BookRenter.com Shakes Up Textbook Market

August 20, 2007, San Jose, CA –After a successful beta in 2006, BookRenter.com is proud to announce the national launch of its innovative online book rental service. Initially focusing on the textbook market, BookRenter.com shifts purchasing power to students. BookRenter.com offers a sensible, money saving alternative to college bookstores’ out-of-control prices and buy back promises that all too often don’t deliver.

Students save 50 percent on average off the cost of textbooks through BookRenter.com. This equals significant savings considering the price of textbooks costs students an average of $900 last year, according to the College Board. Textbook prices have also risen at twice the rate of inflation in the last two decades, according to the Government Accountability Office.

“Our mission is to make education more affordable for students,” said Colin Barceloux, CEO and Founder of BookRenter.com. “By providing new or used textbooks, flexible rental periods and a simple return process, students can rent books at lower costs without having to purchase them at exorbitant prices.”

The idea for BookRenter.com, the first website to offer online book rentals, was born out of Barceloux’s own frustrations with the process and cost of buying textbooks when he was a student at Santa Clara University just a few years ago.

Rental periods range from 30 to 125 days. There are no monthly fees, and shipping is available in three methods: ground, 2 day and next day. After finals, students mail the book back in a pre-paid envelope, similar to online DVD rental programs. If a customer decides to keep a book, they simply pay the difference between the purchase price and rental cost.

With Amazon as a partner, students need not worry about limited inventory or selection. BookRenter.com boasts hundreds of thousands of titles, all searchable by title, author or ISBN number on its intuitive interface. In addition to book rental, customers can also choose to buy books outright.
The company is also devoted to environmentally-friendly practices. It expects to significantly reduce waste and save paper by reusing books that would otherwise be thrown away or sit on shelves unopened. By re-renting books, BookRenter.com hopes to reduce the approximately 20 million trees consumed a year by the US book publishing industry.

Students have already expressed excitement about using BookRenter.com to get a better value on their 2007-2008 school year books. As a Kansas State student put it, “It will be nice not having to buy a textbook for $100, selling it back to the book store for $20 and having them resell the book for $90.

About BookRenter.com:
Based out of San Jose, California, BookRenter.com is the first online book rental company servicing the $40 billion retail book industry. BookRenter.com replaces traditional bookstore sales with online book rentals for customers nationwide. Our flexible rental periods and hassle free return process save our customers an average of 50% off retail. Our wide title selection, speedy delivery, and intuitive interface offer unparalleled convenience. For more information, visit www.bookrenter.com or contact Media Relations at media@bookrenter.com. ###