<p>I prefer using Chegg, especially if the resaleability of the book is in question. Its saved me tons of money so far…and for every book rented, bought or sold through Chegg.com, they plant trees.</p>
<p>At Son’s school, they don’t have their freshman schedule finalized until just a couple days before class starts…seems like that forces a trip to the book store, at least for first semester.</p>
<p>181818: I just placed a small order with textbooks.com. I’ll post the results of the transaction after I receive the books. I also placed an order through Amazon Marketplace with an independent seller. You are right…the shopping around does take some time. However, with two going to school this fall, the savings are really adding up. So far, we have saved well in excess of 50% of the used prices at the University Bookstore.</p>
<p>I have a really dumb question. How do you find out the ISBN number?</p>
<p>Our student bookstore puts the isbn number online right beside the name of the book required for the class.</p>
<p>I just ordered (on Sat)S2 a book fr. Amazon Marketplace for a second session summer sch. class. I stupidly sent the order without changing the shipping address to his school address rather than the billing/home address. I sent them an email right away requesting a address change. I got an email first thing this a.m. saying it had been changed and the book would be shipped out today. I was very pleased with the prompt response. I’ll save $50 on the book. Now if the book will just get there by the end of the week. I’ll keep you posted.</p>
<p>I use abebooks.com. Make sure to indicate that you DO NOT WANT the instructor’s edition. Thank you for the tip on the international edition; I had no idea that the problems could be different. My daughter’s Econ book was the international edition this year, but she did not notice any differences.</p>
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<p>[isbn</a> - Google Image Search](<a href=“isbn - Google Search”>isbn - Google Search)</p>
<p>It’s usually on the back by the bar code.</p>
<p>my son just received a microeconomics textbook from amazon that was $3. (brand new but an earlier edition which his professor said is exactly the same as the new edition)</p>
<p>he also ordered a used textbook for $50 that was $150 at his college bookstore.</p>
<p>D used abebooks.com and had a good experience. She had the ISDN # - she did buy a teacher’s edition of a math book but it turned out to be a plus as it had an extra CD and more answers for practice problems in the back of the book…</p>
<p>so in her case it was a benefit, but I saw OP said to avoid this - maybe sometimes the pages don’t match up ?? (or do teachers not want you to have this)… she was taking an online class so no one else saw the book!</p>
<p>I checked on a book with B&N - $118 for the HC with CD. Amazon has it in paperback with no CD for $58. I need to check the school bookstore site to see if the CD is needed. I have a membership at B&N but still shop around.</p>
<p>D just got a history textbook from abebooks.com. It was an instructor’s edition. I compared it side by side with the student edition and save for the cover, it’s identical. It arrived in the condition described 5 days after we ordered (we did not get expedited shipping - it was shipped by regular USPS Media Mail on the same day we ordered it). This is the only text book we’ve ever gotten online so I don’t know if this is a typical experience, but I certainly have no complaints - we paid less than 20% of the cost of a new student edition for a book in flawless condition that clearly had never been used.</p>
<p>mdoc–The reason I said to avoid instructor’s editions is because some of them have answers or questions that could be used for quizzes. Students do not want to do anything that might be an honor code violation. I was sent a math book that was an instructor’s edition and it would have caused big problems had my daughter used it.</p>
<p>MD Mom, that’s interesting that some instructor’s editions have “extras” and others don’t. Maybe it’s more prevalent in math and science. In any event, D’s “instructor edition” has nothing extra and saved us a bundle. I wonder if there’s a way of finding out in advance what the difference is between the student edition and the instructor’s edition.</p>
<p>I’ve had great experiences using alibris.com for books. Unbelievably cheap. Sometimes the actual book is from a previous edition, but that doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>New editions are a scam. They change the size of the pictures and put a new appendix somewhere, so they can charge you $200 for the same book that is now worth $20.</p>
<p>There are great deals on half.com for those who can shop early. Be careful to purchase the correct edition. Also, read the info provided by the seller before your purchase.</p>
<p>collegekidsmom: I have also had good luck getting responses from sellers via email.</p>