buying books for courses

<p>Hey folks!
I read about the books of my courses in the past and some of them cost 250$. Are these books really necessary or just additional junk that is not used? What are the resources to buy them? I can also buy that book used for 30$ from an US seller. Are there used books available somewhere in Montreal?</p>

<p>The best place to buy used textbooks is the McGill classifieds, at most you should pay 50% of a new textbook price to buy used from someone in the McGill community. That being said most textbooks will be on reserve in the library. I would recommend not to buy your books until you receive the syllabus, some textbooks are “suggested” vs "required. Many first year students (me included) make the mistake of buying new from the McGill bookstore. Learned my lesson the expensive way first semester</p>

<p>Depending on your classes and field of study, you can also find them for cheap online at Amazon.ca, or websites tailored to textbooks, such as bookbyte.com. If you’re patient and know when you’re being ripped off, the McGill Classifieds can also be a good place (particularly if you are taking large-sized classes.) </p>

<p>Rosexc made really good points as well! I second everything she/he said.</p>