Dave, I’m just a few weeks from starting my first semester at college and am aghast at the price of textbooks. Is there some way I can save some money by buying used textbooks online, and if so, what are your recommendations for where to go? Thanks, man!
More than anything else, the most important thing is to shop as early as possible. This is a challenging task for many of you college students, who tend to procrastinate and probably have many more important things to think about (beach, opposite sex, beer, etc.) as the summer winds down.
I asked my friend Steve Loyola, who runs BestBookBuys.com, for his suggestions on how to save money buying textbooks and he had some great thoughts. First off, though, I should let you know that he runs a comparison shopping site used by an over one hundred thousand college students every semester. It’s good stuff.
Now, according to Steve, here are the five important reasons why shopping early for your textbooks will help you save money, time, and your own sanity as classes kick in and you start another semester.
One: Get the lowest prices on used books
and
Two: Get the best quality used books
Many college students save money by buying used textbooks online. Steve tells me that over half of the textbooks bought through BestBookBuys.com are used. While merchants have stacks of new textbooks in warehouses, most students don’t realize that there are often just a few used copies to choose from. So, with limited selection, which copies do you think disappear first? Yep, the cheapest and best quality.
Let’s look at an example. Click on the following link for a comparison shopping page for a popular Economics textbook by David Colander: Economics. As I write this, the four cheapest stores have prices ranging from $15.00 to $38.51. (These may change by the time you read this, thus proving my point that the best prices disappear quickly.) The cheapest new copy is $62.54. As the semester approaches, students will buy those cheaper copies first. Procrastinators could wind up paying four times more than the early birds.
Sometimes, you can also save money buying an international edition of the textbook, as the site highlights:
Of course, you might also check with your professor about international editions too: I found that when I was in college my professors were all to happy to help me save money buying used and previous editions of the textbooks.
Three: Get the cheapest shipping
Buying early also lets you choose the cheapest shipping option, which sometimes can be FREE. Wait until a few days before class starts and you’ll be forking over more of your precious beer or Starbucks money to UPS or FedEx to get your books on time.
Here’s an example of the various shipping costs at Amazon for one student’s book list.
Super Saver (5-9 business days) | $0.00 |
Standard Shipping (3-5 business days) | $20.82 |
Two-Day Shipping (2 business days) | $43.31 |
One-Day Shipping (1 business day) | $84.31 |
See? Waiting until the last minute can cost you about 20 Starbucks venti lattes! Ouch!
Four: No stress about getting your books on time
Ordering early lets you party carefree through the rest of summer while your procrastinating pals are stressing out about whether or not their books will arrive in time for class. You’ll have more cash left too so you’ll be the hit of the party.
Five: Reduce your chances of getting the wrong book
Wait until the last minute and you won’t be the only one stressing out. Order volume surges around the start of each semester, so the crew working overtime picking and packing and shipping your textbooks are more likely to make mistakes during this hectic time than before the mad rush starts. These errors are rare but why risk it?
As hard as it might be for you to admit, your mom was right when she told you not to leave important tasks until the last minute. Wait too long and you’ll be wasting money on books that are half-filled with highlighter and be stressing out waiting for them. But shop early and you’ll find barely used textbooks and leave wads of cash in your wallet for stress-free partying in the days before class starts.
Thanks for that great answer, Steve! Again, if you are looking for textbooks, either used textbooks or new textbooks, I recommend you check out Best Book Buys.com.
College textbooks is the sleeper cost that if your like me find out the first trip to the campus bookstore. Forget the bookstore there are tons of places to buy the books you need online. One website i like using is http://www.collegbooksnow.com it’s a great place to start!
We love using Chegg.com and use it to rent our textbooks and save a lot of money. Check it out!
There are a lot of ways of getting your textbooks. If you don’t want to mess with price comparison or worry about having to sell your new or used books then you might consider renting your textbooks. It can save you as much as 85% of the cost of buying new books.
My name is Wesley Houck. I have been going to college for about six years now and see how much college textbooks cost. An idea came to mind where I could help students save money on college textbooks. I created a website (www.StudentBookTrades.com) where students can Trade, Buy, and Sell college textbooks at their own campus or nationwide. Students are automatically matched with someone who needs your book and you need theirs so you can trade for free. The website also allows you to search your home campus for books or all colleges. I hope this site helps students save lots of money. The site is completely free and want to get the word out to anyone who can use the site.
Wes Houck
Founder
http://www.StudentBookTrades.com
The best way to ensure that you are getting the best deal on your textbooks is to use a book comparison site. These sites search the web, and compare book prices at the largest online bookstores.
The very best book price comparison site is is we compare books (www.wecomparebooks.com)
I used this site once, and I saved $200, now I am hooked
those are great helpful tips thanks! I never bought a book online and i just realized how much i am getting ripped off. And yes i agree… procrastination is really not a smart thing to do why do that when u have all the time to get the best shipping price and everything. And yeah i think bigwords.com is a very good site for comparing prices and stuff it gives you all the details.
Those are all awesome tips and some great links too but Don’t forget Textbook411.com , they compare prices for buying textbooks like all the others BUT THEY ALSO buy-back textbooks at the end of the semester for cash! (and they pay a lot more than the university bookstore)
Thanks!
Here are a couple of other options for getting the best price on textbooks. At CollegeSwapShop.com, there is a free used textbook exchange, which is local so there is no shipping.
Granted, this site looks like a startup because it doesnt have alot of textbooks posted, but there is also a tool to compare textbook prices at many online bookstores.
With resources like this, there is no reason to get ripped on on textbooks. Here is a list of other sites that offer similar features:
– eCampus.com
– bigwords.com
– abeBooks.com
– textbookX.com