<p>What is the best way to save money on textbooks?</p>
<p>Is it to buy them used at the lowest possible price on the internet rather than at the college bookstore? On the other hand, might the college bookstore not accept the book for resale as opposed to if I buy it for them? How are resale prices for textbooks at college bookstores and other venues?</p>
<p>Does anyone have experience renting off the internet? </p>
<p>Does buying an international edition still save money figuring in diminished resale value?</p>
<p>Rent if you are never going to need the book again and if the renting price is less than the lowest used price.</p>
<p>What I do is find all my books online at the college bookstore, compare those prices with places like Amazon. The prices that are the same or the books I cannot find on the internet (this has happened with some of my language books) - I buy it from the bookstore - no shipping. This usually happens with just a few of my books. </p>
<p>The rest I buy online used.</p>
<p>If a book is more than $50 and I am not sure if I need it, I wait until class starts to see if I really need it and then check ebooks before I buy it somewhere else. I got a $20 ebook for a $70 book this summer.</p>
<p>Also, a few of my books (novels) are at my school’s library (multiple copies) so I’m not buying them. And if your class has books like Paradise Lost or whatever you can usually find that free online (legally, I mean. XD).</p>
<p>I have 20 books this semester + unknown books for an english class. The total at my school bookstore was $484. I managed to get it down to $208.</p>
<p>You could see if your books are available on gigapedia. If you don’t mind reading a book on the computer, and/or you won’t use it a whole lot it’s probably a good idea.</p>
<p>Make sure you wait until after the first day of class to buy books just in case some professor might say something like “a book was assigned to this course but it’s horrible and we’ll never use it.” It happens, and it can save you some money if you’re worried.</p>
<p>Order from Amazon.com. Make sure you get it from a reputable seller, although don’t necessarily think you need to pick the one with the most feedback. I have ordered many books from students selling them on Amazon and they all come quick.</p>
<p>A bit off-topic, but you guys are so lucky. My school has a policy where freshman (not sure about the rest) MUST order books through the school, and they MUST be ordered in the summer (even if your schedule isn’t final!), and they MUST be paid for before school starts. Ugh. Total waste of money.</p>
<p>Go to [BIGWORDS.com</a> | Buy Textbooks | Sell Textbooks | Used College Textbooks | New College Textbooks | Textbook Price Comparison | Cheap Textbooks | Cheapest Textbooks | Compare Textbook Prices | Textbook Buyback | Textbook Price Bot | New and Used Music |](<a href=“http://www.bigwords.com%5DBIGWORDS.com”>http://www.bigwords.com). It’s a search engine that goes through and searches TONS of sites including Amazon, Half.com, textbooksrus and others for the lowest price (including shipping).</p>
<p>Also, see if an older student has what you need. I’m getting my book, lab manual, and computer set for anatomy&physiology for $50 from an older student…and it’s $150 from Amazon and $211 from my school bookstore.</p>
<p>Concerning renting books, sometimes it may be better to just buy the book and sell it. You may get 100% of your money back if someone wants it bad enough (most times this won’t happen) and you can even make a profit (like I did once ^_^). I thought about chegg a lot when I found out, but I figure its better to just buy it and keep it for as long as you need it, then sell back if you don’t want it - so you have an option to keep or sell. The difference in the prices should equate to the money you would be renting anyways…</p>
<p>I find that buying and selling half.com works about 95% of the time. BIGWORDS is helpful, but I think I may have gotten ONE result from a website outside of half.com. Often newer editions will be more expensive, but not much different, so ask your professor if they will let you have the earlier edition. For lab sets, try finding an older student like mentioned above.</p>
<p>I just bought all my used books from my college bookstore. I like the idea of getting a 10% rebate by the end of the year plus reselling it back to the store seems super easy.</p>
<p>Just browse around a lot online. I found my Calculus textbook online for $5 plus shipping used, hardcover, and it’s used for all three calculus classes at my school. Just got it today, and it’s in great condition with all of the pages as well. </p>
<p>There are so many different places to find textbooks online you’re bound to get a great deal somewhere.</p>