with a rental text. When deciding between purchasing and renting textbooks, keep your end goal in mind: what will you be doing with the text while you have it and after you are finished using it? Those who don't need to reference a text for a future class may find that renting suits them just fine.
Some companies will even offer multiple rental time periods to meet students' needs. However, if you like to highlight, you should purchase a book, as many companies do not want you to write in their books (though some do permit a limited amount - be sure to read the rental agreement). However, if a book comes with CDs or access codes, your rental (or used textbook) likely won't include them.
Another option many textbook companies have started to offer is digital books or online access to materials. This can keep costs down and reduce landfill waste. But, some people read better from hard copies of books and would like a chance to recoup some of their textbook costs by reselling a used textbook, which isn't possible with digital options.
There are many factors to consider when comparing online retailers for college textbooks. Here are the top ones on our list:
To help save you time and money, we at Top Consumer Reviews have sifted through the most popular online textbook retailers. Check out our top choices, order your class materials, and get back to the business of learning.
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