<p>So all I hear about textbooks is that they are going to cost you $400-$600 pretty much no matter what...I'm planning on trying one of these book exchanges, or amazon, but from what I can tell it won't really do much better and it will take longer to get the books...</p>
<p>Does anyone know of anything else that's better, cheaper, faster?</p>
<p>half.com is awesome. it does take about a week or so to get your books, but classes really haven't picked up by then anyway. last semester the bookstore on my campus was charging $85 for my criminal law book. i got it on half.com SHIPPED for $9.50.</p>
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So all I hear about textbooks is that they are going to cost you $400-$600 pretty much no matter what...I'm planning on trying one of these book exchanges, or amazon, but from what I can tell it won't really do much better and it will take longer to get the books...</p>
<p>Does anyone know of anything else that's better, cheaper, faster?
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<p>I’ve never that much per semester for my textbooks. There is only one case where buying from “the” college bookstore is even an option: the textbook was just published, and thus no used copies are available. In this case, buying it online can still be cheaper but not significantly so.</p>
<p>Buying textbooks used from Amazon usually saves me at least $30 per textbook.</p>
<p>yeah used text books on amazon are amazing. I never spent more than 200 dollars on books (as in all my books together).</p>
<p>Buy used. There are so many upper yers wanting to get rid of them so that they can get so cash as well. Search around maybe your school has a used book exchange website.</p>
<p>If you don't mind not having the physical book, you can "acquire" the pdf versions...</p>
<p>^How how can I "acquire" the pdf versions?</p>
<p>yea i'd also like to know this ^^ hahaha</p>
<p>Same Here! Please Do Tell!!</p>
<p>Be wary ordering textbooks online. I've ordered the old edition before (accidentally) and was told by the professor that the book was useless.</p>
<p>Also, if you drop a class ster you can return the book to your bookstore, but will have to work on reselling it on amazon.</p>
<p>Did you try actually using the old textbook for the class, or did you just give up hope? Often times newer versions will just have the problems renumbered or a token extra section or two. If it's either of those cases, then you can always hit the library and photocopy the pages with problems, or borrow the book from a friend to see which problems you need to do.</p>
<p>I usually try to buy one edition old if there's more than 4 editions since you can save a bundle of money, and there's generally very little difference.</p>
<p>All the graphs and charts were different which would make it really tough to work with in an econ book. There were also some new chapters. It was the second edition of the book, so I guess the author made more changes than mixing up some question numbers.</p>
<p>Textbooks. HA! I'm not going to spend 400-600 dollars on those. Amazon and half.com are my friends. Then if Amazon's prices are still too much for me, I'll go to the library. I will check out the book for free, or copy the pages I think I will need. I will perhaps split/share a textbook with another fellow student in my class. Voila. Buying textbooks for the full price is soo unnecessary, especially since I'm going to be dead broke after this year</p>
<p>Ahh, yeah, when it's a relatively new book they'll often make worthwhile changes. Usually the most expensive books are for lower-level intro subjects, and those are also often the ones which will use texts with more than 10 editions. With those, you can feel safe in buying an older version.</p>
<p>Also, your school library will often have a few different editions of most textbooks your classes use, so it's possible to check if an old edition is ok to purchase.</p>
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Also, if you drop a class ster you can return the book to your bookstore, but will have to work on reselling it on amazon.
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<p>I admit that this is the weakness of ordering used textbooks online.</p>
<p>If you are a student who likes to add and drop classes during the first week, then buying online isn't the best choice. If you are set on your schedule, though, then buying online can save you quite a bit.</p>
<p>order online; i did it first semester and spent about half of what i did when i got lazy second semester.</p>
<p>My school tends to have a lot of "custom made" editions. Wouldn't that be another reason that you'd have to buy at the bookstore? I doubt too many would be floating around on the internet.</p>
<p>1) torrents
2) library
3) print
4) half.com</p>
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My school tends to have a lot of "custom made" editions. Wouldn't that be another reason that you'd have to buy at the bookstore? I doubt too many would be floating around on the internet.
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<p>Unless the class is retarded and requires you to tear out a page from the custom textbook that isn’t found in the regular edition, it doesn’t matter. The custom textbooks are identical to the regular textbooks in actual content, that is, they have the same page ordering.</p>
<p>Look for international editions. The upside is they are way cheaper than even US editions sold used on Amazon/Half.com. The downside is it is very hard to sell them back (bookstore will not buy them, and most websites don't allow you to sell international editions).</p>