<p>the best way I’ve found is buying stuff off of other students. If you can give them a better deal than the skimpy price the bookstore buys back for you can still get a better deal than Amazon or the like. Or even trade books. My school has a textbook exchange FB group, check and see if yours does too.</p>
<p>Also, yeah, I also vouch for international editions, got my $260 biochem book for like $40 that way :D</p>
<p>I just ordered most of my textbooks the other day. The plays for my acting class just showed up in the mailbox. Fall semester can’t get here soon enough!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t buy them just yet. Wait until classes start. Some professors will mandate them, and some of them may let you go even though it may say it’s required on the syllabus. Personally, even if the books are mandatory, I would wait couple weeks and see how often the professors assigns homework from it, because some professors tell you to buy them but they hardly ever use them, and, in that case, it would be better to borrow them from a friend who own the books.</p>
Probably doesn’t apply at my larger school. They make a lot of money off of apparel and gifts. And the rental fees get paid whether the student rents or not. I’ve seen the prices, they’re not absurd, but for that extra buck I’m willing to use the competition.</p>
<p>Honestly I don’t see the travesty, unless having a bookstore is required to be a good college. What isn’t needed, isn’t needed.</p>
<p>FYI, Hybrid book with online access mean that they have removed certain sections of the book such as the chapter review sections at the end of the chapter and those sections can only be accessed online. It makes the book thinner and cheaper but then you must go on line to view those sections or print them out yourself.</p>
<p>DavidSSabb94,
I guess I like to help the “little guy”. There is an element of convenience for the student who doesn’t have a car (that would be my kids) to use the college bookstore when needed for those last minute needs. </p>
<p>But you make a good point about obsolescence. The world is changing fast! Hope we can all keep up before we become part of a downward trend. Case in point; My oldest has a friend who has an Amazon bookstore as his primary income. His income is way down this year due to downloads. He’s considering closing shop and becoming a carpenter.</p>
<p>I agree with those who say to wait until closer to class time and verify need, but if you need to purchase, putting the ISBN into google search will pull up all kinds of vendors. But as others have mentioned read the descriptions closely.</p>
<p>Anyone have good/bad experiences with “buy and return” textbook purchases? </p>
<p>Not sure if my incoming freshman is ready yet for any extra ‘hassle factor’ related to that while also trying to get home for the holidays at the semester break.</p>
<p>What I did note from one seller is that the return policy is 30 days from the involce date. So I figured I would wait until farther in the month before trying to purchase anything in case of a class change.</p>
<p>Does every site that sells textbooks charge a shipping price for EACH book? Or are there any companies that will group multiple books bought together at the same time together for a discounted shipping price?</p>
<p>I understand that people’s budgets are tight, but keep this in mind…</p>
<p>You are spending tens of thousands of dollars on your kids’ education. Probably the single most valuable tool they will have in most classes (aside from the professor) is the textbook. Why would you worry about saving $10 on shipping or risk your kid starting out behind in a class for a few bucks? Talk about penny-wise and pound foolish!</p>
<p>Maybe there are some classes you can hold off to see if you need all the book, but in some classes - science classes, math classes, or those that only list 1-2 texts - odds are you are going to need the book. BUY IT by the most economical way you can, but make sure you aren’t ending up with the wrong edition or a book with missing pages.</p>
<p>Yes, textbooks are too expensive. But in the overall scheme of college, they are an essential and not something you want to put on the back burner.</p>
<p>I fully understand the importance of textbooks. My kid will have the correct editions of all needed books in time for class. I won’t be spending tens of thousands of dollars on my kid’s education. Mine was lucky enough to earn scholarships and grants that fully cover everything except books. </p>
<p>Some of my kid’s classes require 3 textbooks. In a low-income household, saving $40 in shipping costs when buying several textbooks can be a big deal for the limited family budget. Be glad if these are not issues your own family has to deal with.</p>
<p>I am glad I waited - since i started this topic he made a major switch (BA to BM) that will mean a couple of different classes. We’re in a holding pattern until we have the new classes and their book lists.</p>
<p>This has been mentioned earlier, but I think it’s worth repeating again. Pay attention to courses that have textbooks that also require an online access code. You, or more likely your student, may think they’ve found the correct textbook at an atractive price only to subsequently discover that it does NOT come with the needed access code. Don’t be in a rush to submit your textbook order just because you think you’ve found the lowest price - take your time to read all the particulars before your buy.</p>
<p>Ghastn, international editions are the significantly cheaper paperback textbooks that are created for foreign countries. They are in English, and are written by the same author. In most cases, they are the same book made with cheaper material. In some cases the exercises will be in a different order, which can lead to some problems. They can be a great bargain, or a huge hassle, depending on the course and the school. It is not illegal to own them but US distributors can’t sell them. You can find them on ebay however. I did buy DS a biology book this way, since the Biology teacher said it would not affect anything.</p>
<p>I’m new to this thread so don’t know if my question has been asked already. My son doesn’t register for his classes untill early September when he gets to college for freshman orientation. So we can’t really buy books ahead. Will he have time to shop around so late in the game?</p>
<p>If the entire freshman class are in the same boat then yes. Once he registers for classes, his school’s bookstore may have the list (on line) for the books for the classes. You can then google the ISBN numbers for the textbooks to see if the prices are competitive.</p>
<p>Remember though too, if you end up buying full price and it is not a book your son wants, he can always sell it back at the end of the semester.</p>
<p>Must say, I consider myself a pretty “helicoptery” parent… but would not order my kids books for them. Maybe because they are responsible for their own book & spending money expenditures, so they have a strong incentive to shop for the best deals. I believe I did discuss ISBN numbers with D1, and some different options for finding books her first semester of college. But I never got involved again after that. </p>
<p>I believe she went to the college bookstore her first day on campus, wrote down the ISBNs of the books they said she needed for her classes, and shopped for the best deals online. Eventualy she went to renting on Chegg, and getting some books from the college library or inter-library lending system as she needed them.</p>
<p>D2 may take the MCATs, so I will remind her that it may be a good idea to purchase the books for those classes so she will have them to study from.</p>