6 ms·

Amazon Launches Textbook Rental

13 points by gagan2020 14y ago

koala_advert 14y ago
This doesn't seem very profitable when so many textbooks come out with a new edition every year.
- DenisM 14y ago
  Look at the prices - e.g. $170 new, $100 to rent. http://www.amazon.com/Discrete-Mathematics-Applications-Kenneth-Rosen/dp/0073383090/ http://www.amazon.com/Discrete-Mathematics-Applications-Kenn...
- murtza 14y ago
  Chegg, an online textbook rental company, up to now has been doing pretty well. http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/05/teardown-chegg/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/05/teardown-chegg/ Chegg's revenue is going to take a hit if Amazon is competing in the same space.
saraid216 14y ago
Tangential, but does anyone know why Amazon's PR has a completely unrecognizable domain name?
- taylan 14y ago
  There is something fishy here. Neither www.corporate-ir.net nor corporate-ir.net resolve. And the site asks you to login. Relevant link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/465600/ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/465600/
  - gagan2020 14y ago
    A whois query (http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domain=corporate-ir.net&prog_id=GoDaddy http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domain=corporate-ir.net&#3...) reveal corporate-ir.net domain belongs to Thomson Reuters Holdings Inc. I got this link from https://twitter.com/amazoncareers https://twitter.com/amazoncareers. Now, that account is authentic or not that's another question.
    - saraid216 14y ago
      FWIW, if you go to http://www.amazon.com/pr http://www.amazon.com/pr (which I think you can safely expect to be owned and operated by Amazon), you DO get redirected to corporate-ir.net. That's what ultimately convinced me that the press release was legit. It still bothers me, though.
      - greenyoda 14y ago
        You can also find the same information about textbook rentals by going directly to Amazon's site and going to their textbooks department.
ekianjo 14y ago
This only applies to college students... too bad. Renting books would be great for the general public, too.
- s_henry_paulson 14y ago
  I was going to make a library joke, but seriously, your local library has access to an amazing amount of books. Even if your particular library doesn't have a particular book, there is likely a library somewhere in their network that has it, and will ship it for free. All you have to do is ask.

13 points by gagan2020 14y ago

koala_advert 14y ago

This doesn't seem very profitable when so many textbooks come out with a new edition every year.

DenisM 14y ago
Look at the prices - e.g. $170 new, $100 to rent. http://www.amazon.com/Discrete-Mathematics-Applications-Kenneth-Rosen/dp/0073383090/ http://www.amazon.com/Discrete-Mathematics-Applications-Kenn...
murtza 14y ago
Chegg, an online textbook rental company, up to now has been doing pretty well. http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/05/teardown-chegg/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/05/teardown-chegg/ Chegg's revenue is going to take a hit if Amazon is competing in the same space.

saraid216 14y ago

Tangential, but does anyone know why Amazon's PR has a completely unrecognizable domain name?

taylan 14y ago
There is something fishy here. Neither www.corporate-ir.net nor corporate-ir.net resolve. And the site asks you to login. Relevant link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/465600/ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/465600/
- gagan2020 14y ago
  A whois query (http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domain=corporate-ir.net&prog_id=GoDaddy http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domain=corporate-ir.net&#3...) reveal corporate-ir.net domain belongs to Thomson Reuters Holdings Inc. I got this link from https://twitter.com/amazoncareers https://twitter.com/amazoncareers. Now, that account is authentic or not that's another question.
  - saraid216 14y ago
    FWIW, if you go to http://www.amazon.com/pr http://www.amazon.com/pr (which I think you can safely expect to be owned and operated by Amazon), you DO get redirected to corporate-ir.net. That's what ultimately convinced me that the press release was legit. It still bothers me, though.
    - greenyoda 14y ago
      You can also find the same information about textbook rentals by going directly to Amazon's site and going to their textbooks department.

ekianjo 14y ago

This only applies to college students... too bad. Renting books would be great for the general public, too.

s_henry_paulson 14y ago
I was going to make a library joke, but seriously, your local library has access to an amazing amount of books. Even if your particular library doesn't have a particular book, there is likely a library somewhere in their network that has it, and will ship it for free. All you have to do is ask.