Education

Don’t Buy Another Textbook. Go to Chegg.com. Now.

Purchasing text books sucks. Judging by the response to last weeks’ post about my Physics + Organic Chemistry fees this semester, most students agree. Up until two days ago, I only knew of a few options to get them cheaper: Amazon.com, Half.com, or attempt to survive class without the book. There is now another option that has quickly risen to the top of my list, and I really wish I would have known about it sooner. The State Press did a story on Wednesday about the frustrating cost of text books, and what two Iowa State University students have done to solve it.

The website is Chegg.com. The concept is simple:

According to the article yesterday in the State Press, the company

…began in 2003 when the two founders, fed up with the costs of their books at Iowa State University, decided to come up with their own solution, said Aayush Phumbra, the company’s vice president and co-founder.

“I was an international student, and I got very frustrated, especially with paying so much and not being able to return the books,” he said. “We wanted to do something revolutionary.”

The company started a small-scale book resale Web site at Iowa State in 2003 and expanded into a worldwide rental company in fall 2007.

I just did a comparison to what I purchased this semester, and what I would have spent at Chegg.com. (Note: The comparison is only for textbook costs - not website subscriptions, lab supplies, or those CPS clicker thingies.)

Here’s a quick table of the savings I could have enjoyed by shopping at Chegg.com:

I think the numbers speak volumes. If you’re curious to see what you could have saved, go check it out. For those of you who read Geek Stew from the actual site, I’ve also a couple of links to my site to help you find your books.

There is now “Rent Textbooks” link at the top of the screen:

…and a Search widget in the sidebar where you can type in the ISBN/Author/Title of the book you’re looking for:

With over 2 million titles available and growing every day, I am sure that you and I will be able to find our books for next semester. With all the money we save, let’s have a party. I’ll buy the pizza.