<p>OK, I'll 'fess up right off and say that in spite of my planful nature I completely blew the textbook thing last semester and my son was floundering on campus for weeks before he got what he needed. And for a pretty penny, too. I believe he bought everything at Univ Bookstore.</p>
<p>We have enough time to do it right for Spring semester. So what's the consensus? Rent or buy, and from whom?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>DD went online and priced the University bookstore and Amazon. She bought them from the least expensive source. Sometimes Amazon, sometimes UB. Amazon will buy back at the end of the semester as will the UB. </p>
<p>This semester she’s buying when she goes back to campus because she only needs two books as she will use the same chemistry book and doesn’t need a book for one of her classes. </p>
<p>I’m not sure about renting books. If your son doesn’t highlight and annotate in the book then renting might be a less expensive option.</p>
<p>I rented my calc 3 and solutions manual from the university bookstore, [University</a> Book Store, University of Iowa: Rent College Textbooks | Cheap Textbook Rentals](<a href=“http://uiowabookstore.rentsbooks.com/]University”>http://uiowabookstore.rentsbooks.com/)</p>
<p>I spent about 50 bucks on the book and 20 on the solutions manual. The total came to be less than I could find a new textbook for on amazon. </p>
<p>This is my first time renting books… seems like a decent way to go. I would avoid purchasing from the bookstore at all cost… if youre planning on returning your books, the buyback value will leave you with more of a hole in your pocket than renting would.</p>
<p>My other book wasnt available for rent… and I ended up buying it, along with my response card clicker from amazon.com… I found a brand new textbook for only 9.50 as opposed to about 40 from the university store (paperback)</p>
<p>Just use the university bookstore to find the ISBN of the book you need for the class, and paste that in to the amazon search engine. </p>
<p>I’ve never sold any books back from amazon, but the price seems to be similar to renting or cheaper… so getting to keep the book is kind of a bonus (unless you’d rather pitch it, or attempt to resell it)</p>
<p>Also, my rented books came in the mail only like 3-4 days after I ordered them, and the bindings and pages are in excellent condition. The only thing I noticed was a few notes/scribbles in the textbook, but nothing bothersome.</p>
<p>D bought books from Amazon and saved a lot(!) on new prices – also more convenient, and good choice of new or used…for fall fall she had them shipped to her dorm…for spring, she ordered a week ago and had them shipped home (arrived in ~3 days). At this point, I’d probably have them shipped to the dorm – only risk is if they are delayed (or arrive early and are lost). I’d suggest checking with housing to see what happens if they arrive before the dorms are open Saturday (or have them shipped 2nd day air to your home).</p>
<p>Are the ISBNs available when freshman register in the summer?</p>
<p>Crete – The course descriptions on-line (ISIS) generally either contain the ISBN, and/or point to 1 of 2 campus book stores where the book is available and you can find the ISBN # on their online site. I think the book and ISBN information is supposed to be available at least 4 weeks before the start of class, so although it may not be available at registration time, I think it usually is.</p>
<p>There are so many places online to rent and buy textbooks! Take a look at [Should</a> You Rent or Buy Textbooks](<a href=“http://hubpages.com/hub/Should-You-Rent-or-Buy-Textbooks]Should”>http://hubpages.com/hub/Should-You-Rent-or-Buy-Textbooks) and go to the bottom of the page where there’s a list of rental places, and info/comments about each one. That’s how I decided whether to buy or rent certain textbooks.</p>
<p>I purchased my text books first semester but found it to be more expensive and started to use chegg for several of my text books second semester. Chegg was very helpful but towards the middle of the semester in my Calculus class it became apparent that I had the wrong book. Both my Calculus book and the correct Calculus book followed the same material but didn’t change until the week before my exam (apparently some homework questions were also different). So just be extra careful when selecting chegg books, covers may be the same but the books could be different.</p>