ValoreBooks, an online textbook marketplace, has come up with a different way to help college students offset their costs for college. Today, any student who sells back their iPad or iPhone (News - Alert) through ValoreBooks will receive their money through the SmarterBucks award program, which applies a form of payment towards paying for student loans. 

SimpleTuition, Inc., which owns both ValoreBooks and SmarterBucks, created SmarterBucks as a way to help students repay their student loans faster. Bobby Brannigan, the founder of ValoreBooks, says that the company has “always been dedicated to helping make college more affordable for students.” He went on to say, “We realize that today one of the issues students struggle the most with is how they are going to pay back their student loans.” By teaming up with SmarterBucks, he says, “…we're giving students the chance to take a proactive role in their student debt management and make a real dent in their debt with a significant extra payment."

ValoreBooks was started eleven years ago, and they were one of the first companies to create an online textbook marketplace. Students who use the company are able to rent, buy, or sell back textbooks from more than 30,000 sellers and rental providers who battle to offer the lowest prices available, a far cry from the campus bookstores’ high-priced used textbooks that they bought back for pennies (well, maybe a little more than that, but barely). 

SmarterBucks began in 2012, and it has gathered a large following in a very short period of time. They offer ways for their members to earn rewards that can be later applied towards student loan repayments. There are various ways for students to earn rewards: by shopping in the online SmarterBucks Marketplace, by taking SmarterBucks surveys, or by asking for friends and family members to donate to their SmarterBucks account.

When a student sells their used iPad or iPhone through ValoreBooks, they can accept payment through PayPal (News - Alert), check, or through SmarterBucks. By using SmarterBucks, they will receive a five percent bonus on the buyback price when they checkout. Once ValoreBooks receives the phone or tablet, a payment is made towards the student loan that is chosen by the student for SmarterBucks to make a payment towards. If a student does not currently have a SmaterBucks account, they may sign up at checkout, so they can receive the same bonus as current account holders.