Look outside of US. D got her chem book from Amazon Canada. The price from Canada was cheaper before the exchange rate, 179 Canadian dollar vs 229 USD. Even with express shipping cost, she got a cheaper book with the exact US edition. She is premed, so renting Chem book is not an option.
I purchased my books from my university’s virtual bookstore. They already listed the books as either “required” or “reccomended” based on my classes. I’m renting most of the textbooks except for the ones I absolutely had to buy new due to the nature of the textbook and the books used in classes for my major. I had to order one textbook designated specifically for my university, but it was just a biology lab manual. The reason I ordered my textbooks from the university was because I received a $150 voucher from the Kentucky Office for the Blind which could only be used through the university’s store. The Student Accounts Office also allowed me to charge up to $600 in textbooks to my student account, meaning I could use my excess financial aid to pay for the books rather than having to pay for them through personal funds.