should i buy my textbooks now?

<p>Yeah, I just bought what will hopefully remain the chem 2150 book on ebay for $60 new…if it turns out it’s not, i can probably sell it back for a profit, seeing as it lists for $165</p>

<p>Where’d you find the chem 2150 book? I’ll be in that class, and dont really feel like paying $150 for a text book.</p>

<p>eBay. I believe it’s Chemical Principles by Stephen Zumdahl, 6th edition.</p>

<p>I think amazon also has it for around 65 new or used.</p>

<p>There is no harm in waiting until the book lists come out. You probably won’t use them very much your first week anyway, so don’t worry about paying for expedited shipping either.</p>

<p>You never will use the Chem 215 book.</p>

<p>Or at least I never remember using it.</p>

<p>Really? I thought you might need it for problem sets, at the bare minimum…</p>

<p>@“thefool”- there are a few reasons some books never get opened. One reason is that they simple re-enforce something minor covered in class or another book. As a result, the professor will usually throw a question about that book into an exam for bonus points or something. Also a lot of times you can just get away with using TakeNote or your notes for information rather than some textbooks.</p>

<p>so not to beat a dead horse or anything.</p>

<p>Of those with previous experience at Cornell. You are saying it it perfectly fine to wait until the book list comes out, then order from someplace like half.com and my D should still have her books in plenty of time? This of course assumes the person selling the book is diligent about shipping it right away.</p>

<p>I saw mentioned in an earlier post something about a list of books that have been used previously? Where is this list that shows what textbook was used previously for classes?</p>

<p>Finally, would you say that buying used online from someplace like half.com and paying for shipping will save much over say going to kraftees and buying used and not having to pay for shipping?</p>

<p>Someone also mentioned waiting until the first day of class and then ordering. Would it be safe to say that if you go this route, that ordering online would then be a crap shoot since you are putting your education in the hands of someone who may or may not ship your book out right away?</p>

<p>sorry for the long post. Just trying to cover all our bases here.</p>

<p>^ i have a friend who ordered from amazon and didn’t get her book until halfway through the semester. furthermore, the person selling her the book sent her the wrong edition, making it completely useless. but that’s probably a fluke. </p>

<p>i got all of my books within a week/two weeks from amazon. ebay, in my experience, takes a little longer, even if it is slightly cheaper. anyway, between when you need the book and don’t have it and when you get the book, just borrow the library’s textbooks that are on reserve for a while to take notes.</p>

<p>@usafadad:</p>

<p>For those on a tight budget, it is definitely worth waiting until the lists come out and ordering online through sites like Amazon.com. Books at the Cornell store are overpriced. (In fact, in two of the four semesters I’ve been here, I actually made a profit after selling back my books to Cornell!) </p>

<p>However, you are right that this can be risky, especially since these books are not guaranteed to arrive in time for classes to start. Most people probably will not need their books until the second week. The best you could do is to buy from reputable sellers and, when economical and necessary, pay for expedited shipping. Cornell’s book list will show how much the Cornell Store will charge for each book, so it is easy to decide how to go about buying your books.</p>