Best place for college Textbooks

I used Amazon. If you buy a previous edition, they are usually only a couple of dollars and they are almost exactly the same as the new edition (including assignments). That's what I did in college and I never had any issues.
 
[quote name='Lyricsborn']Anyone recomend a good place for textbooks? New or used no preference.[/QUOTE]
Find out from your professor if you can use old edition. If so they're always way cheaper. I use Amazon trade them back after the semester's up I usually end up losing between 5 to 15 bucks on used books. Cheggs is good too they just do rentals for cheap.
 
Follow the advice above about using previous editions. The last 4 semesters of my college career, I spent no more than $50 or $60 on books per semester by using previous editions. I remember one of my friends paid $185 for a new copy of the Thermodynamics book we were using. My $12 book that was the previous edition had all the same text and all the same problems. I just had to go meet with the professor to check the problem numbers because they were just in a different numerical order. Honestly, meeting with the professor probably made me do better since I would often ask questions. So yeah, be cheap and learn more :D.
 
a few other tips

Look for posting from student who just took the class last semester and trying to sell the book.
Photocopy page by page might be cheaper depending on number of pages and cost of the book
Some books might haver international edition that are exactly the same thing
 
To add to the previous post: a lot of textbooks also have eBook versions, which are usually quite a bit cheaper. Still, nothing is as cheap as simply buying a previous version. You will save hundreds of dollars each semester.
 
While it's not as cheap as buying a previous edition, I've bought the "International" edition of hardcover books in the past. These books are basically paperback editions of the hardcovers and have a different cover. Everything else is exactly the same as the current editions. They are usually $40-50 each. And again, while it is not better than buying the previous edition of the book, it's a great alternative.
 
Using the previous edition is a great suggestion (esp. if you have a classmate that you can verify info with). They rarely change in any significant way.

The other thing is buying as early as possible. I sell texts on Amazon and I don't even bother listing them until after Aug. 15th. Before then its too hard to tell where the top of the market will be.

In July and early Aug. the prices are generally lower.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I checked amazons prices and there new prices are even better than the schools used prices.
 
[quote name='bfett9']good website to use also is half.com or try half price books.[/QUOTE]
Yea, after my first year I used half.com for all my remaining semesters (assuming I bought the book at all).
 
well, usually I just use the previous edition or borrow from the library. If I'm desperate for books, then just put the isbn on google search. Last semester I was forced to buy 2 books for my tax class, and each costs $150. I told the teacher that it was impossible for me to buy those books, and she borrowed me those books lol.
 
If you can wait 2-3 weeks after school usually starts, get your books then. Used books are worth a lot more 8 weeks prior to school starting and 2-3 weeks after school starts. I can usually manage to go 2-3 weeks without my books. I usually just borrow from friends at school since there are usually few, if any, exams during that time.
 
try using craigslist. i normally buy it on half or amazon since the rental price is the same as buying it anyways. and since i usually sell my books after the semester, the price i sell it at is usually around the price i pay it for anyway
 
I will recommend the International Editions. The nicer versions (from Korea or China were usually 35-40 dollars) the super cheap feel like printed on newspaper versions (from India) were usually 15. Much better than the 100+ they would usually cost. This also may depend on your major how it works for you. I had no problem finding 99% of my engineering books.

The previous editions is always a good idea too - but be careful. They try to be tricky to get you buy the new versions - move around some sections, switch the order of the questions, stuff like that. So it can impact your homework or following along sometimes.
 
Sites like dealoz.com will list prices from most online retailers. Using that site, I found that the best deals usually came from Amazon Marketplace, abebooks.com, or half.com.

Campus "proprietary" books are really annoying (ie books professors write for their own courses). Stupidly high prices and no different material from any other cheaper mass-published book.
 
Belltowerbooks.com used to be a good source for used textbooks, but now their prices have gotten a little jumpy. But as a bonus, they tell you what condition a book is in.

Textbooksrus.com isn't too bad either.
 
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