<p>Thinking ahead to the Fall, what is the most economical way to pay for all of those expensive textbooks? E-books, used books, rentals?</p>
<p>Travel to a foreign country and buy them there, change major to architecture (few books 
)…</p>
<p>It will depend you / your child. Do you want to make any highlight or notes on the books?</p>
<p>My D2 found older students willing to sell theirs on campus when she got there. Rented some through Chegg. And purchased some via Amazon. D1 would get the ISBN numbers and shop for best prices used online and also rent some. She would get a few out of the school library too.</p>
<p>Don’t know if you are a parent or student, but I think student’s whose parents are buying their books often take the path of least resistance and buy through the college bookstore (and get new vs. used sometimes). Kids who have responsibility for covering their own textbook costs tend to be much more inventive in keeping the costs down when it comes out of their own pocket! One of my kids goes to a STEM school where purchasing books new would be hugely expensive. As far as I can tell, she spent a total of about $200 her whole freshman year on books because she was creative and a smart shopper for them.</p>
<p>There is no general answer that applies to all situations.</p>
<p>For example, if the book has been commonly used before, finding a good used book can be relatively easy. But if it is a brand new edition, then used ones may barely exist.</p>
<p>@intparent we had exactly the opposite experience with our daughter. Even though we were paying for her books, the frugal kid was buying from Amazon instead of at the college bookstore. And because her school has a poorly-functioning post office, it would often take a week and half or two weeks for her to get her books. I begged her to quit worrying about the $20 or $30 she was saving and just get the books at the book store so she’d have them immediately.</p>
<p>That is why I said “often” or “tend to”. I knew a few parents with ultra-responsible kids would jump in with how frugal their kid had been. But I still think that most students will be more frugal with their own money. My kids try to figure out ahead which books they need – emailing the professor to check on the ISBNs for the next semester a few weeks before the start of class so they can start looking.</p>
<p>wrt rentals: not always a great deal if you take more than one semester in the course (ie., the most common foreign language, calculus, or economics textbooks are used for 2 semesters) as 2 semesters rentals cost more than one semester. It’s also worth it to buy used and keep if you’re going to keep on with the subject, so that you have the references with you.
Once you’ve picked your classes, email the professor and ask what books are on the syllabus so that you can purchase them ahead of time. If one edition is brand-new and it costs more than an older one, ask if you can buy a previous edition as some textbooks are totally different in layout and content whereas others only change a few pictures and graphs.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help, </p>
<p>Edit: as 2 semesters rentals cost more than buying the textbook and using it for both semester.
X_X oops my bad - should have re-read…</p>
<p>Use a credit card where you can turn your points in for gift cards or a check to pay for your books. We use CitiCards Thankyou card which I have turned in for gift cards and used to pay DS’s books for the last 2 semesters. But there are other credit cards that do the same. Basically it’s free money as far as I’m concerned . I just charge my groceries and other stuff that I would normally buy anyway and pay the balance every month.</p>
<p>My D has been in middle college the last 2 years so we’ve gotten some experience. My D learned to use a lot of different sources. A google shopping search on the ISBN will often give you a list of offers to start with. Some books she rented and saved hundreds of dollars (often renting from 2 different places at a time… bookstore rentals never as good as the online rental company offers.) Some books she bought used through Amazon and again, saved a bundle (the used books through the bookstore were priced much higher and often sold out fast.) Some books you have no choice but to purchase new and/or through the bookstore due to new volumes or those pesky online access codes. However, really look at the options. Some schools will sell you the online access codes for math, for example, that includes a digital version of the book as well. Of the 10 college classes D took, the only class we spent full-price on through the bookstore was Spanish. We could get the books cheap but no way around the online access codes and no way to buy the codes apart from the books. At least with Spanish, it was good for 2 semesters so not quite so hurtful. She never managed to find a friend to buy a book from but she did sell one of her used books she purchased from Amazon to a friend taking the class next semester and got all her money back.</p>
<p>So, you can save a lot of money if you are willing to take the time and do the footwork. Do the research. Talk to your peers. Don’t be afraid of using multiple sources at once. </p>
<p>My kids bought used usually through amazon or half.com. However, they paid for the quick shipping. ONE time p, my so didn’t do that, and the term was almost over when his book finally arrived. Do not use book rate. Carrier pigeons bring those.</p>
<p>No one yet has mentioned International Edition textbooks; excepting Turbo93’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion.</p>
<p>Some students are leery of international editions of American textbooks for fear that the books are not the same as the ones required by their respective professors at U.S. colleges. Well, Lake Jr.'s experience with I.E.s has been all positive, productive and quite a bargain.</p>
<p>The I.E. of Lake Jr.'s popular mathematics textbook was identical to the U.S. version, but less than half the cost new at the college bookstore, and the quality (paper, print, binding etc.) was the same. We found this to be true also with his engineering textbooks this past year. You have to do you homework when using I.E.s. Avoid the ones printed in India, where very thin, inferior quality paper is used to publish the books. The best sources are sellers in the U.K., Malaysia or Thailand, where local printers are licensed by American publishers to produce copies. All such textbooks are available from online sellers, including Ebay where Lake Jr. purchased most of his books in the school year just passed.</p>
<p>Another good option are recent past editions of the latest text. Here’s where the student will want to check with the instructor, as some teachers will bless the purchase of the previous edition and provide updates of any new problem sets that are in the current edition. A previous edition of a STEM textbook can sell for much, much less than the latest edition. Often there is little or no difference between say edition 9 and edition 10. Lake Jr. used the prior edition (U.S.) of a fundamentals engineering text and had no problem keeping up with the assignments throughout the semester.</p>
<p>Of course, previous editions (as well as Like New used books) can be found on Amazon and elsewhere.</p>
<p>D buys her books on amazon, then sells them back to amazon. No shipping costs involved with amazon prime. She paid about $275 for spring semester. Amazon is buying them all back for $176. They just credit her amazon account and she will use it for fall.</p>
<p>My daughter did the same with amazon…just had a running tab for four years.</p>
<p>I just avoid buying as many as possible.</p>
<p>My two kids went into engineering. Those texts can be quite expensive. The books within your chosen field will be the beginnings of your professional library. So, I told them to buy new and take good care of those books. You also will probably need them for reference in classes that build on that knowledge. Both were able to find them cheaper thru amazon and got signed up for amazon prime to save a little more.</p>
<p>For those books outside their field, they were a mixed bag of sources. Finding someone who took the class before and buying the book directly from them was absolutely the cheapest. Renting the book wasn’t a big savings as the rental fee was around 75% of the cost of the book. Better to buy and then sell it back on amazon.</p>
<p>^^^Absolutely correct when it comes to STEM majors. Particularly in engineering, the textbooks you buy as an under-classman are the foundation of the library you may refer to again and again as an upper-classman.</p>
<p>Don’t buy them. It’s been my experience they’re always at the library and you can check them out for a couple hours. If you need it do that.</p>