<p>Is it recommended that we buy textbooks before/after classes begin. Some of my prospective courses already have the booklist up, and I want to buy them online at cheaper rates. Are the book lists on the Carleton Bookstore accurate? Additionally, is it necessary to buy books from the same publisher?</p>
<p>I’d recommend getting your books before classes start, as long as you know for sure you’re not going to drop any. If you’re not sure about a class I’d hold off on buying books for it. Sometimes you’ll need the exact edition, and sometimes you won’t. If in doubt email your prof.</p>
<p>Book lists on the Carleton Bookstore website are generally accurate but most of the time prices are much lower at other sites (e.g. Amazon, half.com). Have you considered renting textbooks (from, say, Chegg)? It’s comparatively inexpensive and you don’t have to deal with trying to sell an old edition or storage.</p>
<p>Carleton is a bit different in that their bookstore is college owned and operated - not a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, etc. Because of that, I encouraged my daughter to use the bookstore as much as possible (and they do offer good used prices).</p>
<p>I’ve gotten them from the Carleton bookstore every term. Amazon has super-cheap used book prices, but when you have to order 15 different books from 15 different vendors, the cost of shipping usually more than makes up the difference in price. If you buy new books from Amazon itself, the price will be pretty close to the prices for used books from the bookstore, but the resale value will be the same–both will be considered “used” when you sell them back at the end of the term. Like fireflyscout said, the bookstore is owned by Carleton, they have plenty of used books in very good shape, they’ll give you a 5% discount if you order early, and you can pick up your books when you get to campus–no shipping or lugging them onto a plane. It doesn’t get much more convenient than that.</p>
<p>Eh, I think it depends on the classes you’re taking. I’m taking an intro-level Spanish class and I’m definitely not paying $188 for the textbook at the Carleton bookstore when I can get it on Amazon for $124 with free two-day shipping (Amazon Prime is free for a year for anyone with a .edu email address). On the other hand, I’ll probably end up getting books for my English classes at the Carleton bookstore because the book lists are fairly extensive.</p>
<p>I’m serious about renting textbooks though. Very often the best way to go IMO.</p>
<p>I was also expecting to buy the large textbooks on Amazon, but the other, smaller books from the bookstore. Do many students do this?</p>
<p>My son always orders his books in advance from the bookstore and gets the discount. There is great peace of mind knowing that you’ll be getting exactly the right edition and you’ll be getting it in time for the start of the semester. Also, I personally think it’s nice to support the campus bookstore.</p>
<p>i bought all my textbooks from the bookstore last year, but this term did a combination amazon/bookstore. i saved about $50 by buying the bulk of my books from used vendors on amazon.</p>