College text books ???

[kinntj]

Thanks to those who suggested half.com! I just placed my order for my Chemistry textbook. You just saved me over $60! Those science books cost a fortune.

I just have to get the study guide and charts, but those aren't the money killers.

 

[Teacher03]

I'd be almost afraid to rent textbooks for my daughter. What happens if the book is lost/stolen/damaged? What are the fines? Do you have to buy a brand new book to replace it?

I've been buying all her textbooks at half.com. EASY, quick and above all, darn cheap!!

Kris

To my understanding, there is not a fine. If a book is not returned at the end of the semester or quarter (returning is no cost to you, a mailing label is printed out online) you buy the book and pay the difference between renting it and buying it, which honestly is still cheaper than anyplace I've found. You can also buy books outright, but I'm sure it is comparable to buying from other discount sites. As I said, between my kids and I, we have been buying college books for over 12 years, and Chegg is the best bargain we have found. I would recommend that everyone looking for books to check out the website and see if it is the best deal for you.

 

[Steph1939]

The college's library should have all of the text books.

Some of them are on a special shelf, where they can't leave the library, some you can just check out. DH always checked there first. He was able to check out 80% of his text books every semester.

THEN.. see which edition the professor is using. Go to amazon, and buy an older edition. DH spent $3 on some of his books this way. The page numbers will not be the same, and it takes a *bit* of effort to correspond with the professor's notes. But not much. His professors always had no problem at all with this.

Not necessarily. I work at a college library and we do not make a special effort to order every textbook. We do have some of the college's textbooks on the shelf and there are about six textbooks on reserve for classes at this moment. We also get college textbooks from students donating their books to us. Oftentimes, it is because the bookstore would not buy them back.

I buy my books through amazon and check the "used" prices. I paid $8 for a book with minimal highlighting instead of the $80 the bookstore was charging.

 

[Plantlady]

Not necessarily. I work at a college library and we do not make a special effort to order every textbook. We do have some of the college's textbooks on the shelf and there are about six textbooks on reserve for classes at this moment. We also get college textbooks from students donating their books to us. Oftentimes, it is because the bookstore would not buy them back.

I buy my books through amazon and check the "used" prices. I paid $8 for a book with minimal highlighting instead of the $80 the bookstore was charging.

I merely suggested checking there before buying the books. Again, DH did get 80% of his books this way. He was willing to use the books on reserve, and just go to the library and do his homework. No need to buy something, if the school has it there for you for free.

 

[Pigeon]

The college's library should have all of the text books.

Some of them are on a special shelf, where they can't leave the library, some you can just check out. DH always checked there first. He was able to check out 80% of his text books every semester.

THEN.. see which edition the professor is using. Go to amazon, and buy an older edition. DH spent $3 on some of his books this way. The page numbers will not be the same, and it takes a *bit* of effort to correspond with the professor's notes. But not much. His professors always had no problem at all with this.

This may be completely incorrect--it depends on the institution. I'm an academic librarian at a large university. We specifically do NOT routinely buy textbooks. We may have a copy of a textbook on reserve if the professor puts it on reserve, and then the loan period is a few hours.

We may have a copy of a text used for a course if it is not a textbook (ie literature to be read in a class) or if it was donated by a former student and happened to get added for a specific reason. But we also have a recall policy, so that if you do get lucky and check out your textbook from the library, a classmate may recall it and you have to return it very quickly or pay astronomical fines.

I would say that for most of our students, the chance of finding your textbook in our library is about 5%. And then you may be forced to return it just when you need it.

Prior editions may or may not be OK. Sometimes problem sets for math or science texts, for example, are redone substantially.

 

[DISdreamin']

Prior editions may or may not be OK. Sometimes problem sets for math or science texts, for example, are redone substantially.

I swear this is intentional on the part of the publisher! Oftentimes, they don't change the questions, just add a few more so that the numbering changes. Grrrr!

Anyways, the material itself may not have changed (content-wise), but older editions of the text may be useless for homework assignments. Students oftentimes have to rely on classmates and/or copies on reserve in the library - which may work, but isn't real convenient!

 

[Leajess99]

You can also buy from textbooks dot com and many of the books have a guaranteed buyback. I have used it only for the books that it gives the guranteed buyback for since my University stinks at buying back books. I have also used amazon with great luck. I once got a book I needed for $5 from there when the college wanted $50 for it. At the end of the semester they were not buying any of that book back either so I did not lose out on anywhere near what classmates did. I also bought one of my CJ books for less money than the school bought it back for and even though it was used it was in excellent condition. I will only be buying 1 book from my University this semester as that is my Spanish book and can't find the right bundle anywhere else.

 

[5forDiz]

I'd be almost afraid to rent textbooks for my daughter. What happens if the book is lost/stolen/damaged? What are the fines? Do you have to buy a brand new book to replace it?

I've been buying all her textbooks at half.com. EASY, quick and above all, darn cheap!!

Kris

Used chegg for first time for our 2 kids in college this past spring semester. We also have used amazon, half.com, b&n for used editions etc.

I have to say I think chegg rentals is best and easiest. When we buy from other sites mentioned above we then try to sell them at end of semester and honestly sometimes this just turns into more headaches than it's worth. With chegg it was quick and easy and free return shipping label was great feature. I think ( will try to find info for you to be certain ) that covers must be intact, no writing in book or very minimal and also minimal highlighting is permitted.

 

[NikiM20]

I rented my textbooks today for the fall from CHEGG and I found a 10% off code
SURVEY2009

Hope this helps someone!!

 

[decaff38]

For 3 years we have had 2 in college. I have searched for the textbooks and purchased online. I saving 100S of dollars and then resell them the same way. Last semester, my daughters books cost 75.00 after I resold them. Compared to 750.00 through the bookstore.
I use Bigwords.com, Amazon.com, half.com, directtesxtbooks.com and craigslist.org. I offer to pay $5.00 extra and the craigslist people send it media mail. It has worked out wonderful. Saved 400.00 for one daughter this coming Fall already. Good luck. Think of it as a treasure hunt. Get the ISBN# and away you go.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I get mine from half.com or I will search ebay.

I have also ordered a few from textbooks.com

In the past I have asked many of my profs if I could buy the older edition and they have OKed it (the only classes I did NOT do this for were math classes b/c the homework examples were different). And the savings were insane! I got a psych book that was the older edition for $5, it actually cost me more to ship it. If I would have purchased the new edition at the bookstore it would have been close to $100 for that 1 book.

 

[DISdreamin']

In the past I have asked many of my profs if I could buy the older edition and they have OKed it (the only classes I did NOT do this for were math classes b/c the homework examples were different).

As someone mentioned previously, this is often a problem in math and science texts where the author/publisher frequently changes up the questions at the end of the chapters. It sort of feels like planned obsolescence, but hey.

I'd always suggest checking with profs before ordering books if possible. Sometimes books listed as required may actually only be suggested (I'll be this mix-up between the instructions of the prof and the bookstore happens more than we'd like to believe!).

Also, if the bookstore won't provide the ISBN for the actual text, the prof might be able to. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes the single book ISBN might be very different that the bundle you'd find in your school bookstore. The publishers, in my experience, seem to always put different numbers on the texts themselves and the bundles the bookstore carried them as part of, which can make things really confusing!