Definitely Compare Prices on Books

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
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<p>I'm in the process of buying books with my incoming first year son. I just wanted to encourage everyone to compare prices.</p>

<p>In many cases, I found new copies of books on Amazon for less than the used price at the UVa bookstore. The used prices online are much cheaper than the bookstore's used prices. </p>

<p>Also, Amazon offers one year of free 2 day shipping if you link an .edu college email address to your Amazon account (it can be an existing Amazon account). In a case of bureaucratic unfairness, most Amazon orders do not have any sales tax.</p>

<p>Amazon is also offering gift cards when you trade in a used book to them. Amazon tells you the amount on their site.</p>

<p>The UVa bookstore does offer used books, new book rentals and used book rentals. The prices for each are listed online for each book.</p>

<p>A good way to find out if you have the right book is to use the ISBN number for each. It is posted on the UVa bookstore website for each course. The ISBN number can be found on Amazon's website if you used the "advanced search" button. Beware of old editions of a book.</p>

<p>A number of books also have web access codes for supplemental material. I found a good combination was to buy a used copy of the text book and then a new copy of the access code. The UVa bookstore also advertises used copies of the access codes in some cases, but I don't know how that would work.</p>

<p>If you want to use the UVa bookstore site, you can order online and they will have the book waiting for you. They stress that for most books, if you open the shrink wrap, it is not returnable. Therefore, don't open the shrink wrap until you are 100% sure you will be taking that class and have the right book.</p>

<p>Don't wait too long to order. The books with the lowest prices go very fast on Amazon. Also, some online sellers are not 100% reliable in getting books out right away. If you buy from an affiliated Amazon merchant, be sure to check their ratings on the Amazon website, to make sure they are reliable. If you order early, you are less likely to have to pay extra for faster shipping.</p>

<p>Anyone else have advice on buying books?</p>

2

<p>I would like to say that the amazon student program is awesome. Like charlieschm said, just have an existing .edu email and you can get free two day shipping for a year on any amazon item (excludes third party vendors). In my estimation, campus bookstore prices are rip offs no matter what school you go to. I use the UVA bookstore for mere convenience, but recently, I have been getting a few books off amazon. The UVA bookstore buy-back program was a joke for me personally (others may have more success with it as it depends on the books you purchased), but I remember paying upwards of $350 last spring for books and getting something like $25 back at the end of the semester. As for when to buy books, every year I buy my books on the first day of classes and have had no problems in terms of availability. If you wait a few days after that, you may have less luck.</p>

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<p>Great advise Charlie - We have used Amazon for AP books and college text books for two years. We’ve never had a bad experience. We save a ton. I cringe when I think back to what we paid for used books to a university bookstore the first semester for our oldest. It only took us once!</p>

<p>Amazon prime for students is free for one year, then renewable for $39 (instead of $79). Free two day shipping to any address you designate (and can change for each order…school, home, grandparents for holiday presents), and $3.99/item for overnight shipping. It’s a great way to get needed items to your kids (and you).</p>

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<p>Here’s the most well known company for renting textbooks. I don’t know much about them. </p>

<p>[Rent</a> Textbooks. Cheap Textbook Rentals for College | Chegg.com](<a href=“http://www.chegg.com/]Rent”>http://www.chegg.com/)</p>

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<p>We used Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the UVa Bookstore last year. </p>

<p>To find the books you need go to the UVa bookstore website, click on textbooks, scroll down and input your course to see which editions you need. Remember it is important to get the right edition and use the ISBN number that coincides with the book.</p>

<p>The only books you should order right now are those you are 100% positive you will take that particular course. </p>

<p>Next, the iclicker should be purchased at the UVa bookstore. If there is a problem with it they are great about exchanging it. You only need one iclicker that can be used for multiple classes.</p>

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<p>[Buying</a> College Textbooks Online Can Save Big Money - College Concourse](<a href=“collegeconcourse.com”>http://collegeconcourse.com/buying-textbooks-online-save-money/)</p>

<p>The above article has some good links and descriptions of various sites for textbooks and rentals.</p>

7

<p>Only buy from book distributors/online stores that are reputable, you have heard of, as well as you understand their shipping costs and return policy. We made sure to only purchase from those that were familiar to us, had free shipping, a good return policy, and free return shipping. There are many distributors that are in ‘the market’ now that may cost you more than you had planned.</p>

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<p>Borders just announced they are liquidating all of their business. It is being turned over to a third party to sell off. Therefore, you can expect progressively greater savings, but reduced inventory as the sell off continues. It is supposed to be completely closed by September. Usually, the first couple weeks of a liquidation sale are not very good deals.</p>

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<p>Students do DROP courses so I would be hesitant to get books from a place that is going out of business. S2 was 100% positive he was taking a course, we got all the books and he went the first few times and hated it. We had the option to return all of the books to Barnes and Noble for a full refund. Keep this in mind as you think of where you purchase them from.</p>

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<p>One other good place to try is AbeBooks. They can be unreliable (according to people I know; I’ve never had a problem, but they’re an aggregator for independent stores, so you might want to be careful), but they also have very, very cheap textbooks. They’re particularly good for getting “international editions” of textbooks; I paid fifteen dollars for a content-identical (albeit printed on extremely thin paper) copy of Rudin’s Real and Complex Analysis, which I’ve seen going for $150.</p>

<p>I know that, in particular, they had a ton of copies of old editions of Boyce and DiPrima’s Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems (the new edition is what’s required this semester for UVA’s diff eq class) selling for almost nothing; I got a copy a few months ago for four dollars. It’s not the same edition, but the Bookstore also wants to charge forty times as much to rent the new one, so it’s worth looking into.</p>

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<p>I know a lot of you (specifically incoming first-years) are eager to start purchasing books now, but if possible wait until you arrive at UVA to purchase them. The Amazon .edu Prime program is amazing, and for most things will get you your items quickly. The reason I say to wait is that some professors may modify their book lists between now and the Fall, or you/your child may drop the course after the first week and then you have to deal with mailing books back, re-selling or just not getting all your money back. </p>

<p>I believe Amazon is also doing text book rentals via the Kindle now (or they will be soon)…so this may also be a viable route to take. :)</p>

<p>Oh, and for the incoming students…you will likely be introduced during this first year to the infamous “Course Packet”…a bound collection of smaller articles/book excerpts that is compiled for classes by two printers that are located on the Corner. Don’t buy this until you know you intend to remain in the course, because they are non-refundable. If possible, you could try re-selling it to another in the class, purchasing from an upperclassmen who has already taken it, or sharing with a friend in the class. They can be quite costly (I’ve had one run $97), so it’s something to be aware of.</p>

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<p>We’ve also had good luck with [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.alibris.com/]Alibris[/url”&gt;http://www.alibris.com/]Alibris[/url</a>] for buying used or out-of-print texts. My DH recommends it to his grad students.</p>