<p>My older son had a college where the Prof’s were not good about giving out the book details until classes had started so my son would go to the bookstore, get the list, pull the book and give me the ISBN numbers. You can just put them directly into a google search - just the 8 or 13 digit ISBN number and it will pull up sites where those books are for sale. My first two were humanity majors so their books really weren’t that expensive. My oldest is in grad school now and she’s actually renting a book or two. You could also use an app from a smart phone and take a picture of the barcode to do a search.</p>
<p>This thread is a keeper! Thanks for all the great tips from a first-timer.</p>
<p>My son had one very expensive book that the bookstore wouldn’t buy back and he needed funds ASAP. He stood outside the appropriate classroom the first day of the next semester with the book and practically had a bidding war going on for the book. He got a great price for it.</p>
<p>If you order or rent your books from a source other than the school bookstore, do not order them too early because book orders can change. This is especially true if the student is registered for an unassigned section. This means that the section might well be staffed at the last minute by someone who decides to use different books than those originally posted. I don’t recommend that students buy or rent their books until the first week of classes unless they have a guarantee of return/exchange. Also, you have to be sure you are getting the right edition of the textbook. There can be considerable variations from, say, the 7th to the 8th edition, with significant material omitted or changed. If the prof plans the syllabus around a newer edition and you have the older one, you will be very inconvenienced trying to scramble around and get the right material.</p>
<p>"How can you get he ISBN numbers without actually buying the books early enough to receive the books for class use? "
There is a new Federal law that states that all books[ and their ISBN
s] that will be required for a class be listed when a student registers for that class.
Since registration usually occurs months in advance[ at least after the first semester], that gives students plenty of time to find cheap books elsewhere.</p>
<p>That’s interesting menloparkmom. I found a little bit more about that law here: [Textbook</a> Access and Affordability Act Guidelines - University of the Pacific](<a href=“http://web.pacific.edu/Administration/Office-of-the-Registrar/Textbook-Affordability-Guidelines.html]Textbook”>http://web.pacific.edu/Administration/Office-of-the-Registrar/Textbook-Affordability-Guidelines.html) This is one colleges interpretation of the law, but easier to read then the actual law. hmmph a little more digging and I found this: [H.R</a>. 3512 [110th]: College Textbook Affordability and Transparency Act of 2007 (GovTrack.us)](<a href=“http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3512]H.R”>College Textbook Affordability and Transparency Act of 2007 (2007; 110th Congress H.R. 3512) - GovTrack.us) I’m not sure this bill was passed…</p>
<p>Younger son has been renting some textbooks. They ship them and provide free return labels. It has worked out well for him. If anyone wants the website I’m sure I can get the name from my son.</p>
<p>I am planning to use Amazon when my dau is a freshman next year.</p>
<p>I have been wondering (referencing takeitallin’s story), don’t kids post used books 4 sale on some online bulletin board at the schools, facebook, or even the old-fashioned paper flyer stuck on the wall of the post office? </p>
<p>Way back when th is old dino was in college, the profs let you know how much of each book they actually wanted you to read. If it was just a chapter or so, you could get it from the library, on 3 hour or overnight loan, etc. </p>
<p>I am saving this thread! Lots of great tips.</p>
<p>"I’m not sure this bill was passed… "
It was folded into the bill that eliminated banks from being the source for [and making billions of dollars from] Federally funded College Loans .</p>
<p>Yes, it was part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act and the part we are discussing here went into effect on July 1, 2010.</p>
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The international versions of books are certainly not in violation of any policies on ebay or half.com. It is perfectly legal for an individual to buy and sell them. The three internationals we have bought have been so much cheaper than the cheapest other alternatives that even if we don’t sell them we are way ahead. (though in our case the 3 we have are books we wanted to keep for future reference so the reselling has not been an issue)</p>
<p>"on discounted instructors/international editions, keep in mind that your options when it comes to reselling them will be limited. that you bought it on the student edition (or even an international edition) page via amazon or half doesnt mean youll be able to sell it there at the end of the semester. the original listing was in violation of policy. your listing would also be in violation of policy (and likely would be pulled). same goes for ebay. "
??? Where on earth do you get this info? What claptrap! For 4 years we have bought and sold our sons college books online [ EBay, Amazon, etc] regardless of whether they were originally made for use here or abroad. No notice of violation has ever been posted to us. This sounds like some PR BS that the US book publishers have come up with to discourage sales of their softcover , cheaper international books, which were published originally for use overseas [at much lower prices I might add] They dont want anyone selling those books at lower prices than they can sell the new hardbound additions to college bookstores!</p>
<p>We have had good luck renting books from Chegg.com. We have done this for books we knew she would not need to keep. Semester cost to rent a $200 (new) book – about $65.</p>
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<p>the rules are no doubt far from perfectly enforced, but they certainly exist:
[Amazon.com</a> Help: Selling Textbooks](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?&nodeId=200267740]Amazon.com”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?&nodeId=200267740)
[Half.com</a> Policies - Listing Policies](<a href=“Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay”>Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay)</p>
<p>not saying that you shouldnt buy an international edition. just dont be surprised if your listing is pulled and you receive a policy warning (compromising your selling privileges) when you attempt to resell it.</p>
<p>further, should an amazon buyer file a claim against you for selling him an international/instructors edition on the regular textbooks page (regardless of what you say in your description), he will get a full refund (including shipping). AND he will get to keep the book.</p>
<p>ebay has thousands of international versions of books listed. Most of the ones I have seen are clearly marked as international. I don’t believe they have any policy against it.</p>
<p>re post 34
do you actually think that this policy is enforced very often? Especially since Ebay has no such policy? Amazon and Half dot com are not going to forgo thousands of sales by turning down book listings from resellers. Amazon probably HAD to list those disclaimers in order to get the book publishers to list any NEW books with them. They don’t give a rats a** about international versions, especially used versions, sold by resellers under their “umbrella”. And there are very few customer service agents at these computer driven internet “stores”. try getting a hold of one sometime…</p>