<p>I've become aware that the prices for books are high, so I was wondering if any parent who has sent a kid to boarding school knows where to buy books cheaply and at a decent quality.</p>
<p>For those who keep trying to say "Use the search option": I'm trying to find a more recent version as websites may change and new ones may emerge offering cheaper books.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I will be looking forward to reading the replies you get.</p>
<p>So far we’ve bought one book at a steep discount on Amazon. Also told to look at halfbooks but haven’t checked it out yet.</p>
<p>Alibris is a possibility, as well as betterworldbooks, though I’ve had best luck on Amazon. You know to be careful about editions, right? Always search by the ISBN number, not the name of the textbook, as they’ll sometimes show a picture of one edition and send you another.</p>
<p>I used to buy a lot of my kids’ books at abebooks.com.</p>
<p>My school set up an email folder where students sold their used books at low prices to other students. Maybe your/other schools do the same or similar.</p>
<p>OneKid, we have a page that has a bookstore (the link is not available yet), however, the prices may be the same if I were to buy it brand new.</p>
<p>To MD Mom and classicalmama: What quality did you receive them in (i.e. seemingly new, decent, or bad)?</p>
<p>The books were fine. They gave pretty good descriptions of the condition of the books. The one tip I would give is that you should make sure you are not getting teacher editions.</p>
<p>We have had good luck buying books from amazon, both new and used. I always click on the sellers name to check their feedback and only do business with highly rated sellers. My D got one book used from another student who sent out a blanket email over the summer.</p>
<p>Her first term, we just ordered through the school’s bookstore partner but the next term I compared prices with amazon and we saved $50 buying only a few books. I had the books sent directly to her at school and emphasized that she needed to save the packaging and invoice till we were sure everything was right.</p>
<p>I have had good luck selling books back to amazon too. I got $40 from amazon for a book that the school’s book source wouldn’t buy back. Amazon provides free labels to mail books in.</p>
<p>The other sellers that have been mentioned are reliable and sometimes they sell through amazon. I usually check the price both through amazon and directly from the seller, sometimes it makes a difference. But in general I prefer that my purchases say “fulfilled by amazon.” Makes any claims, returns, etc., much easier.</p>
<p>Paypal is your friend if you are dealing with an unknown seller or are just nervous ordering online. They offer buyer protection. Amazon also protects buyers but there are different tiers of sellers so be sure to read the fine print.</p>
<p>I order off of amazon all the time for all kinds of things and it’s rare that I have a problem and any problems have always been made good.</p>
<p>Newbie parent question here: how do you know which books to buy? Do you get a list well in advance? Or are you mostly talking about purchases once you are “in the system”?</p>
<p>I have bought textbooks online for middle school – it was easier to keep a set at home to prevent lugging them home (and also to guard against forgetting!). We got ours through Amazon and Barnes and Noble… the ISBN number is critical for ensuring you get what you need. Alibris and Halfbooks(?) have been good for other books we need so I wouldn’t hesitate to use them for textbooks as well.</p>
<p>I also check the prices of new and used if the school has a bookseller. Sometimes, the online sellers have high pricing.</p>
<p>Okay, if you don’t mind me asking, how much money do you think you’ve saved from books by purchasing them through Amazon and other websites?</p>
<p>I would guess that I have saved about half of what I would have paid using the schools’ recommended vendors. I remember saving $100 on a book that the book seller only stocked in a hard cover. I never sold any books back, which also would have lowered my cost.</p>
<p>The first term we just ordered through the school vendor. We had enough going on!</p>
<p>For the second term, using the school vendor would have cost $153. Using amazon (and half.com for one book) I paid $98. Then I sold one expensive book back to amazon for $43. The school vendor was not even buying that book back. There was one other text D paid $40 for, used, from another student. That was a savings of about $40. It was not in good enough condition to sell back but I think we may find a student willing to pay $20 for a perfectly usable text.</p>
<p>So if my math is correct, using the vendor would have cost $233. Using amazon and selling back one book, the net cost was $95 and we may be able to get $15 or $20 selling the not so perfect textbook. Savings of $138+ for one term of books. Some of the books were used but in excellent condition.</p>
<p>Her school sent out class schedules and book buying info towards the end of summer and the end of the term. I might never have thought of using alternate vendors if the school hadn’t mentioned it in their printouts. They emphasized making sure the ISBN matches. They timed it so you could order books and have them shipped directly to the school for when your child arrives.</p>
<p>D is on substantial FA and has high travel expenses so for us every little bit helps. Even if we only saved $100 a year, it’d be worth it to us. The only downsides are a little time spent online and if there were a problem it might be a little more cumbersome to resolve. Her Spanish text was quite expensive and you had to purchase a supplement too and there were several options. I bought that from the school vendor for fear of ending up with the wrong thing. (That was first term when I decided to just use the school vendor for everything)</p>
<p>used textbooks from amazon ofc</p>
<p>I just bought a used paperback on Amazon for $80. I saved $100 from the school store. There is no such thing as a cheap textbook. If I bought new for all my D’s classes, it would be close to $1000.</p>
<p>Also, make sure you won’t need an access code for required online content. Used books rarely come with working codes. You can buy them from the publisher of course, for anywhere from 50 to 75 bucks. It’s the publishing businesses’ latest racket.</p>
<p>What’s the difference between a book that has ED in the title and a book that doesn’t (need to know which to order)?</p>