A new school year means getting to buy cute school supplies, new fall sweaters, and, of course, new textbooks. From special editions, online components, and books published by your own professor, there are many roadblocks that prohibit students from keeping their textbook budget relatively low. Thankfully, modern students have more options than just renting or buying their textbooks directly from the bookstore. Here’s how to save some money and even add a little to your pocket:
1. Use Google to your advantage!
Oftentimes, you can find your textbooks for a lower price if you do a little bit of searching around the Net. Websites such as Textbookrentals.com and Bigwords.com compare the price of textbooks across different sources to help you find the lowest price available.
2. Rent!
Renting textbooks is almost always cheaper than buying them, even at your university bookstore. There are many services on the Internet that allow you to rent books for a semester or more, such as Chegg, Knetbooks, and even Amazon. If you’re getting books from the bookstore, take advantage of those that you can rent, especially if there’s the option to rent used. Used books can be cheaper and are usually in decent to good condition.
3. Resell Your Books The Smart Way
University bookstores usually won’t buy back your textbooks at a fair price, let alone equal to what you paid for. Even if your school promotes that they buy textbooks back, it’s smarter to try and sell the books yourself. Try selling them on Amazon, EBay, Chegg, and other sites that sell textbooks.
4. Find Students At Your School Who Need the Book(s)
If your school has student Facebook groups, try posting the books you wish to sell on there. If anyone’s interested, you can easily negotiate a price and possibly receive your sale in cash! One woman’s trash, another woman’s treasure.
5. Find the E-book, PDF, or Free Version
If your professor allows it, E-book and PDF versions of textbooks are not much different from tangible copies and are usually cheaper. You can even find these versions for free with services such as Bookboon.com. It may take some searching around the Internet and communicating with your classmates, but finding a $200 textbook for free? Priceless.