Houses can be bought or rented, cars can be purchased or leased and now textbooks come with that same option.

The virtual world now offers students an alternative way to save money with online companies like Skoobit.com, a service that gives students the option to rent their textbooks.

Skoobit’s textbook rental Web site was created to alleviate student frustration of standing in long lines and purchasing expensive textbooks.

Leticia Orozco, a child development major, said renting textbooks is a good idea.

‘It’s good for people who get financial aid or loans at the beginning of the semester. This allows them to spend money on something else,’ said Orozco.

Christopher Blythe, founder of Skoobit, said he thought of the idea for the Web site his senior year when he realized that traditional business models were changing and his school bookstore at the University of Michigan would eventually be online.

‘I thought that setting up an online book rental company would be a great opportunity similar to Netflix.com,’ said Blythe. ‘In this case students won’t be stacked up with books they don’t need, and if they want it at the end of the semester they will always have the option to purchase the book.’

The popularity of renting textbooks has taken hold on the CSUN campus too. The Matador Bookstore has its Rent-A-Text program that allows students to rent textbooks from the on- campus store. However, rentals are limited to only a few classes.

Skoobit has access to more than 2 million books from various vendors. Students are offered a wide range of books starting with a minimum rental fee of $10.99 a month per textbook.

For some students renting is not an option. Romando Pinado, a biology major, purchases new textbooks because the codes in the back of new textbooks are required for his’ assignments.

However, one major problem many students encounter when they purchase new textbooks is that often times books are only good for one semester either because a professor has decided to change course material or a newer edition is printed. As a result, students cannot cash in their books for money at the end of the school term because the book has lost its value.

‘Some’ books are only good for one semester, you pay over $100 for it and then the next semester no one uses it,’ said Orozco.

Samantha Minton, a broadcast journalism major, said she uses a Web site called Chegg.com that plants a tree every time a book is rented.

Just like Chegg, Skoobit is also an ‘eco-friendly’ Web site that recycles used books and plants a tree for every textbook rented.’

Skoobit also offers new users a 14-day trial period on unlimited textbook rentals and free priority shipping and handling for all students.

Once a student’s trial period is over, they can choose from Skoobit’s various rental plans or simply return them if he/she is not satisfied.

If a student decides to keep the textbook rather than return it after the 14-day grace period, he/she pays the book’s retail price minus the rental fee already paid.

While the Matador Bookstore has experienced difficulty with students not returning their books on time, Blythe says that Skoobit has not experienced the same tardiness.

When textbooks are at the end of their rental period, students can log onto their Skoobit account, print out free packing and shipping labels, package the textbook items and drop the textbooks off at any UPS location.

Information for book rentals can be accessed on each company’s Web site.