Best Sites/Search engine for college/school textbooks?

[uromac]

Hi!

It's that season again - time to get the textbooks for my dd in hs and ds in college! Does anyone know of a few good search engines or websites for buying textbooks? I know now there are ebooks, rentals, etc. and just want to know our options for each book. Btw, I'm an 'old school' person who needs to feel a book, highlight, etc. - but I'm sure my ds & dd would love to have an ebook possibly instead if it's available and cheaper too !

Thanks in advance!

 

[pamjb]

I just finished buying textbooks for my oldest. I used the following search engines.

bigword.com
textbookland.com
getcheapbooks.com

I bought the bulk of his books from alibris.com as they has the lowest prices and there was a special deal offered thru paypal.com for an extra 10% off.
My goddaughter used textbooks.com for some great deals as well.

 

[ssawka]

When I was in my grad program, I used to buy all my text books used on Amazon. I would then use them for the semester and sell them back through my Amazon Seller's account. I would usually wind up spending the a few bucks (Amazon's fees) for using the book all semester. The only snag with this approach is if they publish a new edition during that semester.

 

[eliza61]

I'm a chegg fan. Sorry the cost of books is ridiculous and with chegg if they feel the need to highlight I copy the chapter. I save $200 bucks last term with my sons books. The ones' we did buy are sitting in the bottom of his closet with maybe 3 pages highlighted. 350 bucks down the drain.

 

[Green Tea]

I just put the IBSN numbers into amazon and got all the books for HS for next to nothing. First year I used the store. Second year I thought I was oh so smart for going to online book stores. This year I paid from under a dollar to about $4 for high school test books. Shipping on each was $3.99. Couldn't believe it.

Lifehacker had a lot of information yesterday about college book buying. http://lifehacker.com/5613591/the-complete-guide-to-getting-cheap-textbooks

You might find some info there.

 

[Shleedogg]

I always used valorebooks.com in college. They were started by a group of college students at my college (SUNY Fredonia) because they were sick of the bookstore prices. My husband now works for them (he started there in their 3rd year) and is now their Chief Technology Officer. They offer pretty competitive prices and just started rentals to compete directly with Chegg. The president of the company wants to undercut Chegg on every price to get a loyal customer base. So far it's not happening because of their suppliers required base price. They have a meeting this week to discuss it. So hopefully next week there will be some really good rental prices to be had.

Amazon is also a good bet. Plus you get free shipping on orders over $25 or $50 (can't remember), either way you'll meet it w/ college textbooks!

 

[Shmily1]

I've bought some on half.com and this year, I'm renting some from Cheggs. They should be delivered next week. DD19 doesn't care where hers come from but DS20 gives me much grief about it! Too bad for him though since it's my money!!

 

[luvavacation]

Just be careful that the ISBN number you enter is actually for the book the college professor wants!

For example, my eldest needed a particular book on bee anatomy for her entomology class. I entered the ISBN number into various sites, and kept getting a Forensics entomology book. When entered into the school book site, it was the bee anatomy book. Glad I didn't buy the forensics book, that would have not worked well for her! Of course the bee anatomy book from the school website was only available new, but that's how it goes I suppose.

What irks me is when the book has to be bought from the college, because it has some sort of code to open the online section of the class so homework can be recorded. You can't buy a used book for Physics, because you have to buy the new one with the code. Great.

And now we need a new clicker, because the one she used last year for Biology is different from the one the Chemistry class uses. Oh, and we need the workbook for the Chem labs, but that is only packaged with the new book.

I only had one book that we could have bought through another vendor for her classes. I swear, I don't pay enough in tuition already to the university, now they empty my pockets with the books!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I have to buy the textbooks for my highschoolers. I've had good luck in the past using Amazon and half.com, but this year I plugged all ISBNs into www.addall.com for a really quick way to tell which site had the best price. As it turned out, I purchased almost everything through Amazon used sellers. I did end up renting (through the school's bookstosre) one text as it was a brand new edition. I knew in the spring that the math texts had been changed so I was prepared for that one!

For one kid I can get the ISBNs through the school's bookstore link. For the other, whose school uses the SAME online bookstore, I have to get the ISBNs from students a year ahead.

 

[daughtersrus]

I also buy the books online. I've used Alibris, Valore, Half.com, Amazon, Ebay...check out retailmenot.com for coupon codes. I sell the books on Amazon and do pretty well.

I will warn you to read the description very carefully. I have found that many sellers try and pass off an International copy or Instructor copy as the US student edition by listing it under the ISBN# for the student edition. Some of them may be fine for your student but if you intend on selling them later, most sites (Amazon, Ebay) prohibit them. Of course, people do it all the time (that's why they're listed ) but I don't want to be the one that gets in trouble. Also watch where they're shipping from. Many of these are shipped from Malaysia or Singapore. If they're sent Media Mail, it took take several weeks for the book to arrive.

 

[usandthem]

subbing, will be heading to Grad school in the fall, just waiting on the application process to be complete. Thanks for all the great tips. It's so different from when I was an undergrad. There was a great bookstore in town, just off campus. You could sell used for cash or store credit & buy new & used for a reasonable price. They always had stacks of used books and you could look through to pick the ones you liked best (little to no highlight, unworn covers, etc.) That was great for me because I hate to buy new ($$??), but I am super picky about used. This online buying should be interesting.