There are few certainties in life.  However, among the known definites are death, taxes, and the mark-up on text books.  Anyone going to school to these days knows just how expensive school books can be.  One almost needs to take out a separate loan to just buy texts.  Chegg is a hot new site that actually lets you “rent” the books you need for the semester at great rates.  In today’s economy, this is a true back-to-school boon!

Chegg’s model is simple.  Go to their site, search for the textbooks you need, and then rent the ones that are available for just the semester.  Why rent, you ask?  Have you seen the prices of new textbooks these days?  With Chegg, a one semester rental costs a fraction – yes, A FRACTION – of the cost of buying that textbook new.  Most of the titles the iBraryGuy team tested came in at less than a third of the retail buying price.  That is some serious savings!

Chegg not only ships you the books directly, but even sends you the return label to send your books back at the end of the semester.  It does not get much easier than that!  Chegg also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.  Return your books within the first 30 days of receiving them, for any reason, and Chegg will refund every penny.  Pretty cool.

Chegg accounts are free to create.  You only pay when you rent.  For those of you using iPhones, the company offers an app that lets you search and rent textbooks while on the go.  Oh!  And for those of you with old college textbooks sitting around . . . Chegg also buys used books.  Not a bad proposition in today’s economy!