A recent study proved buying and then selling your textbooks back at the end of the semester is more beneficial to students than renting textbooks.

According to Jeff Sherwood, CEO of website BIGWORDS.com, price comparison  buying and selling books online is much less expensive than renting them, despite the increased interest in textbook rental among students.

A recent textbook study performed by BIGWORDS.com determined that buying and selling books instead of renting them saved students an average of 95 percent toward the cost of books.

This equates to more than $1,000 per school year. The study was based  on sales and rental data from January, and was compared to buyback data from April and May.

OU freshman Brandi Gailliard said her first experience buying books was hectic.

“I thought I could fund it with my financial aid, but then I figured out financial aid won’t come soon enough, so I had to pay out of pocket,” Gailliard said. Her books totalled $654.23 this semester.

Taylor Girvan, a sophmore nursing major,  said she bought all of her books last year and only rented one.

“I found out that it’s entirely cheaper to rent. I don’t have to keep the books lying around gathering dust and not have anyone to sell them to,” Girvan said. “In my opinion, it’s better to rent and save money ahead of time.”

Girvan spent nearly $500 on books for one semester last year.

“It broke my bank pretty bad,” Girvan said.

So far, she has spent $140 on books this year.

Meghan Plovie,  manager of  the bookstore Neebo, which is across the street from OU,  thinks renting is more convenient for  students at OU.

“For instance, a book that’s $43 to buy and $11 to rent, renting would obviously be more beneficial in this case,” Plovie said.

According to Plovie, it’s a tricky business.

“If your rental is 50 percent or less than your buying price, then students should definitely want to rent,” Plovie said.

Plovie discussed an example of students needing to purchase books for a Spanish class that required online-access codes.

“It’s a loose-leaf book, so it isn’t actually worth anything,” Plovie said. “You can’t really sell it back and another issue is the access code. Once you use the code, you can’t anymore.”

She said in cases like these, if you are not  keeping a book, it is always better to rent.

“We have the best price promise, so if we don’t have the best price, then we will match the price at the campus Barnes & Noble,” Plovie said.

According to Plovie, it is always good to come early to get your books, whether new, used or renting.

Contact Multimedia Reporter Misha Mayhand via email at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @MishaMayhand