<p>I’ll have to get one of my history books from our bookstore. Sadly they had the lowest price I’ve been able to find…and it’s not that low :(</p>
<p>And I agree, for a lot of general education you don’t really need the book. They’ll just sit around forever because by the time you’re ready to buy back the school will have moved onto another edition. A lot of instructors just don’t care, which is why 98% of the time it’s best to just wait until after the first day of class to buy books.</p>
<p>Only buy them if you’re physically buying them from a bookstore. At my school, there are two required survey courses that have long reading lists (full-year courses with each semester going through 10-11 books). At first, I tried to find used copies online, but the thing about used booksellers is that with few exceptions, they’re not going to carry all the books that you need. So if you need to buy 13 different novels, and you find 9 different sellers, you’re going to have to pay shipping 9 different times, canceling out any savings you made by not buying new books.</p>
<p>Also, there often isn’t a significant difference between the prices of used and new paperback books (a couple of dollars, usually), and depending on your preferences, you may as well just buy the new books. (Personally, I hate reading books that other people have written in and highlighted, so unless there’s a huge difference in price, or if the used book is in like new condition, I end up buying new.)</p>
<p>imo, every penny saved counts. Used are usually decent, and I’ve had pretty good luck with Amazon, but don’t forget to factor in shipping costs when adding up totals. For math/science books, used are fine, but usually the new edition is required. Some professors will allow use of an older edition, but page numbers will often be off from the syllabus.</p>