<p>I already posted this, but in the wrong thread...</p>
<p>Do students usually buy their book from the Blue Devil Store or from Amazon.com which seems a lot more inexpensive? And, how can I find the required books for the class?</p>
<p>Search both and see which one is cheaper
I like Amazon marketplace, you can buy good condition used book for very low prices.
That’s what I do doing for high school (I go to a private college prep school so I have to buy my own books). The books are cheap (like less than 10 dollars most of time, sometimes I do have pay $10-50) but that’s way better than 100 dollars for a new one. They are also in good condition–I get the like new and very good ones.</p>
<p>Science textbooks are generally very expensive, but amazon usually has it for 30-50% off if you buy from the marketplace. I usually go for the new or like new ones. I even remember a couple times when I made a profit selling books back to Duke. :)</p>
<p>As for where you find the required books for class, the bookstore has a website where you can search by department, class, term, and professor. 90% of professors will submit their book lists to the bookstore so that it can stock those books. That information will become available about a month before classes start (beginning of august for the fall semester usually). </p>
<p>Website: [Duke</a> University Bookstore - Textbooks](<a href=“http://dukebooks.collegestoreonline.com/ePOS?store=320&form=shared3%2Ftextbooks%2Ftext_browse.html&design=duke_textbooks&campus=MAIN]Duke”>http://dukebooks.collegestoreonline.com/ePOS?store=320&form=shared3%2Ftextbooks%2Ftext_browse.html&design=duke_textbooks&campus=MAIN)</p>
<p>i heard that its a better option to buy them used at the bookstore. shipping books is way too expensive,</p>
<p>Shipping on amazon marketplace generally costs $3.99 for media mail. The downside is that it’s slow, generally 1-2 weeks. But I’ve never had a problem getting my books on time if I order when the book lists are released.</p>
<p>IMHO, used at the bookstore is a good option if you need it quick and don’t want to pay full price, but you should go to the store in person to buy it. When I tried to buy a used book online for pick up, they gave me a new book instead and charged me full price because the used ones “ran out.” However, keep in mind, that used books are also expensive. Like I said, I’ve actually made profits selling books back to Duke, and that means that used books have to be more expensive for the bookstore to turn a profit. </p>
<p>The third option is of course to buy books from others. For popular courses like econ, chem, bio, physics, math, etc, many upperclassmen will have taken it and would be willing to sell or lend it to you (sometimes for a fee akin to a semester rental). So you can ask friends about that.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice!!</p>