College Book Renter

College Book Renter (CBR or the Company) is a textbook company that allows students to rent, buy and sell their college textbooks online. Founded in 2009 to help combat rising textbook prices, College Book Renter is one of the top five textbook rental companies in the industry.

In the past two years, the post-secondary textbook rental market has exploded. Driven by the outcry over book prices, federal legislation, readily available pricing information on the Internet, and sophisticated web-based rental management platforms, old and new competitors are disrupting the $10 billion college textbook business. Book rental isn’t really a new phenomenon—a few college stores have been renting books since the Civil War.^[1]

Finances

South Eastern Book Co. (“South Eastern Book” or “SEB”) announced July 6, 2010 that it made an equity investment in College Book Renter . The $10 million Series A investment was in the form of equity funding from SEB. In addition, CBR secured $7.5 million in debt financing in 2010. With this $17.5 million, the two companies planned to work together to leverage SEB’s wholesaling and distribution capabilities to support and enhance CBR’s extraordinary growth in the textbook rental industry, while also maintaining SEB’s current focus on providing affordable used textbooks to thousands of college bookstores around the country.

Based in Murray, KY and founded over 30 years ago, South Eastern Book is a privately-owned wholesale textbook distribution company focused on providing high quality used books to college bookstores around the country. In addition to reaping the benefits of the growing rental market, partnering with CBR allowed SEB to increase its catalog of used textbooks available to longtime bookstore customers, while also affording these customers access to the rental market in order to fulfill their students’ needs. SEB launched SEBRental.com, powered by College Book Rental, for college bookstores to offer their own rental program through the store’s own customized web-portal.^[2]

Growth

Since the company was founded, CBR has demonstrated significant growth. This growth can be attributed to the changing demographics of today’s college students. College students are no longer predominately young men and women from affluent families.^[3] Many of today’s college students are older, non-traditional students who are raising families and trying to make ends meet while juggling everyday expenses along with those associated with earning a degree.^[4]

With the growth in popularity of textbook rental, CBR experienced steady growth. The company’s 2010 earnings outpaced 2009 by more than tenfold. In January 2011, CBR earned more revenue than in all of 2010. February 2011 outpaced February 2010 by over 435 percent. This spring semester, CBR experienced a 200% growth over the last fall semester.^[5]

A new survey from Student Monitor, which polled 1,200 full-time students at four-year institutions in March, reported by Inside Higher Ed, “found that the proportion of students who rented at least one textbook this spring doubled from last spring, leaping from 12% to 24%. Students who rented reported an average savings of $127. And the renting trend shows no sign of slowing: 36% of underclassmen said they’re either likely or very likely to rent at least one textbook next semester.^[6]

Students spend about $1,000 a year on their texts, according to the College Board. And that most likely will increase: Over the past 20 years, textbook prices have increased at twice the inflation rate, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. One solution may be renting. Several companies offer textbook rentals that could save cash-poor college students more than 50% of the cost of a book.^[7]

So why rent when you can buy? In almost all cases, renting is cheaper than buying the book either used or new. True, if you buy the book you may be able to recoup some money by selling it at the end of the term. But textbooks are continually updated, so a student who waits to sell an old textbook could find no buyers if a new edition is coming out.^[8]

A recent federal report found that the prices had nearly tripled from 1986 to 2004, rising an average of 6 percent a year, about double the inflation rate. Congressional leaders are not happy about this, and have been on the lookout for ways to make texts more affordable. Last year’s Higher Education Opportunity Act included $10 million for grants to support textbook rental pilot programs.^[9]

Many students who bought all their assigned books at the college bookstore as incoming freshmen eventually evolve a more frugal, eclectic approach.^[10]

Among many provisions of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), which went into effect July 1, 2010, was a set of important regulations to help make textbooks more affordable. One segment requires colleges and universities to provide lists of assigned materials prior to registration to give students more time to search for textbook bargains. (It also requires that publishers sell all items in a textbook bundle separately.) Beyond boosting price competition for new books, this has also spurred rentals, used and eBook sales.^[11]

History

College Book Renter and South Eastern Book are managed by C. A. Jones Management Group, LLC, which provides an umbrella for the diverse business holdings of Charles A. (Chuck) Jones, of Murray, Kentucky. In 1993, Jones founded Integrated Computer Solutions. Over the past 13 years, that IT services company has provided a platform upon which many new technology ventures have grown.

Today, C.A. Jones Management Group is involved in leading edge technology services including high-speed wireless broadband in America’s rural heartland, secure hosting solutions for major corporate clients nationwide, K-12 technology solutions for public schools in several states, and geospatial agricultural data collection tools. Other business interests include warehousing operations, voice/data/fiber optic cabling company and retail outlets for stationary, gift boutiques, home furnishings and books. Jones also owns CIK Capital, an investor in commercial and residential real-estate.

External links

• Official site

References

1. ^ Nelson B. Heller Textbook Rental: Web Rejuvenation Rocks Post Secondary Market,"The Heller Report", June 3,2011, accessed July 7, 2011
2. ^ PRWeb South Eastern Book Company Announces Release of Rental Site for College Bookstores,"San Francisco Chronicle", March 22,2011, accessed July 7, 2011
3. ^ Mary Pat Seurkamp.Changing Student Demographics, "The University Business", October 1,2007, accessed July 1, 2011.
4. ^ Rick Wills.Students getting a break from the high price of texts, "Pittsburgh Tribune", August 30,2010, accessed June 1, 2011.
5. ^ PRWeb.http://finance.boston.com/boston/news/read?GUID=18000979, "The Boston Globe", March 29,2011, accessed July 6, 2011.
6. ^ Nelson B. Heller Textbook Rental: Web Rejuvenation Rocks Post Secondary Market,"The Heller Report", June 3,2011, accessed July 7, 2011
7. ^ King, Peter.A Textbook Case of Renting Books,"The Wall Street Journal", April 23, 2009, accessed July 8, 2011
8. ^ King, Peter.A Textbook Case of Renting Books,"The Wall Street Journal", April 23, 2009, accessed July 8, 2011
9. ^ Lewin, Tamar.Bookstores and Beyond,"The New York Times", October 26, 2009, accessed July 8, 2011
10. ^ Lewin, Tamar.Bookstores and Beyond,"The New York Times", October 26, 2009, accessed July 8, 2011
11. ^ Nelson B. Heller Textbook Rental: Web Rejuvenation Rocks Post Secondary Market,"The Heller Report", June 3,2011, accessed July 7, 2011

External links

• Official website