Students across campus will breathe a collective sigh of relief as the semester ends this week. But unless you were planning on using your books as a really expensive doorstop, it’s time to sell them back and buy next semester’s textbooks.

However, before you head down to the bookstore, students now have more options with Web sites such as Chegg.com that are challenging the status quo of the textbook industry.

ISU alumnus Aayush Phumbhra is vice president and co-founder of Chegg.com. Phumbhra graduated with an MBA in marketing and accounting in 2004.

Chegg launched a textbook rental program this fall, and Phumbhra said it has been successful.

“Everyone is so happy because they have been able to save so much money,” Phumbhra said.

Chegg eliminates up to 70 percent of the cost of textbooks by renting – not selling – textbooks to students. As a recent graduate, Phumbhra understands how expensive textbooks are.

On the site, you can search for the textbook you need and then pay to rent it online. The book is delivered via mail along with a pre-paid shipping label. At the end of the semester, you simply package the book, affix the label and send it back. You can also choose to purchase the textbook at cost, minus the amount of the rental fee.

Phumbhra said Chegg has a presence on 600 campuses nationwide. And the idea of alternative textbook retailers is catching on at Iowa State.

Marcus Anderson, senior in anthropology, said this year he bought his textbooks on Amazon.com. He said it was cheaper and the books were in good condition, but he sold them back locally because it was more convenient.

Adam Kobler, sophomore in pre-business, has bought most of his books at either the University Book Store or the Campus Book Store. But Kobler has expanded to using Chegg.

Chegg competes with traditional bookstores, but Phumbhra doesn’t see it that way.

“We are trying to help students and so are the bookstores. We want to complement each other,” he said.

The University Book Store has advantages that online retailers don’t. Amy DeLashmutt, marketing director for UBS, said they are the first to know what books professors will be using.

“We guarantee you’ll be able to get the right book for your classes,” she said.

DeLashmutt said the UBS has supplemental materials you may not get online. And, if a professor decided to use a different book after you’ve bought yours, she said, you will get a full refund at UBS.

The buyback value of textbooks is determined by the faculty. If professors decide to use a book the following semester, UBS will buy back those books for 50 percent of the new selling price, DeLashmutt said.

The UBS looks at different options to best serve students.

“We are here number one to serve the students with their educational needs,” DeLashmutt.

In the future, Phumbhra hopes Chegg can work together with bookstores.

“I hope bookstores move forward to partner with us,” Phumbhra said.

Textbooks go green

Chegg.com goes beyond renting and selling textbooks. Part of their mission is to be eco-friendly.

“For every book, a tree is used,” said Aayush Phumbhra, vice president and co-founder of Chegg.

The site recycles textbooks by keeping them in circulation and passing them from student to student across the country. As a result, fewer textbooks need to be printed.

When you rent a textbook on Chegg, you not only are saving yourself some green, but you are adding some green back into the environment: Chegg works with a group called Eco-Libris to plant a tree for every textbook rented on the site. Eco-Libris is an environmental organization aimed at “making reading much more sustainable.”

“We have planted trees where they are needed most,” Phumbhra said.