<p>Basically, I want to spend as little money as possible on my text books. I only need four books for my first semester. Clearly, buying used books from college bookstore is an option. Two of my books that I bought are used. But even the used calculus books still costs $110. And the four books cost me $255 in total. Since I can still return them and get full refund if I do it before early September, I want to know if there is any other way to spend less money on books.</p>
<p>go to 'used book' store
i got a lot.</p>
<p>have you tried looking on amazon or half.com?</p>
<p>Buy the books...</p>
<p>Zerox the books</p>
<p>Return the books for a full refund.</p>
<p>Or buy the cheapest books you can online....</p>
<p>Zerox them </p>
<p>Sell that back.</p>
<p>That is as cheap as one can go.</p>
<p>You can also...</p>
<p>borrow the books...</p>
<p>zerox them...</p>
<p>and all of that.</p>
<p>You could ask if the professor would let you borrow their book to zerox, but that would be demoralising. However, you could also ask if the prof had an extra book lying about.</p>
<p>And, do not rule out the possibility if there are old texts in the library.</p>
<p>The international versions are pretty cheap. Couple that with a used copy, and you're golden.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Buy the books...</p>
<p>Zerox the books</p>
<p>Return the books for a full refund.</p>
<p>Or buy the cheapest books you can online....</p>
<p>Zerox them</p>
<p>Sell that back.</p>
<p>That is as cheap as one can go.</p>
<p>You can also...</p>
<p>borrow the books...</p>
<p>zerox them...</p>
<p>and all of that.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Haha! You are my hero.</p>
<p>Buy used books on amazon.com, I got most of my books for $1-$5.</p>
<p>A note on photocopying textbooks, you can make multiple copies and sell them to other students to make a nice tidy profit.</p>
<p>Of course, there's also the internet. Anyone taking a class that requires them to read famous historical books can find them online. You can also find some up to date textbooks online as well, you'd be surprised what how much of our media is pirated.</p>
<p>ICrisis </p>
<p>Child, please...Project Gutenberg rocks that. </p>
<p>But elaborate on the pirating of media. </p>
<p>hmm...</p>
<p>Find a guy who knows textbook salesmen. Get complimentary copies.</p>
<p>It's Xerox...not Zerox.</p>
<p>go to your bookstore on campus, copy the isbn numbers, buy them on half.com</p>
<p>FerstAmmendment's method is what I used, but quite a few students have used the Xeroxing method to great success. I will note that making multiple copies and reselling them is quite illegal. Still, $15 or so for a binded copy of a $150 textbook is pretty sweet.</p>
<p>Yeah, just stick all the pages in a three ring binder. I rebound a text this way once. It's nice because if you need one page you can take it out.</p>
<p>"But elaborate on the pirating of media."</p>
<p>Well, I'm not gonna tell you where to get them, it's probably a violation of the rules here.</p>
<p>Project Gutenburg only applies to books that have had their copyrights run out. What if you need/want a free copy of Freakonomics? Download it from ____. Currently studying Douglas Coupeland in your Modern English Literature class? Fire up those P2P engines and search for Generation X. Can't afford $150 for Calculus I textbook? Type "calculus" in your search box and get it for free. Hot girl suggested you read Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Everything" but you neither have the time nor inclination but want to look smart anyways? Download the audio version and listen to it on your iPOD. Night before your Anthro paper is due, libary and bookstore is closed and your buddies are asleep and you need a citation from Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel"? Steal it baby. Wanna learn how some strategies on investing in the stock market but don't wanna pay for all those business books? It's all online.</p>
<p>The internet contains a lot more than various forms of (legal or not) pornography, pointless social networking sites full of creepy men trying to get with young boys and girls and messageboards for people to engage in pointless flame wars folks. Pirated media on the internet is a lot like an illegal drug. Certain types are easy to find (mp3s, movies etc.) but if you wanna get some of the more interesting stuff (comic books from the 1940's, ABC's first 12 hours of coverage of 9/11, overtly racist Disney animtated features) you gotta know where to look.</p>
<p>You all are going to be very successful investment bankers.</p>
<p>OR, you can buy the books from the campus bookstore, walk a few blocks down the street, find another bookstore...and find out theat they sell books for really, ****ing, cheap. Then buy there!</p>
<p>not really.. that's illegal (photocopying copyright material) and returning for refund...</p>
<p>illegal maybe, but good for the pocket. Not everyone can afford to be legal always you know.</p>
<p>"not really.. that's illegal (photocopying copyright material) and returning for refund... "</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>If you Xerox for yourself, then it is not really illegal.
For example, in September I have to do Shakespeare. If you think I am buying one book, you are out of your gosh darn mind because all of his works are in the public domain. </p>
<p>I think it should be illegal for Universities to have a $175.00 minimum per book. </p>
<p>Bookstore prices are criminal. I really hate the bookstores that are in with the heads of departments and make it hard for students to access the information needed to purchase the books. </p>
<p>I am pretty sure that if you Xerox for yourself, then it is not illegal.</p>
<p>If you Xerox for the sake of selling copies, then that is illegal. Wonderful idea, but still it is kinda illegal.</p>
<p>No one can stop you from Xeroxing a book and then returning the book for a refund of some sort.
I can only imagine how that would sound to the Cops. "Well, see I saw my fellow classmate, with a Xerox of the book." "Aren't we look at five to ten in the state pen?" "Arrest them, Officer."</p>
<p>Someone once told me, "Boy, just 'cause it's illegal, don't mean it ain't right."</p>