College books

[westjones]

This is our twin DDs first year at college. We bought their books from the college book store. Someone said you can get them cheaper online.

Does anyone have links to places you can buy college books at a discount?
Thanks!

 

[softballmom3]

I have used ecampus.com before and this year my daughter used chegg.com. Their prices were much cheaper....however.........one of the books we received didn't have a valid code needed for the online portion of class so we still had to purchase from the college bookstore for an additional $110!!!!. So I would really check before I bought.

 

[westjones]

I have used ecampus.com before and this year my daughter used chegg.com. Their prices were much cheaper....however.........one of the books we received didn't have a valid code needed for the online portion of class so we still had to purchase from the college bookstore for an additional $110!!!!. So I would really check before I bought.

Thanks!

Just wondering....do you know approximately how much money you saved by buying from them than the college book store? Just wondering if it is worth the extra bother since I haven't priced them out.

 

[softballmom3]

Well...ecampus was way back when for me (when I was in college) and it used to be a good at least 30% savings. Chegg has ended up saving me nothing since it is a book rental and I had to go and purchase the codes too. I don't even have anything to sell back. Someone else I know said she saved about 25% on Chegg.

For us, we were able to get online and get the isbn of exact numbers we needed but....our college would stick something "extra" there to where the books have almost always had to be purchased through them...The tricky little you know whats .

 

[Chelley00]

We used Chegg (just make sure you get new and not rentals) and Amazon. We even found one book at halfpricebooks. Check the IBN numbers to make sure you get the correct books. We saved $240 even with paying shipping costs for DS. There were some things we couldn't find that we HAD to get from the bookstore that we couldn't find elsewhere.

 

[westjones]

We used Chegg (just make sure you get new and not rentals) and Amazon. We even found one book at halfpricebooks. Check the IBN numbers to make sure you get the correct books. We saved $240 even with paying shipping costs for DS. There were some things we couldn't find that we HAD to get from the bookstore that we couldn't find elsewhere.

Oh that is a pretty good savings! DH gets 10% off at the college book store since he is an employee there. But if we could save amounts like this, it would be worth looking for books elsewhere.

The one thing that I noticed was a problem (and again, this is our DDs first semester so this may just be a fluke). Some of the classes didn't have their books listed until the week right before classes, and one not until the week of classes. So that didn't give us much time to get them! I hope that is not the norm.

 

[StephMK]

We spent less than $200 on books for DD and she's taking 6 classes. I like the following:

chegg.com
half.com
amazon.com
textbooks.com
textbooksrus.com
bigwords.com -this site is awesome. It's a search engine for textbooks and will give you a list of sites and prices for whatever book you search. I have taken this info, found the cheapest for each book, then looked to see if some books would be easier to pay a little more and combine orders.

I would check the return policy of each site before you order. We ordered DD's a few weeks before classes so she'd have them in time. Unfortunately, her SS teacher changed books so the 2 we rented were not right. One I returned for a full rental refund but the other only had a 14 day return so we got stuck full rental on that one.

Before you place any orders, do a search for coupon codes. We took the info from bigwords, then went directly to the sites instead of ordering through bigwords. Then searched for coupons for that site before we placed the order.

 

[westjones]

Thanks!!!! This is great info! I am bookmarking this thread!

 

[Debbie7452]

I use and like collegebookrenter.com

Very Good service. If your kid drops a class or if the book doesn't work out, you can return it for a refund of the rental. They pay return shipping!

I think I've saved like 50% or even more. This year older DD has a lot of upper level books you HAVE to get from the college book store. It's killing my budget!

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

I use amazon- you should be able to get the isbn number from the textbook list, and you can just type it right in and it pops up. I also rent some of my books- it cuts the cost down by a lot!

 

[msmama]

For me (taking grad classes) it has varied each semester. For English/Lit classes I've had the best luck with Amazon (it helps that many classics are not in the public domain so therefore free).

This semester, the cheapest place I found books was actually the University bookstore.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you get 10% off the top at the bookstore, that may be easier (time wise) than checking many different places for all the different books.

 

[westjones]

For me (taking grad classes) it has varied each semester. For English/Lit classes I've had the best luck with Amazon (it helps that many classics are not in the public domain so therefore free).

This semester, the cheapest place I found books was actually the University bookstore.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you get 10% off the top at the bookstore, that may be easier (time wise) than checking many different places for all the different books.

I do wonder how much trouble it will be, especially with two in college. This time we took the easy way and just gave the list to the college book store and had them put their books together and then picked them up. But unfortunately some classes didn't have their books listed until very late so we had to go back twice to finally get them all.

So I might try searching for them next semester to see how well I do, but if it ends up being a lot of trouble we may stick to the book store.

I am just trying to reduce cost as much as possible.

 

[anelson81993]

It's not that hard to buy books elsewhere, and it's definitely worth it when you see the savings. I'm a junior studying English education (with a speech/drama endorsement), and I buy almost all my books from Amazon. Like other posters have indicated, search by ISBN numbers to make sure you're getting the book you need. Also, consider getting an older edition of a textbook--depending on when the next-most-recent edition was published. Last spring, I had a required textbook whose previous edition had been released less than a year beforehand, and so I purchased the older book, and learned that there was nothing truly new that happened in the time between editions. Do be careful with this, though--if you're buying textbooks and the last edition wasn't published within the last couple years, get the newer copy (this is especially true for science/tech classes, and less true for historical literature/math).
I don't know if you know about this or not, but Amazon does have a program for students (cleverly titled Amazon Student) that gets them 1/2 off Amazon Prime membership (after a 6 month free trial); the Prime membership costs about $39. For me, with two semesters of 6 classes, and at least one textbook (and usually two or three) apiece, this more than pays for itself. Do make sure you purchase all Amazon Prime-eligible books, but in my experience this is not difficult and most textbooks from reputable sellers qualify for Prime. The big benefit of Prime is that you get free two-day shipping on Prime items, which is SO worth it! Plus, if you wanted, you could get an Amazon Student account for both your daughters (it does require a school email address ending in .edu, so use one of your daughter's campus addresses), and order using the one account for both your daughters' items.
I only buy from the campus bookstore when it costs less than anyone else. I have spent significant amounts of money on books, but using Amazon, I tend to save somewhere between $200-$400, depending on the semester, and it is totally worth the extra time/effort takes--college costs enough already!

 

[SkipperJ]

I've been using Amazon. On some books I've saved as much as 50%, but in general I think it's about 30%. I think it mostly depends on the specific book the teacher decides to use.

 

[DianeV]

Make sure the ISBN numbers match for sure..I got most of my daughter's on ebay. Even cheaper than Chegg. Saved about $100 overall

 

[SkipperJ]

I've been using Amazon. On some books I've saved as much as 50%, but in general I think it's about 30%. I think it mostly depends on the specific book the teacher decides to use.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Also try bookfinder.com. It goes out and searches all the book seller websites for the best deal.

It might pay to get an Amazon Prime membership for all thoses "last minute" books (Free 2 day shipping on some books) and you get all the nice benefits of Prime membership.

 

[barbliny]

My daughter is a junior in college - she is responsible for paying for her own books - so you can be sure that she spends the time to shop around to get the best deals!!

She primarily uses Amazon, Chegg, and her own college bookstore.

She is a science major so the books differ greatly from year to year - as others have said check those ISBN numbers carefully.

Her basic rule of thumb is to purchase books in her major, and rent (or sometimes buy and sell back) books outside of her major. Chegg is very easy to rent from and provides a return shipping label.

Many times technical books (science, math, finance, etc) come with workbooks and guides - these are often not included when buying from Amazon, etc. So, check carefully and in many cases it turns out to be cheaper to purchase 'the package' from the bookstore.

Most college bookstores have gotten wise to the fact that students purchase their textbooks elsewhere - and only buy back those texts purchased from the bookstore. In some cases it may be more advantageous to buy from the bookstore if you intend to sell them back.

It does take some legwork, but it is worth the effort.

Also, in regards to Amazon prime membership ...

After the initial 'free' year, student prime costs $39/yr. Student prime only comes with membership for one person and the only benefit is 2 day shipping.

However, we found out after wasting money last year on it - it was better for my husband to buy a regular prime membership for $79/yr. It allows him to invite 3 others to share the prime membership - so my daughter and I get free 2-day prime, and we all get access to prime eligible free video streaming (and e-reader books) - something that my daughter loves up at school. For us it was worth it since we were able to get rid of Netflix.

 

[kpauley]

I like to use dealoz.com. This website searches multiple online sites and lists all the prices found.

 

[ValiantHeart]

I bought all my books in e-book format, which was roughly 50% cheaper than a new book, so if that is an option for you, I'd recommend it!

Of course, there were certain books (my lab manuals, stuff like that) I had to buy paper copies.

Honestly, I wouldn't even mess with the campus bookstore if you can help it. I've noticed between the bookstore on campus and the bookstore literally two blocks from campus, there's a 10% difference in the price of books. In campus bookstores, you pay for the convenience of it being on campus.