What is best affordable source to get Textbooks?

Parents Forum
1

What is best affordable source to get TEXTBOOKS?

I am looking to get(Title: “Everything’s An Argument” 7th edition Author: Andrea Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz)… I reviewed this form for posting,

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/admit/five-ways-to-save-money-on-college-textbooks/

I am not able to find pointers for downloading textbooks sites or renting options.

I did check half.com, but this title is not coming up.

We are not able to find a rental/used book for this title in book store. Even we buy it, it become obsolete at end of semester . There will be another edition in Jan 2017, so no re-sale value for it.

The school library does not have it.

What are the sites for renting/downloading College Textbooks?

Thanks for your guidance.

2

My older sister uses Chegg all the time. It is well known as one of the most reliable textbook rental services. I looked up the book and while you can rent it for $70, you can also get it as an ebook for a little over $20.
Here’s the link: https://www.chegg.com/search/%22Everything%E2%80%99s%20An%20Argument%22%207th%20edition/federated?trackid=7224bdeb&strackid=1df92290&event=enter_submit#p=1

3

you can rent the electronic version from Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Everythings-Argument-Readings-Andrea-Lunsford-ebook/dp/B015NI9K5E/
$31.92

4

www.bookfinder.com

It’s an omnibus search engine – it links results of other book search engines into one and gives you the final price including shipping so you can compare easily.
Insert the ISBN (since you’re discussing the 7th edition). I save hundreds every semester for my kid compared to bookstore prices.

5

Thanks. Here is the ISBN-13: 978-1457698675, ISBN-10: 1457698676 . I find Amazon looks good. Any other better than Amazon. I did find eznotes.forumchitchat.com has free download. The link take it long survey and at the end. I did not get the download. Any success with this site?

6

Did you use the bookfinder site? It’s $42.40 delivered.

7

My kid used Amazon. She just sort of kept a running tab. She bought used from them, and then returned to them for credit.

She started off using half.com but found less exoensive books on Amazon.

8

There doesn’t seem to be a single site that has the best prices for everything. My kids (who also went to a private high school and thus had to buy books) found that the best way to find a cheap book is to plug the ISBN into Google and see who has the best price for either renting or buying. Beware of one-off shipping costs, too. Sometimes a dealer will have the lowest price, but because of shipping costs, you’ll find it cheaper to pay more for the book and get free shipping from Amazon Prime.

9

We also have an Amazon credit card and earn credit on Amazon purchases;-)

10

Your college might have a Facebook page for students to buy and sell textbooks on. Mine does, and I got a couple there for really cheap. I also got a lightly used iClicker, which was great since I only spent $15 instead of $50, which is what it costs new from our bookstore.

Also- check the price for the textbook one edition older than the current one. I mean, ask your professor first of its ok. I did for my chemistry class this year, and spent $6 on the 2nd edition on Amazon rather than $130 on the 3rd edition :slight_smile:

11

I also rent my textbooks from Amazon.com and it has worked really well for me. You select when you want to return it ,and it gives you notice when that time is coming close.

You save the box your book came in, and then when you’re done with it you tell Amazon, it spits out a return label, and you send it back.

It has saved me a LOT of money (for some very esoteric art books that I’ll never look at once the class is over), and I plan on recommending it to my daughters when they’re in college next year.

12

Thanks for your suggestions. My son is looking for the following text books.

  1. Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context, 5th ed. Paul L. Knox & Sallie A. Marston Pearson/Prentice Hall Publishers ISBN 0-321-58002-8
  2. George C. King, Vibrations and Waves ISBN 9780470011898
  3. Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science, John Zelle, Franklin, Beedle & Associates. ISBN 9781119368311

As his college prime expired at amazon, he is looking for alternate options. Many other sites offer Buy options instead of rent…

He did check the sites mentioned in this thread, but rent options not available there.

Are these text books available as ebook/online access as alternate to hard copy?

Thanks for helping.

13

You can renew college Prime, even past 4 years. All you need to do is prove you are an enrolled student which is not difficult to do. Renewal isn’t free but it’s reasonable and my son has gotten his money’s worth every year.

Finding the best price in books takes doing legwork on the internet. Key is ISBN #. Best advice is generally to wait until after 1st class session to get books. Often you’ll find out the book isn’t really needed, an earlier version can be used, etc.