Don't get crushed by college textbook costs
It's been many, many years since I've had to worry about buying text books for college classes (and honestly, back then I was still smart enough to get a scholarship to pay for it), but boy, do I remember how freakin' expensive some of those books cost... especially the ones for science and economics classes. It used to make me wonder if college profs were getting a cut of book sales just for requiring a certain text for their course. (yea yea, I've always been this cynical.)
My lovely niece, the one who I barely let cross the street by herself, the one who recently got her driver's license (!), is heading off to college this fall and I'm just wincing at how much it's going to cost her.
Just thinking about how much the books are going to cost her makes my teeth ache. The College Board, which tracks college pricing trends, says college students spend an average of $940 a year on textbooks and supplies.
It's no wonder that students have resorted to renting textbooks, eBooks, purchasing and downloading individual chapters, and even illegally downloading textbooks to defray some of the costs.
Oren Milgram, president of StudentMarket.com, has some tips for you to save money:
* Use online textbook price comparison services such as Textbooks.StudentMarket.com.
* Buy used textbooks. Although they can be found at the campus bookstore, you'll typically find a greater, more affordable selection through an online textbook price comparison service.
* Buy early for the best selection of used textbooks.
* Keep the textbooks in good shape so you can sell them online when the semester ends.
* Consider older editions if there are no significant updates to the newer versions.
*Some retailers will match prices or give a better deal if a lower price is found.
*Look for free shipping and special promotions.
You can also check out used books on Amazon or share a book with a friend (since I didn't have to pay for my books, I used to share my books with some friends to help them save). Peruse this wikihow page to buy cheap text books, too. There are some good ideas in there like this gem: Try to search in search engines that specializes in book searches, like addall.com, bookfinder.com or similar. They compare prices from different online vendors.
Or this one: The best time to buy is between semesters, when people online are trying to get rid of their old books, but before people are buying new ones. It's usually between 2 and 4 weeks before classes start. If you track sale prices over time, you can see the dip, then a radical increase. Buy when the price is low, but you still have at least 2 weeks for shipping before school. If you want to sell, try selling the first week of school, or the week before when everyone is running around like madmen.
As if the Freshman 15 wasn't enough to worry about. Sheesh.
(Sun Photographer Algerina Perna)
Categories: Budgeting, Cheap/Frugal, College/Financial aid, Shopping
Comments
I just finished, but used bookfinder religiously. Most professors will give you the syllabus ahead of time. Purchasing used, previous editions or international editions for the textbooks saved an incredible amount of money.
Posted by: Cheese | August 21, 2008 7:59 AM
Great Tips! This are very important tips for buying the books online, And this will help all to buy a nice books. Thanks for providing the information.
Posted by: Easy Online Buying | August 22, 2008 4:24 AM
Other than old edition books and used textbooks another approach is to buy International Edition textbooks. They are usually printed on paperback and sometimes black and white print but the savings are up to 75%. The site I like best is http://www.WholesaleCollegeTextbooks.com but there are a few others that carry selection of textbooks. It may take up to 2 weeks to get delivery so please make sure you have time.
Posted by: Nick | November 20, 2008 1:21 PM
I would suggest using GreenTextbooks.org
Save Money, Save The Planet
GreenTextbooks.org specializes in the recycling of textbooks, DVDs, CDs. Buying used textbooks not only saves you money, but cuts down on greenhouse gases caused by the manufacturing of new textbooks.
With GreenTextbooks.org you're not only saving trees, you are saving some green.
http://www.greentextbooks.org
Posted by: green | January 1, 2009 2:20 PM
Our professor gave us syllabus several weeks ahead, but the book is new edition, and it is IT textbook. IT change so fast, I have no choice to buy the new book.
Posted by: Poor student | April 9, 2009 3:44 PM
I used the university library catalog and was able to obtain many textbooks from the library.
Great tip, NotableM! --- lfk.
Posted by: NotableM | April 11, 2009 7:37 PM