I did a quick search and found a few old threads, so I thought I’d start this thread. This is our first foray into the high cost of textbooks, despite it being for kid #3. The other two cost us nothing in the book department, so we are in sticker shock. I went poking around a few of the sites I’d heard of before (Chegg, Half.com, ecampus) and that did little to alleviate my stress. They were either out of the book, or the rental price was almost the same as buying it used.
Does anyone have a good site that they can recommend? TIA!
So far I found the best deals on amazon.com somethimes it’s cheaper to buy the book and sell it back than to rent it. You can also try textsurf.com to compare prices. If you buy used or rent make sure the book doesn’t have a computer code that you’ll need to purchase separately for on line access.
I just use amazon…sometimes I rent, sometimes we buy and sell back. I feel lucky that we’ve only had a handful of really expensive books, most have been pretty reasonable (even cheap when it’s just a paperback novel).
ETA: Usually when we buy, we buy used. Never had a problem. (We usually get “Very Good” or “Like New” condition)
The kids go online and start with Amazon because they all have Prime with free shipping.
The professors don’t care about the edition and will sometimes help with the new information.
IMO it’s good to wait until the first class to buy books at all. In my kids’ case (both of them) some books were not necessary and some profs were happy to go back x number of editions, and told them so.
Particularly at schools where kids “shop” classes during an add/drop period, but i suspect everywhere, it’s not a big deal not to have the book the first day. The bookstore is there and student Prime can get it to them in 2 days.Selection may be more limited but IMO that’s better than buying a bunch of books you don’t need, or paying $350 for the 10th edition when the $80 9th would have been fine.
I’ve been buying used with Amazon Prime for graduate work the last three years - usually fourteen books for each class (one a week). The selection is complete and the delivery is quick if it is offered on Prime as opposed to a third party source. I’ve also opted for buying Acceptable or Good condition because I find the highlighting and notes of others helpful, even if I don’t agree with their points. Of course, there are always the odd books that have just been released and are unavailable used. In those limited circumstances I might consider renting.
My D surprised me with the way she researched prices of textbooks on her own. Her professors emailed them ahead of time, so she did have the books on the first day, but some students waited.
For her it was cheaper to rent Bio book for two semesters and buy online access code, but for chem book it was cheaper to buy new. German book was the most expensive and only available new. But she will most likely keep it.
Based on my limited experience, the Amazon rental prices seemed to increase the closer we came to the start of the semester. If I ordered weeks in advance, Amazon offered significant savings over the campus bookstore’s rental price. December return date came very close to missing deadline so perhaps many schools let out earlier than my son’s school.
One caution: if the prof says the student will need an on-line access code, you probably will not be able to rent or buy used.
Just for this first semester, D is just using the school bookstore to reserve her books (titles and prices aren’t available yet) and even requested “recommended” texts. I had her do this even though I’m fully aware that this is probably a racket that only freshman and their parents fall for, but it will be nice to just have the books waiting. She’ll definitely need to shop around in the future if this brings the cost beyond what the school estimates for books.
@CT1417, my D was able to buy online access code separately. It depends on book, edition, etc, but in some cases it can still be cheaper than new.
My D got to keep and renew her bio book from Amazon rental for two semesters. Then she had to return it by end of May, that was a lot of time for us because she was done the beginning of May.
All she had to do is just print out a return label and put the book in a box and drop it off at UPS.
I would highly suggest a kid waits until the first day of class or ask students who have taken the class before purchasing the book. I just paid $138 for a history book my son never opened. He made a A in the class and it was a total waste of money. I just ordered his calculus book from EBay because we know it is a book he must have.
Type in ISBN number on search bar and see what comes up
Amazon is good especially with free shipping and if buy back program available. Easy selling and shipping. Compare pix provided of editions.
Some books now come with CD–or need a code for extra download required for a class. Many used texts have neither provided. Strictly depends on class. Textbooks.com decent. Good luck in past with Abe Books also.
Depending on subject don’t be afraid of earlier edition. May be hard for math–don’t want to do “problems 2-10 on page 6” if your page 6 is actually page 7…
I would NOT wait for class to begin to get books–many used editions at good price sell out early. Waiting just means you end up paying full price in many cases. Or book doesn’t arrive timely for assignments to be completed.
Exception is supplementary materials that might not be needed at all.
Main problem with renting is the fact that many times it doesn’t get returned timely and can’t mark the text up. This depends mostly on the student.