<p>My son is a plane ride from his school. There is a post office on campus (husband thinks it is a regular post office, I am not quite sure), but none of the students my son asked knows if anyone is there to receive packages when the school is closed for break. </p>
<p>I just compared bookstore pricing of textbooks son will use next semester vs. pricing for same on Amazon. Comparing for the moment using new textbooks, my son would save $140 buying from Amazon over the school's bookstore. There are some additional inexpensive paperbacks and I did not bother to comparison shop those, and probably won't bother.</p>
<p>Assuming that you were buying all textbooks new and nothing digital, would you:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Pay top dollar through the school's bookstore?</p></li>
<li><p>Order through Amazon and have your son/daughter carry texts as his carryon on the plane (some risk of it getting checked at the last moment), and pay to check a bag of other belongings taken as a carryon coming home (he did not check anything for trip home)?</p></li>
<li><p>Take a chance that packages will be received and held on the campus, and have the shipment delivered directly to the student's mailing address on the campus?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>When does the school term begin? You could always ship them to your home address and then ship them again to him to arrive when he does to campus. </p>
<p>It may not save you as much money, but you will likely still save money. </p>
<p>Have you checked when residence hall/mailroom opens up? Even if there is a break, they still may be there…especially with admissions offices who may be processing applications.</p>
<h1>3 is is our choice. But, if there is one text that he absolutely positively needs on the first day of class, have it sent home and let him carry it.</h1>
<p>btw: paperbacks can be a significant savings as well.</p>
<p>if you are using Amazon prime (free for students) then order them 2 days before he will return so they will get there on the first day, or the day the dorms reopen.</p>
<p>Amazon Student Prime is also very helpful and can get packages to students in a hurry. They offer inexpensive expedited shipping. I bought all of their books online used - they are happy to let me help them this way since they hate comparison shopping. It may not help in this situation, but it’s worth considering. </p>
<p>I have used it with my kids this year and saved a bunch and got their textbooks there quickly!</p>
<p>I would opt for #3. Dig through the housing/food services part of the college website and find the calendar to find out when the dorm mailroom opens. </p>
<p>If your son is an Amazon Prime member (free to students the first year, $39 (half price) following years), he can get 2-day free shipping on his books. So he can order them just before he goes back, or even the first week of classes (if he’s not ABSOLUTELY sure he’s taking the class).</p>
<p>I think the campus bookstore is your worst bet.</p>
<p>I would try to find “mail services” contact information/ phone number. I would expect there to be someone answering the "general phone number during first week in January even if most offices at the colleges are closed. (If you are transferred to mail services and hear the prerecorded message that they are closed until X date, then you have your answer). </p>
<p>Also, what about ordering the day (or the day before) your S is due to arrive on campus and use expedited shipping?</p>
<p>Does your S have a good friend who will be driving to campus? Maybe he could have them shipped to the friend. Buying a friend dinner in exchange for using his/her address is a good deal for all involved parties. </p>
<p>Or possibly post on the CC forum for your S’s school? Perhaps someone there would know.</p>
<p>Overall, I’d go Amazon Prime (if all his texts are available that way). And shipped to school. Just do it very close to date to assure that someone is there. If you aren’t already a member, you’re still saving money. And you can watch movies!
I might check a bag with the texts in it (at most an extra $25 probably). I’d rather be putting my clothes in the overhead bin than a bunch of textbooks.
I would buy the paperbacks through Amazon also. Saved a bunch over the years.</p>
<p>The campus post office is most definitely staffed next week. I expect that much of the college (e.g. the admissions office) will be operating and needs to be able to send and receive mail. If mail for students is normally processed through and held at the campus post office, there should be no problem. (On the off chance that the post office is closed, they will have arrangements to have the mail held somewhere until the college can receive it. The college could not afford to have shipments for the various offices and departments lost over break.)</p>
<p>We have Amazon Prime. Residence halls are all open, but most of the campus is closed, which is why I asked. I am so tempted to use Amazon Prime anyway. I have no idea as to whether he needs his books on his first day of class, and I would like for him to have his books at the start of the semester. It just kills me to waste money! </p>
<p>I tried calling Res Life today, but they were closed, or at least were not taking calls. I am going to try again prior to ordering.</p>
<p>I will comparison shop the paperbacks as well.</p>
<p>Just cross posted with post #9. This is EXACTLY what I was thinking. I assume that if I order the books to arrive say on a Thursday, and class starts the following Monday, that post office should be open. I just wanted to avoid headaches should I be wrong.</p>
<p>^^you might check the campus website to see if the student PO has holiday hours listed (ours does).</p>
<p>But I caution against waiting until the day (or two) before he leaves. We tried that one time and while, the books were delivered to the student PO on time, so were hundreds of other parcels. It became FIFO, so those that were delivered earlier were handed out on the first day that the student PO was open. Those items that arrived later, weren’t available until the third day of class. Based on that experience, I’d rather the boxes sit in the campus PO for a few extra days.</p>
<p>In an emergency, student can always buy the book from the bookstore and return it later, once the shipment arrives. Always ask about returns and if there is a restocking fee, however. Also, some bundled items (text, notebooks, software) may not be returnable once the shrinkwrap is opened. (My D’s school will take all of that bundled stuff back too. They just charge $3 to re-shrinkwrap the items.)</p>
<p>bluebayou, thanks. Well, no holiday hours are listed. I doubt that FIFO is going to apply since this is a small school, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>The handbook lists that mail center/PO as being open on Saturday mornings so I just called, but nobody picks up. My guess is that nobody is there, and that was my original concern.</p>
<p>I am now thinking that I will have the list of books together and call the PO on Tuesday. If they answer, I will order through Amazon, but if they don’t I am thinking about ordering them through the bookstore and overpaying $140, which is such a waste of money. The savings on the paperbacks is at most $2/book so that is not my issue.</p>
<p>I’d go with Amazon. Just order a couple of days before he goes back to school My kids have never needed a textbook on the first day of class. S1 would often wait a week or so after class started to see if the book was really going to be necessary. In more than one instance, we’ve bought the book only to have the prof. teach completely from Power Points that were posted online.</p>
<p>Update: I called this morning and the campus mail center is staffed all week! I am thrilled to save money over the bookstore prices! An added bonus was that I discovered that with one of the textbooks that my son will be using one may purchase a separate “study guide” for this text. That might come in handy when studying for exams. Everything was in stock through Amazon. Yipee!</p>
<p>The cheapest books through Amazon (through affiliates) go fast. If possible, I would not wait until the last day.</p>
<p>Check out whether there is any website where students at your kid’s college can sell textbooks between each other. That is often the lowest price, and there is no need for shipping. Many students arrange textbook sales through their college’s facebook page (such as “Swampgas University Class of 2015” facebook group).</p>
<p>Yes, Amazon Prime is a great deal - the first year is free for anyone with an edu email address. You can link it to an existing family Amazon account.</p>
<p>We also chose to send the textbooks to the campus PO. Three of my son’s books were over a hundred dollars a piece, at the lowest price. No way were we going to pay a higher price for used ones at the College bookstore. We’re just crossing our fingers that the PO was open because we ordered them a week ago. I’ve found that with some of the more rare books, the prices can go up as quantity goes down closer to the semester start date. Ironically, two of the expensive books (that we got at half.com) were being sent from VT - probably one of son’s classmates! I wanted to send a note just asking him to walk it over and save all the hassle.</p>
<p>Kathiep, my son also has 3 expensive textbooks for this semester. 2 of them cost approx. $170 each through the school bookstore!</p>
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<p>That’s funny. Could be a classmate. Who knows? </p>
<p>charlieschm, I was aware that sometimes kids swapped or sold texts, but I was not aware that students arrange sales through fb. I need to ask my son about if he has checked that out.</p>
<p>My D was looking at her required text books this weekend. Luckily, she can still use her Spanish book from last semester. She is going to get her Statistics books from Amazon. The only other book that she needed was a Chemistry book, which was $180. She knows that she will not use it again after the class and was reluctant to buy it. She sent a FB message to her sorority, and one of the girls is going to let her borrow it for the class.</p>
<p>Amazon is the way to go. She is even getting her lab goggles and lab notebook from Amazon.</p>