With tuition and fees continually going up, CSU East Bay students have found cheaper ways of acquiring textbooks through online purchasing as well as renting.

With websites available such as Chegg.com, Amazon.com, and
half.com, students have more options to acquire their textbooks than ever before.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, textbook prices increased 186 percent from 1986 to 2004, while inflation rose only 72 percent.

Due to this cost increase, students are always looking for cheaper ways to collect their necessary textbooks.

Chegg.com is the number one online book rental service in the country, according to collegethrive.com.

Amazon.com is also an option offered to students that even a lot of professors say they prefer to use.

Half.com is similar to
Amazon.com, as it has a large collection of textbooks college students enjoy.

“Buying your textbooks off Amazon saves a lot of money,” said 24-year-old student Sara Mar.

While Chegg.com and Amazon.com supply cheaper books, students in need of textbooks quickly look for other options.

While Amazon.com will buy back your textbooks, it does not offer the rental option like Chegg.com and other sites do.

With Amazon Prime, students can even receive their books in as soon as two days, compared to the five-seven business days it normally takes.

According to collegethrive.com, students have saved $71,596,544.54 just by renting books through
Chegg.com

CSUEB students say Books on the Run is the be the best spot to acquire their textbooks near campus.

“I always get all my textbooks from there and recommend this place to everybody,” said 20-year-old student Sam Lee.
Along with Books on the Run, the Pioneer Bookstore provides students with options needed for almost any class they are taking as they make sure they help the students have the proper books for classes each quarter.

Just like Books on the Run, the campus bookstore also rents books, which a lot of students seem to prefer to want to do lately.

“I would only buy my textbooks if they were needed for my major; otherwise, the best thing to do is rent your textbooks,” said 23-year-old student Lindsey Kat.

Though there is a large selection of books, what students prefer about Books on the Run and the bookstore versus Amazon and the other online websites is the proximity to campus.
“We are in a very good business because we have such great prices either to buy or rent and we carry a lot of selections,” expressed Joanie Chung, manager of Books on the Run. “Another great thing is that we are located so close to campus.”

According to Chung, about half of their business is rental and half is sale.

In the end, though Books on the Run has been a viable option for students, the online sites seem to be their preference because of the price difference compared to the stores available to them.

“Amazon of course is even cheaper than books on the run depending on what book you are buying,” said Mar. “Plus buying your textbooks off Amazon saves a lot of money. The only problem is that you have to wait, but other than that it’s the best deal.”

Steven Chu contributed research to this article.