<p>anyone have an idea?</p>
<p>bookstores, facebook marketplace, amazon, ebay.</p>
<p>but it’ll at least take two or three days if you order them online right? what if you want to return them after a while? how does CTools work? is bookstore the only safe way to go?</p>
<p>
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<p>please note that i asked WHEN, not WHERE</p>
<p>I believe you can start ordering them in Aug. at most places or as soon as they appear on Wolverineaccess (you don’t want to buy the same book as last semester because sometimes they change the books). My first year I pre-ordered them from Ulrich’s Bookstore. Of course, it will be a little more expensive this way, but when you move in they will be all ready for you wrapped together with a nice price tag. I would recommend doing this your first semester and paying the extra few bucks due to the fact that everything is so hectic.</p>
<p>OOO I apologize. Comprehension fail on my part 
I am ashamed. So now to answer your real question, I’m already buying books. I really don’t want to buy them from school bookstores because they’re so damn expensive. Then again I only need two first term. Least for now.</p>
<p>prices are lowest right now</p>
<p>I already bought the books that have been posted. If you want to buy online, which you should because it costs WAY more otherwise, you want to order as soon as possible. I make it a point to only order from amazon marketplace sellers who are in states relatively nearby to mine so I usually get the book within a few days. If I ordered from California it would take a lot longer to get here than from, for example, Kentucky. The only time I have had problems getting books on time was when I ordered from the stupid bookstores.</p>
<p>I always buy them online a couple days before classes begin. Professors usually don’t mind if you don’t have textbooks for the first few days.</p>
<p>^
that’s when the prices are really high.</p>
<p>The best time to buy books is right about now, when prices are lower. Though when you buy a book for a class and then don’t end up using it, the cost saving will be wiped out.</p>
<p>I personally sell books that I didn’t use that much afterwards (but keep ones that I think could be useful for reference in the future). Usually, you can sell the book online for about the same price you paid for it, so it’s not much of a loss.</p>
<p>To sooldmoon, it usually takes longer than 2-3 days to get your book (depending on where it’s coming from). I would say it takes about a week, though sellers that are further away can take up to 1.5 weeks to have the book get to you. If you want to return the book, you’ll most likely have to sell online, or wait for the book buyback (which is just stupid to do, you never get as much money or your books from the bookstore).</p>
<p>And I don’t know why you mentioned CTools, it’s not really related to textbooks, though they will list them once the semester gets closer to starting.</p>
<p>how do you find out which books you’ll need to buy?</p>
<p>For some classes you can find the textbooks needed under Wolverine Access\Student Business. Others you may have to wait until a little before class starts.</p>
<p>what websites have the cheapest textbooks?</p>
<p>I almost always use half.com (eBay’s media-sales site), but cheapesttextbooks.com usually searches all the relevant websites (including half.com)</p>
<p>amazon has nice prices too through their seller marketplace</p>
<p>I’d order them now. I wish I had this option last year, but I didnt because I had a late orientation. I managed to get a book that would normally be in the $30 price range for $8. And if you can, read a couple chapters if you have spare time now, like at the beach, and that can save you a few hours when you’re on campus and you want to just explore and experience everything.</p>
<p>So I’ve started to look into buying some of my books, and what are people’s thoughts on renting books?</p>
<p>How many books does a class typically have?</p>
<p>I have had as few as zero and as many as fifteen. It depends on the course.</p>