ValoreBooks.com Review
Third party sellers (and renters) form the guts of this textbook site, and low prices are the norm. But the site has no control over shipping/deliveries and customers report numerous problems.
This online textbook vendor takes the marketplace approach to selling and renting new and used texts at cheap prices. That is, Valorebooks.com is actually a portal that directs you to other sites or individuals that sell, and sometimes rent, textbooks. This may be a good model for small merchants to get visibility for their wares, but not always so good, apparently, for many people who buy them. According to ValoreBooks reviews, customers are delighted with the super-low prices but dismayed by slow delivery, problems with buybacks and rental returns, and lack of customer service. One ValoreBooks review at Reseller Ratings crows about snagging a $200 text (retail) for $9.50 that wasn't available from the usual set of online vendors, and other commenters likewise laud the value pricing and user-friendly ordering (buying and renting) process. But numerous ValoreBooks reviews, including postings at Epinions, complain about orders that take weeks to arrive (even when paying for expedited service), overdue fees assessed for books that were returned, failure to receive notice of an impending due date, disputes over the condition of book buybacks, misrepresented books, and inaccessible third-party sellers and ValoreBooks.com customer service. On the other hand, the company does respond to gripes posted at Reseller Ratings with promises to look into the stated complaint.
When you enter a book's ISBN number, title, or author, the book pops up and in some cases you can choose whether to buy or rent. Click the option you want and you'll get a list of vendors who describe the condition of the book they're selling. These marketplace sellers/renters range from individuals to bookstores to large online companies like BookRenter.com and TextbooksRus.com. The cost of shipping depends on how quickly you want the book while buybacks qualify for pre-paid shipping. The host site (that would be ValoreBooks.com) states there's a no-questions asked 30-day window for returns, but if you ordered the wrong book, be prepared to pay 15% of the total order price (that includes shipping) when returning a book. Any problems that arise must be resolved with the original seller/vendor and contact seems to be through email. The company just launched a service that connects students with private companies that process student loans.
Given the breadth of competition in the online textbook buy/sell/rent market, this is one site that you might want to check out last.
