Guide To Online Book Rentals
For avid readers who do not have access to a good public library, or who don’t have the time for libraries or used bookstores, then online book rentals are the answer. Not only do the unlimited rental plans with flat monthly fees and free shipping save you up to 80% over buying, the host of benefits is staggering:
- Massive selection (typically over 80,000 titles)
- No due dates or late fees
- Convenience of selecting your books online
- Saves you from having to store books you’ve read (pre-paid return mailer)
- Personalized and general book recommendations
- Advanced search capabilities
- Variety of plans to choose from
- Book ratings and reviews
- Ability to keep books at a discount (if you choose)
- Built your own list of favorite authors
- Rewards for book donations, gift purchases and referrals
- No commitments, cancel anytime
- Personalized and general RSS feeds
- Queue up a list of books you want to read for future orders
- Saves a list of books you’ve read
Books are shipped in orders of 2s or 3s via USPS Media Mail. Because Media Mail has a 3-10 business day delivery time, it’s important to choose a membership level that meets your reading habits. For example, if you read 2 book a week, joining at the lowest level (2 books at-a-time) is not the way to go. An avid reader who reads 2 book a week should join the 4 or 6 at-a-time level. The 4 at-a-time and above membership levels allow you to circulate multiple orders so you always have and order coming or going. Because 2 books can be shipped for the same cost as one book, books are shipped in orders of 2s or 3s, providing members greater value for their dollar.
The other key to maximizing your enjoyment of renting books online is your book list (queue). It is important to add plenty of books to your list. These books are queued up for future orders and are selected based on availability when returned books are received. The more books you add to your list, the less likely it is you’ll experience any delays when your returned books are received. If they are no books in-stock on your list at the time of your next order, new books will be ordered from a distributor and ship to you the following day (in most cases). So the greater the number of books to choose form on your list, the greater the chance there will be in-stock books to generate into an order that will ship the same day your returned books are received.
Remember, when joining an online book rental service, it’s important to choose the right membership level, and keep plenty of books on your list at all times. If you do this, you will enjoy renting books online and save big doing it.