College text books: what, where, when, how?

[nsmith]

DD is going to be a college freshman in a few weeks. She is our first child to go.
I know there is a way to save money on text books but I haven't the first clue where to start.

What classes will she need books for?
Where can I find the best prices?
When can I find out the books needed ?
How do I get them delivered to her college?

There may be other questions I should be considering that I am not even aware of.
Would love to hear about your mistakes and successes on this subject.

I just don't want to look back on this semester and regret that I didn't save the money I could have. I am a budget girl after all.

 

[NYCDiane]

You usually find out what's needed for each course on the first day of class when the teacher hands out the syllabus.

Cheapest place to get books? You can buy them used at the college book store or check out Amazon.com

You should consider making her an authorized user on one of your credit cards and tell her it's for school supplies ONLY or give her a pre-paid debit card or you can buy the stuff on Amazon and have it shipped directly to her at her dorm or apartment.

Keep in mind, she's better off purchasing the books at the school bookstore rather than you buy them at a school bookstore where you are --- her school's bookstore will have the exact books she needs; yours may not. Amazon almost always has them but you have to make sure to get the correct USBN or edition or year of the book.

 

[Marionnette]

DD is going to be a college freshman in a few weeks. She is our first child to go.
I know there is a way to save money on text books but I haven't the first clue where to start.

What classes will she need books for?
Where can I find the best prices?
When can I find out the books needed ?
How do I get them delivered to her college?

There may be other questions I should be considering that I am not even aware of.
Would love to hear about your mistakes and successes on this subject.

I just don't want to look back on this semester and regret that I didn't save the money I could have. I am a budget girl after all.

There is no way of knowing exactly which classes she will need the textbook for and which classes it will be a total waste of money to purchase the textbooks. Talking to upperclassmen can help but only if they took that particular course from the same professor your child will have.

She should be able to find the books that she needs at the university bookstore. Take her class schedule and match the course number and the section number with the books on the shelf. A bookstore employee can help her. Getting to the bookstore early will assure her of the best selection of used books.

If she can't find good used books for her courses, try renting them from Chegg.com. They mail the books out quickly and at the end of the semester, they send you a prepaid mailing label in your email so that you can return the book.

Half.com is a good source for used textbooks but sometimes the shipping is very slow unless you pay to upgrade. My daughter once waited until mid-October to get a textbook. Fortunately, it was one that she didn't need too badly.

You can also rent digital copies of some textbooks. My son had almost all of his textbooks on his ipad.

 

[MrsPete]

BAck when I was in school, we'd go to the bookstore, and the professor's name/ book choices were listed on the end aisles. We always went early because the bookstore had limited numbers of used books, and they moved fast. Our choices were 1) buy from our one bookstore, or 2) be lucky enough to find a used book from an individual at our own school on a bulletin board.

Today, with the advent of the Internet, kids have better options. My daughter can already see her book needs on the professor's website, which are connected to the online registration.

I had to buy one college textbook for an AP class my daughter took this past year as a high school senior. I was amazed that in just five minutes of searching, we found the same book for very different prices: $12, $60-something, and $108. My daughter and I did it together so that it'd be a learning experience for her . . . But in the long run, she chose a school that includes textbooks in the cost of tuition, so she won't have to buy books at all.

 

[Kellydelly]

When I was getting my degree a few yrs ago I would go to the online school bookstore for the college and look up the textbooks for each course. You could tell which books were required and which ones were just resource books for the classes.

 

[AllieMallie]

DD is going to be a college freshman in a few weeks. She is our first child to go.
I know there is a way to save money on text books but I haven't the first clue where to start.

What classes will she need books for?
Probably most, if not all, of her classes. Virtually all college courses have required textbooks.
Where can I find the best prices?
As a current graduate student, i've found that half.com (an affiliate of ebay) tends to have the cheapest prices. And you can also get used books there as well. Just make sure to search by ISBN number so that you can ensure that you have the right edition. Also, check Amazon too. Occasionally, the have better prices than half.com. On average, I save at least $200 per semester just shopping on these 2 sites. In fact, I just bought my books for the Fall semester and saved $150 just by buying from half.com! Shipping for books on both sites is very cheap, if not free. And one more thing: if your daughter has an e-reader like a Kindle or a Nook, she can check there to see if they have an ebook version of the book, this is cheaper sometimes too. And it gives an added bonus of not cluttering her bookcase and it's much lighter to lug around.
When can I find out the books needed ?
yes, she can wait to see what it says on the syllabus OR she could go to her college's official bookstore website and just type in her couse number and section on the textbook search engine (ex. ENGL 101 section 901). This should give her a list of the required texts. It should also give the ISBN number for each book. She can then use this number to search half or amazon and compare prizes. If she goes this route, she will be ahead of everyone else and she'll have her books before the first class session.
How do I get them delivered to her college?
Just put her dorm address in if you have it. Just ask the front desk to hold them for her.

There may be other questions I should be considering that I am not even aware of.
Would love to hear about your mistakes and successes on this subject.
I just don't want to look back on this semester and regret that I didn't save the money I could have. I am a budget girl after all.

My answers are in red! Don't be afraid to comparison-shop! And good luck!

 

[clh2]

My DD is also going to start college in the fall.

Her school has an "on-line" system through the website that gives the ISBN number of the book.

We've "scored" her calculus book at textbooks.com for less than half the cost of a used book at the bookstore. (Got it for $36 including shipping and taxes, vs. used at $140-something at the bookstore.)

One of her books is a "custom" book - so we bought that used (before the used ones were gone) at the bookstore when we were in town for orientation. That book is simply not available anywhere else, new or used.

The bookstore at DD's school is run by Barnes and Noble. They will not use our "Barnes and Noble" card at the bookstore like we do at regular Barnes and Noble stores. HOWEVER - 2 of the books that DD needs are available new - at the regular Barnes and Noble website - where we can get our regular discounts - so the books are ~20% less expensive than at the bookstore.

 

[Stacy9402]

My oldest daughter will also be a college Freshman this Fall. She selected the classes she will take this fall on June 25th. So we know who her teachers are and the books that are required. For her you could transfer her book list from her class schedule to the university's bookstore and then I just printed it so I had the ISBN numbers, name, author and edition plus the price the university was asking. 2 of them I will have to get from the university bookstore as they are custom to her college but her history class I got from
3rd party on Amazon. Today I purchased one (used) from Neebo.com with coupon code "savings" (saves 20% off).

Also you can use ratemyprofessor.com and look in the comments to see if the book will be used.

 

[Principessa]

You may be able to find out the correct books now by going to your college book store's website. I know at our university they have the books listed by Professor, course and section number so you can pre-order, either from the college bookstore (good idea) or elsewhere (Amazon etc, trickier to get it right). Do not buy a different edition of a book just because it is cheaper; the page numbers and content will be different, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. It won't be helpful. Be careful not to buy a teacher's edition from Amazon etc; that is not motivating. Be sure to buy books for the exact section of each course; books can be different from section to section.

You can usually sell your books back after finals each semester; you get a fraction of the money back, but many people are happy to get some rather than none.

You may find that you will have to buy an access code instead of an actual book, to gain access to an online workbook (lab manual). These can be important for the course grade so don't skimp on labs unless you have inside information that they are not really needed.

Good luck!

 

[rachel09985]

Wait until the first day of school- don't buy any before. The professor will tell you what you need.

I bought used when I could because it saves a lot of money and you can see your books back and get a lot back.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I am a senior and after my first semester I never bought from the campus book store again. They are a complete ripoff. Tell your daughter to make sure she only buys the required books and not the additional "recommended" books as those have become dust collectors. I have also done the campus book rental but the requirements for return on so strict that it is easy to end up paying for a new book for the campus.

I order from Better World Books most of the time with one or two books from amazon through the years.

I would never suggest waiting for class to start as you are then pretty much locked into buying from the campus bookstore. If you do not unwrap a book often times if it is not needed you can return it within the first week or so of the semester for full credit.

Good luck!!

 

[Tistal]

A lot of students also opt to rent their textbooks at a place like chegg.com.

As others have said, you may be able to go to her school's bookstore's website and get a rough guess list of what books she'll need.

I agree with what others have said about waiting, but you also have to be careful on that. Most professors will only wait but so long before the book becomes a situation of you better have it or find someone to share with.

 

[JandT'smom]

We used Chegg for the last four years and what we could not get from them we bought used.

 

[blue gatorade]

When I was in school I used a great website called http://bigwords.com/ . It compares prices for you (including shipping info) so you can make an informed decision on the best websites to purchase from. All I did was go to my campus bookstore, write down all the ISBN numbers of the books I needed then searched for them on bigwords. Shipping is generally pretty fast so you can wait until after school starts so she can find out exactly what she needs.

My first semester I made the mistake of buying all the recommended books for all of my classes from the campus bookstore. I spent about $400+... and I don't think I spent that much on the remaining 7 semesters combined!

One more piece of advice: AVOID chegg. I've had 2 bad experiences with them (including receiving harassing calls from collections for a book that "wasn't returned" when I clearly had a post office confirmation receipt).

 

[tinkmom2]

DD is going to be a college freshman in a few weeks. She is our first child to go.
I know there is a way to save money on text books but I haven't the first clue where to start.

What classes will she need books for?
Where can I find the best prices?
When can I find out the books needed ?
How do I get them delivered to her college?

There may be other questions I should be considering that I am not even aware of.
Would love to hear about your mistakes and successes on this subject.

I just don't want to look back on this semester and regret that I didn't save the money I could have. I am a budget girl after all.

At my school, if we have financial aid, we can get a book deferment and buy our books before class starts. We can return them with a receipt if they are unopened within a certain time. I can find my class schedule online and take it directly to the bookstore.

My college also has a link directly to the bookstore so I know exactly what I need. There should be a bookstore directly on her campus. You can buy books cheaply on Craigslist but the campus bookstore should sell books too used ones and at a discount. You have to make sure you ask for used books. My professor was nice enough to print off short stories in our literature class so we didn't have the added expense.

I am not able to sell certain textbooks back because they are in a bundle or because they have a special code. I also have to purchase huge medical notebooks I can't sell back either. That little bit of cash at the end of the semester helps.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Do you know anyone who is already attending the college she's going to? If so ask them.

When I went to UNC (years ago) I bought my books used from the student store and it cost $$$. The next year (or semister) I discovered one of the frats had a large yearly sort of book consignment sale - everything was much cheaper! Granted you had to go in informed as to what you needed (they didn't list it nicely like the school store did by class/ professsor). I bought and sold books there until I graduated.

Other colleges probably have a similar system.

 

[nsmith]

As DD college is 3 hrs. from home we won't be back there until move in day. We should have her class scheldule anyday now so we can start the search for the best deals available online and at the school.

Will we be able to purchase books from the book store over the phone or online or do we have to go there in purchase??

I love a bargain hunt and I am looking forward to this one. Should take my mind off of the fact that my beautiful, smart, funny daughter won't be living with us this coming school year.

 

[megsoro]

your best bet: wait until the professor says they need the book. I've bought books countless times before classes started, only for the professor to say on the first day: "Don't buy the book, we don't use it." Or "The book on the syllabus or website is wrong, get this one instead." Many professors don't require the book the first week- but if you can't get your books in time, the library will always have a copy that you can use (but usually not check out).

 

[MinnieSkis]

Similar to one website already posted, www.campusbooks.com compares prices as well. You can also check buyback prices and they pay for the return shipping. Buy low, sell high!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I also highly advise waiting until you see the professor for the real book list, and I also recommend giving your daughter the places where books are sold, but let her do it. Really. It is a starting skill for the college kids, and a place where mom can cut part of the cord and allow your child to make the decision on what works best for her, by herself.