In May, Nebraska Book Co. (NBC) unveiled a comprehensive textbook rental solu-tion, the NBC Textbook Rental Partnership, designed to provide students with a

new, affordable textbook option.The NBC Textbook Rental Partnership offers several advantages for the bookstores,

the customers and NBC itself — it does not require multiple-term adoptions from faculty; guarantees the store will maintain or increase margins; relieves the store of risk commonly associated with traditional rental models; and is easily managed by NBC’s WinPRISM and PRISM bookstore management and point-of-sale (POS) systems

Before each semester, NBC will match a store’s book list against its own list of approximately 15,000 titles eligible for rent. The store decides which rental titles to use and determines the rental price based on the rebate amount, and the margin it wants to maintain.

At the conclusion of rush, the store sends NBC a system-generated report of the books rented. After NBC receives the re-port, the company pays 50 percent of the guaranteed rental rebate. At the end of the semester, the store returns the rented books to NBC, which will then issue payment to the store for the remaining 50 percent of the guaranteed rental rebate amount. If NBC receives fewer books than were rented and rebated, the store is billed for the title.

“It’s a smart way for a store to add more offerings,” said Mike Kelly, NBC senior vice president. “We’ve been talking a lot to our customers about giving students another choice. Now, bookstores have a place to turn. It will be much easier and essentially risk free for bookstores to implement a rental program.”

NBC launched a pilot rental program in more than 100 college bookstores during the spring 2010 term, saving students up to 50 percent of the cost of a new textbook. The program will be rolled out to NBC’s more than 275 bookstores this fall.

TEXTBOOKS

Renting a new or used textbook will allow college students to keep

more money in their wallets. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FOLLETT HIGHER EDUCATION GROUP)

Nebraska Book Company

Nebraska Book Company’s new Textbook Rental Partnership is

designed to provide students with a new, affordable textbook option.

(PHOTO COURTESY OF NEBRASKA BOOK COMPANY)

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the customers and NBC itself — it does not require multiple-term adoptions from faculty; guarantees the store will maintain or increase margins; relieves the store of risk commonly associated with traditional rental models; and is easily managed by NBC’s WinPRISM and PRISM bookstore management and point-of-sale (POS) systems

approximately 15,000 titles eligible for rent. The store decides which rental titles to

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Textbook rentals are becoming an increasingly popular option for students looking to reduce their educational expenses.

Renting a new or used textbook, as opposed to purchasing a book at the full retail price or getting a marginal return at buyback, will allow college students to keep more money in their wallets.

For stores, textbook rentals are seen as a way to increase margins, retain market share and compete with other rental avenues available, including the Internet. It also increases foot traffic in the stores as students have an additional option to take books out for the semester.

With textbook rental programs currently a hot topic in the college bookstore market, College Store Executive, in the first of a two-part series, spoke with three distributors to find out what programs are out there now, and which ones will roll out in the fall.

Part two, which will focus on point-of-sale (POS) company rental programs, will run in the September issue.

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Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG) recently announced that

more than 600 Follett-managed bookstores at colleges and universities throughout the U.S. will provide textbook rental programs this fall via the company’s Rent-A-Text program.

Rent-A-Text saves students more than 50 percent on the price of new textbooks. Currently available at 30 schools, Rent-A-Text saved college students nearly $2 million on textbook costs in the fall 2009 semester at just seven schools.

“Response from students, faculty and college administrators has been tremendous,” said Thomas A. Christopher, president, Follett Higher Education Group. “The continued demand for our rental program is a testament to the need for solutions that address rising education costs. We are proud to work together with campuses on driving down the cost of course materials for students.”

Rent-A-Text allows students to rent books in store and online; per-mits online purchases to be picked up and returned at the store; the option to choose a preferred form of payment, including financial aid and campus cards; the freedom to highlight and take notes all within the normal wear and tear associated with coursework; and the option to buy their textbook at the end of the term if they would like to keep the book.

Barnes & Noble College Booksellers announced in January that it created a multi-channel textbook rental program for college stu-

dents that could result in millions of dollars of savings for college stu-dents across the U.S.

The program enables students to rent textbooks from the com-fort of their dorm or home by logging into their campus bookstore’s e-commerce site, or they can rent from their campus Barnes & Noble bookstore. It also gives students the added flexibility of paying for their rentals using any form of tender, including campus debit cards and stu-dent financial aid.

At the beginning of the fall 2009 semester, Barnes & Noble pilot tested the rental program in three of its 636 campus bookstores. Since then, the program has expanded to 25 of its campus bookstores, includ-ing The Ohio State University, The University of Maryland, Borough of Manhattan Community College and University of South Carolina.

“We’ve had a tremendous response from students and faculty to our rental program and have continued to expand it to other colleges and universities across the country,” said Max Roberts, president, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC.

The program is expected to save students more than 50 percent of the cost of buying a new, printed textbook. —CSE

Barnes & Noble

Follett Higher Education Group’s Rent-A-Text program saves students more than 50 percent on the price

of new textbooks. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FOLLETT HIGHER EDUCATION GROUP)

Follett HigherEducation Group

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