Cheap college textbooks?

Chegg.com, bookrenter.com, etc. Google text book rentals. You can also rent graphing calculators from me at graphtor.com if you don't already have one.
 
chegg.com is a big one for renting.

I personally just use amazon.com or half.com for all my purchasing and reselling needs for the past 4 years.
 
Graphing calculators hold their value pretty well so there's no reason to spend $60 renting one for one semester when you can buy a used one and resell it when you're done for minimal loss.
 
I'll sell you some, depending on whether or not you're in computer science. ;)

But if not, definitely rent them. You'll be lucky to get even 10% back on ones you buy during textbook buyback week; it's hard to really resell them, too.
 
If your professors aren't big sticklers for textbook editions, I would recommend purchasing previous ones (More likely an edition or two before the latest). They come dirt cheap and generally have the same information with some words or graphs missing from the newest ones which cost an arm and a leg more.

Of course this depends on what course you are taking.
 
I used bigwords.com to buy my textbooks. You enter the book you are looking for, and it searches all the internets (including amazon, chegg, half, etc) for the cheapest price. You can buy from the same seller to save on shipping too. It's really simple and easy to compare prices and buy books. It includes rentals and international editions. International editions are usually cheaper and contain the same information, however, you will not likely be able to sell these back to any business.

If you school has a messageboard or forum I would try there as well. Sometimes students sell their books on there. I used Facebook last semester. I guess it was a group where people posted what books they had and what books they needed.
 
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Amazon is where I got the most of my undergraduate books. They also have a unique buyback program, like the game trade-in deal, that gives you Amazon credit for your used textbooks (and quite a lot too).

As for a calculator, I recommend just biting the bullet and getting a TI-89 series. I've had mine for 5 years and I've never had a problem with it.
 
[quote name='shanezey']Amazon is where I got the most of my undergraduate books. They also have a unique buyback program, like the game trade-in deal, that gives you Amazon credit for your used textbooks (and quite a lot too).

As for a calculator, I recommend just biting the bullet and getting a TI-89 series. I've had mine for 5 years and I've never had a problem with it.[/QUOTE]

I got around 70% back from some of the textbooks I've bought over the years from Amazon's buyback program. Granted that the school bookstore was only going to give me around 25%, it's a hell of a deal.

As for the OP, I would go with Chegg or Amazon like most of the guys said already. Depends on what class you are taking and where you are taking it, but in some undergrad courses, the professors will make powerpoint presentations lectures that are almost word for word from the book. I've hada few classes like that where buying the book was just a waste of money.
 
I usually stick with ebay (if I can't find a pdf version :cool:). if possible though I try to go without buying a textbook, since even if i do get a textbook I don't use it :drool:
 
Use ebay and buy the international version of your textbook. They're exactly the same page for page, except the international version is usually black and white print only and soft cover. I've done this my last few years in college and often found the international version to be cheaper than used books on half.com.

Pros: cheap, new book with no misleading highlighting from previous owner
Cons: Can't sell book to bookstore, soft cover
 
[quote name='Gamer SDP']I usually stick with ebay (if I can't find a pdf version :cool:).[/QUOTE]

I did this last semester when we had to compare/contrast Romeo and Juliet to Romeo + Juliet. Worked like a charm. XD
 
man i got my economics book for $50 because it was international ed. while everyone else payed $110 for the used ones at the bookstore. i couldn't believe the book was legit when I got it.

i tried Chegg last semester and it worked well, still pretty expensive but it saved me a bunch more. hopefully i wont need books next semester because CSCI course don't really require them.
 
Like others said:
-Older editions (ask your professor if you can)
-Int. editions
-Buy a used TI-8X and keep it until you are ready to sell it.

Also:
-I picked up quite a few books on the cheap on Amazon. Be sure to check the sellers as well. I once go a $75 book for $15 shipped from the same bookstore.
-Try to sell your book back ASAP. Most people wait till after the final. To maximize your cash, sell it way sooner. However, don't screw up your studies for $10-$20.
-Get in a good study groove and stick to it. Study groups are great for networking and enhancing college. You might make friends and be able to buy their books for cheap.
 
THANK you all for the suggestions :D

my first source of getting textbooks will probably be from friends because they'll sell it cheaper to me. if not, then i think i might resort to the amazon program because i checked the books i am renting and they cost just as much as the ones you are going to buy anyway. so why not get almost the full price for what you paid for ? haha. i'll keep checking on all the website you guys mentioned.


thanks again! oh, and i already got a graphing calculator. its a ti-83 and i've been using it since junior year :D
 
I definitely go for the PDF version whenever possible (PM me for further questions on this). Other than that, Amazon. I prefer not to get the International Editions because even if the original price is pretty good, the resell value drops by a good amount, such that I feel it's more worthwhile to go with the regular version. Checking with profs to see if you can get earlier versions (or even skipping out on the textbook!) definitely helps as well.
 
You could do what I did sometimes, when I could get away with it.

Borrow from the library, take it home and scan (the chapters if they are short enough or photocopy them right there). When I got lazy I just asked a friend if I could see their book, took out a digital camera and did it that way.
 
I forgot to mention that as well. The library has to have copies of the book on hand. Get there fast and get them free all semester.
 
CengageBrain.com , formerly ichapters.com

http://www.cengagebrain.com/market/index.html

Use promo code 'SUMMER10' for 10% off an order of $100 or more. I also use a rebate site that currently gives a 4% rebate for CengageBrain.com purchases. It's not much but with 2-6 years or however long in college, you could save money on those expensive books with rebates.

I think it's a great site if they have the book you're looking for. You can get individual chapters at a very affordable price, it really depends on what class you're doing though.

I had a Criminal Justice course that a textbook was required in. The professor told us that we would only do a couple chapters and the book was $112-$140 depending on where you got it. Well he suggested that site. Financial aid covered me to just get books from the bookstore so I ended up getting it there and they bought it back for half of what I bought it for since they were in good condition, so I got about $70 back for that one book. If I had went to the website the teacher suggested I could have saved about $70 because we just about never needed the book.

From my experience, most subjects other than Literature you will hardly need the book and mostly go off teachers notes. In my 2 years of college I've got A's and B's and just about never had to use any of my books. I did use the books, but I could have saved money using CengageBrain for the lack of use in the books. But if you end up needing a lot of chapters than it would've been best to probably just buy the book and sell it back for half. There are other times a book will come handy when a teacher will say the 'Final Exam' is open-book, those classes you probably don't need a book to succeed anyway.
 
[quote name='Gamer SDP']I usually stick with ebay (if I can't find a pdf version :cool:).[/QUOTE]

A lot of computer science textbooks can be found online in .pdfs, though not so much for say, a political science textbook.
 
[quote name='knightsdwn']If your professors aren't big sticklers for textbook editions, I would recommend purchasing previous ones (More likely an edition or two before the latest). They come dirt cheap and generally have the same information with some words or graphs missing from the newest ones which cost an arm and a leg more.

Of course this depends on what course you are taking.[/QUOTE]

Buying previous editions is absolutely the way to go. I only wish I had done it out earlier than my last two years at college.

Very rarely is a book completely overhauled with immense amounts of new material. In most cases, the chapters are either reordered, the homework problems have been scrambled, or one or two sections were added. Generally, this just means you're going to have to make at least one friend who bought the current edition and spend a few minutes at the end of class if the professor wants you to read up on a specific section to make sure your book has that section and/or to compare chapter homework problems to make sure you're doing the right ones.

People who don't know better might say, "I don't know, I don't want to miss anything or do the wrong homework...". First of all, you will not miss anything, these books seriously change at a glacial pace. Second, the two or three times (in six semesters, mind you) I did the "wrong" homework because the problems were ordered differently, the professor never gave me a zero or even took off points once I explained to him what happened.

So why is the way to go? Yeah, I probably should have elaborated on that earlier, but let me explain. I was a double major and all my classes were science/engineering, so my professors used the biggest and most damn expensive books you could imagine. Before I knew better, I could spend $375 - $450 a semester on USED [current version] textbooks, easily. I've had engineering textbooks that were only going to be used for one semester -- I'll say that again, used for one semester -- that went for $195 new and $160 used. Once I started buying the previous edition of textbooks, I was getting books that my friends were paying over $150 used for at the book store for like $12. I didn't forget a zero, twelve bucks, seriously. Prices on previous editions drop like a rock, Half.com is your friend.

I spent $60 or less per semester on books my last two years at college (six full semesters, I took full course loads in the summer). Near the end, I started getting aggravated if I was spending more than $50 on textbooks for a semester. When you save all that money, you can come on here and find deals to blow it all on ;).
 
haha autopiloton, i get what you're saying ;). You started getting carried away buying all these early edition textbooks. However, i'd rather save myself the hassle of buying the older version and buy the ones the professor asks for. However, I can shoot up an an email to my professor and see if he has a spare i can look at to make sure they are the same before or end of class when there is an assignment.


The book (writing with a thesis) costs $25 and the edition before that only costs 18 cents -_-.

Also, does anyone know a place to sell textbooks and get the most out of it?


again, i appreciate for all these suggestions. i am browsing through all these websites :D
 
I checked out the prices of books on rental sites, vs the price of used copies of the book for sale on amazon, half, and ebay, and found out that it was usually just $5-$10 more to buy the book, plus you'll be able to resell it later.

My recommendation is to purchase a used copy online.
 
[quote name='Brownjohn']I checked out the prices of books on rental sites, vs the price of used copies of the book for sale on amazon, half, and ebay, and found out that it was usually just $5-$10 more to buy the book, plus you'll be able to resell it later.

My recommendation is to purchase a used copy online.[/QUOTE]


That was my first idea. I mean why rent when you can buy for a few bucks more and then get paid back?
 
[quote name='david12795']haha autopiloton, i get what you're saying ;). You started getting carried away buying all these early edition textbooks. However, i'd rather save myself the hassle of buying the older version and buy the ones the professor asks for. However, I can shoot up an an email to my professor and see if he has a spare i can look at to make sure they are the same before or end of class when there is an assignment.


The book (writing with a thesis) costs $25 and the edition before that only costs 18 cents -_-.

Also, does anyone know a place to sell textbooks and get the most out of it?


again, i appreciate for all these suggestions. i am browsing through all these websites :D[/QUOTE]


I didn't buy really old books, I only ever bought the previous (i.e. I'd buy 11th ed. if the professor wanted the 12th). Once schools switch over to the new ones, the previous edition prices plummet.

It was never a "hassle" to sit down with a friend for two minutes and see that chapter 12 was chapter 10 in my book and homework problems 4, 8, and 10 were 3, 10, and 13 for my edition. The material was identical, just organized differently from one version to the next. However, if you think it's worth paying extra, suit yourself.
 
[quote name='autopiloton']I didn't buy really old books, I only ever bought the previous (i.e. I'd buy 11th ed. if the professor wanted the 12th). Once schools switch over to the new ones, the previous edition prices plummet.

It was never a "hassle" to sit down with a friend for two minutes and see that chapter 12 was chapter 10 in my book and homework problems 4, 8, and 10 were 3, 10, and 13 for my edition. The material was identical, just organized differently from one version to the next. However, if you think it's worth paying extra, suit yourself.[/QUOTE]


Hmm i wish i had the previous edition of the college algebra book i will be getting tomorrow just to see how much different it is. im just afraid where i will rely too much on my friend's book to an extent where ill get screwed over somehow for various reasons. So i'd rather not take that chance, even if it means forking over more money =|
 
[quote name='david12795']Hmm i wish i had the previous edition of the college algebra book i will be getting tomorrow just to see how much different it is. im just afraid where i will rely too much on my friend's book to an extent where ill get screwed over somehow for various reasons. So i'd rather not take that chance, even if it means forking over more money =|[/QUOTE]

The college/university's library generally has a copy of the textbook.
 
serious question, if i got the graphing calculator app on my ipod, would that be good enough for calculas or would i still need to buy a real graphing calculator?
 
[quote name='wwe101']serious question, if i got the graphing calculator app on my ipod, would that be good enough for calculas or would i still need to buy a real graphing calculator?[/QUOTE]

I took a Calculus class and got one of the Graphing Calculator apps and the professor was really impressed with it. A couple other students also had them and the graphs look a lot better than on the TIs. He was clueless as to what an iPod touch was and let us use them in midterms and finals but I am sure almost no professor will let you use them in tests since it's like having a text book in front of you.
 
[quote name='diishen']I would also like to suggestion half.com (part of ebay)[/QUOTE]
I too used half.com

I was also the only student in my graduating ChemE class not to have used/owned a graphing calculator at all through college. :lol:
 
[quote name='wwe101']serious question, if i got the graphing calculator app on my ipod, would that be good enough for calculas or would i still need to buy a real graphing calculator?[/QUOTE]

Might want to check your university's math department out before you worry about a calculator.

I wasn't allowed to use a calculator for Calculus I through III, Linear Algebra, or Ordinary Differential Equations. This was at two separate universities (I transferred), and I know a lot of other schools have similar policies.
 
[quote name='wwe101']serious question, if i got the graphing calculator app on my ipod, would that be good enough for calculas or would i still need to buy a real graphing calculator?[/QUOTE]

[quote name='autopiloton']Might want to check your university's math department out before you worry about a calculator.

I wasn't allowed to use a calculator for Calculus I through III, Linear Algebra, or Ordinary Differential Equations. This was at two separate universities (I transferred), and I know a lot of other schools have similar policies.[/QUOTE]

Also consider that an Ipod isn't technically a graphing calculator in the eyes of the instructors (aka, they either see it as a powerful hand-held computer or in the worse case, a toy), and wouldn't let you use it, period. And ymmv between classes, professors, and departments.

You might be better off using a dedicated Graphing Calculator anyways, if you're allowed to use one at all.
 
[quote name='autopiloton']Might want to check your university's math department out before you worry about a calculator.

I wasn't allowed to use a calculator for Calculus I through III, Linear Algebra, or Ordinary Differential Equations. This was at two separate universities (I transferred), and I know a lot of other schools have similar policies.[/QUOTE]


let me guess, you majored in engineering? becuase my circulum looks exactly like that:lol:
 
[quote name='knightsdwn']If your professors aren't big sticklers for textbook editions, I would recommend purchasing previous ones (More likely an edition or two before the latest). They come dirt cheap and generally have the same information with some words or graphs missing from the newest ones which cost an arm and a leg more.

Of course this depends on what course you are taking.[/QUOTE]


^ This. I figured this out early my sophomore year. I would by the previous edition for like 5 bux while the book store was asking 65. Same damn book 90% of the time. The only thing that would be different would be the order the chapters were in. I never got burned in 4 years, and I saved a TON of money
 
[quote name='wwe101']let me guess, you majored in engineering? becuase my circulum looks exactly like that:lol:[/QUOTE]

Isn't it fun? Or have you started yet?
 
Another great source for books are organizations, like Professional fraternities (my case), honors, societies, special interests clubs. Usually people will help you by letting you borrow books, the nice thing about being part of a group with people in different levels of education, is that they will also advise what professors to take and what classes are the easiests/hardest so you can plan your schedule better.
 
[quote name='autopiloton']Isn't it fun? Or have you started yet?[/QUOTE]

ill be in a freshman in august, i dunno im pretty excited for some reason. i know alot of people worry about the physics and the calc but the only class im worried about is general chemistry:lol::lol: since i never took chem in high school.


also back on topic: my schools online site doesnt give the isbn of the book, how can i search it?
 
[quote name='Brownjohn']I checked out the prices of books on rental sites, vs the price of used copies of the book for sale on amazon, half, and ebay, and found out that it was usually just $5-$10 more to buy the book, plus you'll be able to resell it later.

My recommendation is to purchase a used copy online.[/QUOTE]

Kind of a drag to resell them though don't you think? I'd rather save money now rather than try to get back some later.
 
My college has a facebook group that is sort of like a craigslist. I have posted books on the forum and have sold them to other students, or searched for books from others on the same campus. You might be able to find a similar group for your campus.
 
How about sharing the cost with another classmate? You save 50%! The only problem I foresee are studying for exams and who gets to keep the book after the class.

Good luck in College!!!
 
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