Thursday, July 4th
2024 College Textbook Store Reviews
Chegg
- Easy search for textbooks by title, author, or ISBN
- Rent physical or digital textbooks starting at $4.99
- Generous return policy for physical and digital textbooks
- Access to step-by-step solutions for thousands of textbooks with additional subscription
- Highlighting permitted in rental books
- Free shipping on orders over $35
- Quality of Book Guarantee
- Buyback program and discounts
Chegg is a well-known education technology company that has been helping students since 2005. If you've ever googled the answers to your homework questions, you've probably visited their website before. Chegg started as a textbook rental service and has now grown into a comprehensive educational platform offering various services like online tutoring, study aids, scholarship searches, and internship matching. With over 15 years of experience, Chegg has become a trusted resource for students worldwide, constantly adapting to meet the changing needs of today's learners.
Search by title, author, or ISBN
To find the textbook you're after on Chegg, simply go to the search bar and enter the title, author, or ISBN, and you'll be brought to a list of results with the closest match appearing first. From here you can click on the "Rent/buy book" button, where you'll find pricing.
Get access to homework help with monthly subscription
You might also have noticed when search results include something called Solutions. These are part of the Chegg Study Pack subscription, priced at $19.95 per month. We know that most students don't have much extra cash on hand, but if you manage to save a significant amount on a textbook with Chegg, you might consider reinvesting those savings into furthering your education. With this subscription, you'll have access to step-by-step solutions for thousands of textbooks, helping you to understand every topic thoroughly. Need more personalized help? Check out the Expert Q&A Archive, which houses 90 million explained homework questions. You can post up to 20 of your own questions every month and get answers from experts, often in as quick as 30 minutes.
Rent physical or digital textbooks for under $15
A used Western Civilizations textbook that retails new for $58 was available for rental for only $12.49 with Chegg. Some textbooks will only be available for either renting or purchasing, but not both. Some books can also be viewed online as eTextbooks, which are available for purchase or rent starting at $4.99 for renting. Pricing will vary based on the specific book you're looking at. Orders over $35 are eligible for free shipping.
21 days to decide on physical textbooks
Chegg lets you send back your physical textbooks for any reason within 21 days - super handy if you drop a class or order the wrong book. Just send it back how you got it, and you'll get your money back, but they might keep what you paid for shipping. Don't worry about return shipping; Chegg's got it covered. Just make sure to ship the textbook back within 21 days from when you ordered, which you can check in your confirmation email or on your account.
10 days for digital textbook returns
Got a digital textbook you don't want? No stress. You can get a full refund within 10 days if you change your mind or don't need it anymore. Just head to your account to sort it out. But remember, after 10 days, no returns, and if you've returned it once, you can't do it again.
Highlighting permitted in rental books
One of the things that stands out about Chegg's rental service is their understanding towards students' study habits. They allow limited highlighting in their rented textbooks. This is pretty generous of them. Think about it: how often do you come across a service that lets you borrow something and then make minor changes to it? We don't recommend you test this out at your local library, unless you want to see what an angry librarian looks like. Highlighting helps many students grasp and retain information, so it's a gesture that acknowledges the needs of students while trusting them to keep the book in good shape for others. Just be sure not to write in the textbooks - save your notes for your personal notebook.
Quality of Book Guarantee gives you peace of mind
Everyone likes quality, especially when it comes to textbooks - no one wants to be told to turn to page 394 only to discover the previous owner tore it out. Chegg's Quality of Book Guarantee means that if you're not 100% happy with the condition of your book, they'll send you another copy, no fuss, and on their dime.
Earn with their buyback program
When it's time to move onto a new semester, Chegg's buyback program comes into the spotlight. Collaborating with third-party partners, Chegg offers a platform where you can potentially sell back your textbooks. That's an eco-friendly and wallet-friendly way to keep your dorm room clutter-free. And speaking of savings, Chegg occasionally offers coupon codes at checkout, so keep an eye out.
User data compromised in the past
Chegg has a "B+" rating from the Better Business Bureau, but there was an alert on their page notifying customers of a data breach. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against education tech company Chegg Inc. for not protecting user and employee data properly. Chegg didn't keep personal information safe, even storing some in plain text and using weak encryption methods. This led to four major data breaches affecting around 40 million people, exposing emails, personal details, and even sensitive data about scholarships and Chegg employees' financial and medical information. The FTC now requires Chegg to enhance its security measures, limit the data it collects, provide better account security for users, and let users access or delete their data. This should not be a problem for new users to the website.
A great option
All in all, Chegg stands out as a top choice for college textbook rentals due to its competitive prices. But what really sets them apart are the additional services they offer beyond just renting books. It's definitely worth exploring their tutoring, test prep, scholarship, and internship opportunities alongside their vast textbook collection.
