There could be some price wars between the three local bookstores as the Ball State Bookstore joins TIS and CBX in offering half-price textbook rentals for the Fall Semester.
The other two vendors started textbook rentals last spring, and managers said they've seen great student response.
"We offered it as a way for students to get rid of their books at the end of the semester without worrying about how much [money] they'll get back," Rose Manzella, general store manager at CBX in the Village, said.
Manzella said offering rentals at the college bookstore could lead to a price war, at least between CBX and the Ball State Bookstore, and students will benefit from it.
The Ball State Bookstore is offering textbook rentals at half price after Barnes and Noble, who owns the store, began a pilot rental program in January. Karen DiScala, manager of corporate communication for Barnes and Noble, said the test was successful, so Ball State University decided to take part this year.
Renting textbooks allows students to buy books for half price, but they won't get a buy-back refund at the end of the year, she said.
Ron Sorrell, manager of the Ball State Bookstore, said it's the only on-campus multimedia platform for students to buy, rent and purchase e-books online.
"I just don't think students understand," he said. "This is the only store where their purchases go toward their university."
The bookstore also offers price matching to other local bookstores within 30 days of purchase, he said.
For students trying to decide whether to buy or rent their books, the question becomes how much they'll be refunded for their books at the end of the semester.
If a professor has ordered the same book for the next semester, the Ball State Bookstore buys it back for 50 percent of the purchase price, Sorrell said. If the book hasn't been ordered for the following semester, or if the bookstore has already met its quota, it offers a much lower price determined by a national wholesaler.
After receiving meager returns on the purchase price for used books, some students said they're interested in the half-price rentals.
Freshman Emily Gaylord, an advertising major, said she hopes prices will go down because all three local bookstores are offering textbook rentals.
Another thing that makes buying textbooks expensive, she said, is lab books that can't be returned. The most expensive book she bought last semester cost $200, lab book included, and she said she received $60 back for the book.
Others say renting online is the way to go.
Freshman Anastasia Bliznoff said chegg.com offers textbook rentals at half the purchase price, and it plants a tree for each book students rent.
Joshua Gardner, a geography major, said textbook rentals are more geared toward freshmen and sophomores who are buying books for their core classes. Now a junior, Gardner said he hasn't had to buy many books this year, but he kept some textbooks from years past dealing with his major. As a freshman, he said he spent about $600 on books and got $100 back altogether.
Gardner said he also uses chegg.com, and one semester he bought four books for $150, which was much cheaper than buying them on campus.
Sorrell said he's asking university departments to send in lists of the books they want to order for next semester so he can determine buy-back prices. While buy-back prices will go down after quotas are met, Sorrell urges students not to sell back the books they still need for finals.
"We suggest buy-backs during Finals Week," he said. "We want students to make use of the books."
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