Buying College Textbooks
By David Lithman
High school students take having free books
for granted. Most incoming college freshmen
are in for a big shock when they see the price
of their new calculus book. That's what my
advice is here for. $150 for one book is a
lot to swallow, not to mention the $30 lab
manual that comes with it. Oh and did you
forget the $15 CD too? Buying textbooks is
very, very expensive. On average a student
buying his/her books from the school bookstore
can expect to pay anywhere from $300-$400.
So you’re looking at spending nearly $750
for books the whole year. In this article
I am going to discuss some of the unconventional
means of acquiring your books for the semester.
Nearly all incoming students look
up their book lists online a week before
class starts and buys their books from
the university bookstore. People make
fun of freshman because they don’t know
any better, and this is a prime example.
I’ll admit it, I bought my first semester’s
books from the university book store,
and boy did it show in my pocket book.
University bookstores (or bookstores on
campus) have the highest mark-up of all
stores. You are a fool if you buy your
books from them. The only time I recommend
buying your book from the university bookstore
is when they are the only supplier. For
instance, if your professor wrote his
own book and you can only buy it through
the school.
The next best method of buying books
is from a bookstore off-campus. But even
here you will still pay hundreds of dollars
for books you probably won’t read. Off-campus
bookstores are generally smaller and don’t
have the selection size of a university
bookstore. If you are buying off-campus
be sure to pick your books up early, because
they will probably run out.
In my opinion, the best method of buying
books is online. You can not beat the
prices. If you are new to college an unfamiliar
with sites that sell textbooks, please
visit Amazon (I have several links to
them on my site). Half.com and Ebay are
also excellent places to find new and
used textbooks. Most teachers post their
required textbooks online a few weeks
before the semester starts. This is the
perfect time to search Amazon for you
book. You have to look early because shipping
can take anywhere from a few days to two
weeks. If you can wait the shipping time,
buying online is the best option. I turned
to online buying after my freshman year.
It was the best money saving method I
used all through college. You turn $350
semester book fees into a mere $150 (or
less). It’s amazing how so few students
are actually buying online. These companies
are 100% safe. There is no reason not
to buy online.
Now I will go through some of the pros
and cons of buying books from our three
different means.
On-campus Bookstore
Pro – prime location
Pro – save time
Pro – get the exact editions you need
Pro – offer new and used books
Pro – offer buy back plans
Con – too expensive
Con – you get like $10 buy back for a
$100 book
Con – not as many used copies
Off-campus Bookstore
Pro – less expensive
Pro – lots of used books
Pro – offer buy backs
Con – may have older editions
Con – not located nearby (unless you live
off campus)
Con – small selections
Online Bookstore
Pro – cheapest books anywhere
Pro – get exactly the book you need
Pro – buy anytime
Con – have to wait 1-2 weeks for delivery
Some other tips on how to save money
when it comes to buying books
Tip 1. Share a book with a friend
Tip 2. Always buy used
Tip 3. Buy previous editions (the books
don’t change, trust me)
Tip 4. Look if the book is in e-book
form
Tip 5. Swap books with other students
If you are going to get anything out
of this article, the most important point
being made is to be smart with your money.
Buy your books online. It is by far the
cheapest method. You can buy previous
editions of the book you need for a fraction
of the price. Editions don’t change from
year to year. Buying edition 4 instead
of 5 will not make a difference. This
is based on my experiences, the pages
numbers and writing will be exactly the
same. Publishing textbooks is all a big
scam. They update editions every year
or two and expect us to buy them for $150.
Also, please be cautious when buying
books from a bookstore on or near campus.
They will tell you “Bring you book back
at the end of the year and you will get
CASH!” They always make up these gimmicks
that put a picture of you stuffing wads
of twenties in your wallet. What they
don’t tell you is that they don’t always
buy books back. If a new edition comes
out, guess what, you’re screwed. I would
say 75% of the time you will wait in the
buy back line and they will say “I’m sorry,
we aren’t buying that book back”. If this
does happen to you I suggest you make
an Amazon account and sell your book online.
I’ve done it, and it works.
For more information on how to save money
when buying textbooks, or if you have
any questions in general, please email
me at collegesos@yahoo.com
http://collegesos.blogspot.com
About The Author
David Lithman
I am a recent graduate of the University
of Florida. I am currently employed full-time
but it is my desire to advice and help
incoming and current college students.
My goal is to help every student have
a better college experience. This article
is owned by me. All use or other publications
on this article must include a link to
my website http://collegesos.blogspot.com
