Buying Textbooks

Buying textbooks is one of the things that all college students would agree upon as being the bane of their existence. Not only do they represent all the work that you will have ahead of you for that semester, but they are also amazingly overpriced. My textbook bill is hovering around $500 for this semester alone - and that's with my saving a lot of money by using the suggestions below. Unfortunately there really is no way to totally get around buying textbooks (well you could take the same classes as a friend of yours and then mooch off of him, but I wouldn't suggest this), but you can lower your expenses.

Always Go Used
My younger brother started college this year. Before going to school he was talking to me about pre-ordering his books, and he said that he was trying to get all new books. I laughed and told him he should be looking to get as many used books as he can. Confused, he asked me why.

Well, the reason is quite simple - a textbook is a textbook is a textbook, whether it is brand new or has been used by a couple people. Yes, there may be some highlighting or some dog-eared pages in a used textbook, but the content that you need is still the same. Therefore, there is no reason to pay 25% more for a new textbook.

This is made even more true by the fact that if you resell the book to the bookstore you get, at the very best (meaning the book is in perfect condition), 50% of what you paid for it. Even if the book was brand new when you bought it and you go to sell it back in brand-new condition, the book store is going to consider it used.

Obviously, though, you want to make sure the book isn't entirely ruined. Check to see if there are ripped up pages or pages missing in general. Also, check the binding to make sure it isn't falling apart. Another good indication of what type of condition a book is in is the cover. If the previous owner threw the book around and mistreated it, the cover would have taken the most hits. If the cover is in good condition then there is a good chance that the rest of the book will be in good condition too.

Order Books Online
One really good way to save on textbooks is to buy them online. The sellers are usually people who have taken the course and are now trying to sell the books. Many times the book is really cheap but the shipping seems somewhat outrageous (i.e. costing as much as the book), but even with this expensive shipping you can usually save 25-50% of what you would be paying in the bookstore.

One site that I have found to be really good for buying books online is CampusBooks.com. This site allows you to search for a textbook and then it shows all the leading sellers of the book. The sites that usually come up from this search are abebooks, ebay, ValoreBooks, Half.com, and eCampus.com. There really is no best site - it all depends on the people trying to sell the book through the site since most of the sites listed are basically just a place for private sellers to list the books.

There are a few things that you should be careful about before buying books online, though. One, make sure that the book is the right version of what you need. Most textbooks have several versions, so check what your course requires and make sure to get that version. Also, make sure the book is in English. Many of the sellers are from other countries (or at least they are listed as so in the directories), so it is important it check to see if the book is in the right language. If the seller is from another country then he/she should say somewhere in the book's description "Exactly like the US version," or something that conveys that general message.

One last note about buying books online - do not wait until the last minute. Even if you buy express shipping many times it will take a week or more for the book to arrive, in part because, as mentioned, these are private sellers. So if you can get a list of your required textbooks before school starts, then order your books as far in advance as you possibly can.

Pre-Ordering Books
This really isn't a money saving thing, but more of a way to save yourself some hassle. Depending on your schools size, the campus bookstore is going to have to be serving several thousand to tens of thousands of students at the beginning of the school year. Because of this, the bookstores do run out of books. Having to wait until one of your books gets restocked can be frustrating and can cause you to fall behind in the course. That is why, if your school has the option, that it is a good idea to pre-order your textbooks. Not all colleges have this service, but you can probably find out if they do or not through the school's website.