Hands down the worst part of back to school has to be seeing the damage that buying that semester’s textbooks does to your bank account balance. Early mornings and having to put on pants without an elastic waistband are no competition to the hundreds of dollars some collegiates spend on textbooks that they only use for a few weeks. Freshmen year I had one goal, spend as little as possible on textbooks! With websites like Amazon, Chegg and Ebay, I saw no reason why the campus bookstore was even in operation. I distinctly remember my first quarter of college, visiting the campus bookstore with my new friends and watching them all spend hundreds of dollars on books that in ten weeks would sit in a pile gathering dust in our dorm rooms.
Now beginning my fourth year at my university, I can proudly say I have never paid full price for a textbook and never have I ever bought from the campus bookstore. I know sometimes there are no other alternatives or your professor requires the book so soon into the course that you have no time to wait for it to ship to you, but I’ve got solutions for almost all your problems! Below are my tips to paying less money, getting a better copy than all your other classmates and avoiding the bookstore like the plague.
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Before you do anything else, get a the list of books you need for your courses. In some cases professors are slow to post a syllabus or book list, that doesn’t mean they don’t know though! As long as you have your professor’s email address or any way to contact them really, send them a simple email explaining you want to buy your books as soon as possible and need to know which are required for the course. Another plus besides saving money by buying books early is that there are more options to choose from because most likely your other classmates aren’t being as productive as you. More options makes the books you choose less expensive and better in quality, great for when you want to resell them. Also when emailing your professor ask if older editions of the textbook are an option. This point leads me to number two.
If you can, always buy an older edition! It is insane how the newest edition can be around 80 dollars while one or two editions before can be no more than 5 dollars, including shipping! It never hurts to ask and if they give you an unclear answer ask more direct questions. Asking things like what chapters they feel might be outdated might make you realize that only one chapter might be an issue. In that case, buy the old edition and save yourself a ton of money by simply using the edition on reserve at your university’s library.
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I have two main websites where I buy or rent my textbooks, Amazon and Chegg. Most often than not Amazon has the most affordable option and trustworthy vendors. Chegg is for those courses where I cant find a used copy or used copies are still not as affordable as renting. Return shipping to Chegg is free and they are great about reminding you to ship your textbook back. I’ve used Half and Barnes and Noble before, but my experiences have been mixed. Be careful who you buy from, especially if you’re buying the cheapest copy posted. These sites have taken my money multiple times while vendors never shipped me the book I paid for.
Facebook is the place to not only buy textbooks, but sell them too! If you’re an incoming freshmen, check out the previous freshmen class’ Facebook page. It’s full of students who just took the classes you’re now enrolled in who are now trying to sell their textbooks. Always check Amazon prices for any book being sold on Facebook though, it will be a great way to see if you are getting a good deal or not. If their price is far more expensive than what is listed on Amazon, tell them that, it’s a great bargaining chip to convince them to lower the price to something more reasonable.
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If you have a copy of the syllabus, look over the reading schedule. For classes that require a handful of novels check and see how much of the book you’ll actually be reading. Any book that you read less than half of is not worth the money in my opinion. If the amount read is very small, consider scanning the assigned reading pages. Do scan them though, do not make copies! Scanning the pages means no printing costs and you can read them from your laptop, tablet or smartphone. Also, don’t only check the campus library for extra copies, utilize local libraries when classes require novels. It won’t cost you anything to check and it just might save you some more money.
Now that you have all my tips to paying a fraction of the original price, open a new tab and start emailing your professors! When you do the math and see how much cash you saved, feel free to brag to all your friends. Every quarter I feel as proud as an extreme couponer at the end of their transaction. Be sure to share this article with your friends, roommates and sorority sisters, because everyone could use some extra money in their pocket.