For those buying college books

[peanut12392]

DD will be a college freshman this fall. We are pricing her books at several different places, and so far half.com is coming out the cheapest. Right now at mypoints you can get 5.00 off your first order over 50.00 and 10 points per dollar at half.com. I almost forgot to try mypoints and this is going to be alot of points for me!

 

[njsweetP]

Also try ecampus.com (go thru mrrebates for coupons and cash back). Also try abebooks.com for used books. I've ordered from ecampus last year for my DD's highschool books and they had the best prices for what I needed. Good luck!

 

[dis-happy]

Don't forget to look into Chegg for book rental. I was able to rent a $150. biology book for $30. for my dd last semester.

 

[eliza61]

Don't forget to look into Chegg for book rental. I was able to rent a $150. biology book for $30. for my dd last semester.

My son took a summer chemistry class and we rented from Chegg. Loved it. same thing, chem book was 180 bucks we rented for $50. we plan on using it again for the fall.

 

[delmar411]

I rented from campusbookrentals.com last semester, they had the best price on the book I needed.

I bought books from Amazon for the best prices. I also have prime so it was free 2day shipping on many of the books, even some used ones from other sellers.

And I don't remember if it was posted on here but if your DD goes to Amazon, she can sign up for Amazon student. www.amazon.com/student
and get a year of prime membership for free. It's for college students and she needs to have an .edu email address to sign up.

 

[pamjb]

I always search for DS's textbooks thru getcheapbooks.com or textbookland.com. They are search engines that will bring up prices of the book at several online retailers. I got his accounting book ($180 at the bookstore) for $65 and it shipped from the Seattle Goodwill.

The best advice I have is to not wait to purchase the books. DS wanted me to wait to purchase his books till the first class. I did that for his first semester....NEVER AGAIN. He wanted to make sure that he would actually need the book. All of the online retailers that I purchase from have a great return policy, so if he founds out he doesn't need it, I can return it.

 

[kimara3]

I recommend dealoz.com. They will search and list prices for tons of sites and list all of the prices for you. The easiest way to search is by the ISBN number. I go online to the college's bookstore and get a list of all the books my daughter will need, then order from the cheapest place. I can usually get all of her books for under $200.

ETA: I also agree with buying early, you can usually get better prices. I have already bought about half of her books for the fall semester.

 

[Shleedogg]

In college I bought my books used from valorebooks.com. I loved that they bought them back at the end of the semester for much better prices than the bookstore offered me. They started in my college town, so I went to the store to get cash, but now they're big online and will pay for you to ship the books to them.

They also have rentals now. They're in direct competition with Chegg and I have a little insider info from a friend of mine that they plan to undercut Chegg on every price. Not sure if it'll actually happen, but bonus if it does!

 

[Shleedogg]

My son took a summer chemistry class and we rented from Chegg. Loved it. same thing, chem book was 180 bucks we rented for $50. we plan on using it again for the fall.

Check out valorebooks.com for rentals. They just started them to compete with Chegg, hopefully better prices.

 

[kandeebunny]

I like owning my books, so I use amazon for the best prices.

Just watch out for those tricky "university exclusive" books. My Spanish books were all specific to my University.

 

[ugadog99]

Right now we are renting my DD's books. She will be a sophomore this year and will be renting again. As she moves along on her pre med track, we know we will purchasing books. For right now, renting is the way to go. We have used both chegg and bookrenters. I highly recommend both.

 

[onelilspark]

Try this to compare: http://www.bigwords.com/

I always found half.com to be the best deal.

 

[kpauley]

Any experience with textbooksrus.com?

 

[Sweety_tweety]

I had to take a Chemistry class over the summer. Of course, I looked on ebay--I came across quite a few "international" version of the books. The international version of the books are much cheaper just like prescription drugs. I bought the international version brand new for about $60 --the new US version was over $200. The only thing different was the cover--is this nuts or what? Grant it--there are probably only international versions for the core classes, but this can still be a huge savings.

I guess there is one drawback--I don't think I can resell it on ebay. I might have the Feds come knocking on my door. LOL That's OK--if I tried to sell the US version back to the bookstore I would probably only get $30--I still saved over $140.

Here is an article in the NY Times about the international books.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/us/students-find-100-textbooks-cost-50-purchased-overseas.html

 

[twinmommyks]

This is great information to remember for when my ds14 gets to college in 4 years.

Thanks.

Bren

 

[Lorix2]

subbing - great info, told DD to start looking

 

[suzannecstarr]

DH and I are both students. I just bought our books today for the fall semester. My exact thought was "we could have taken another disney trip if not for these darned books." (ok, I didn't say "darned") I compare all of the sites (another that i dont think was mentioned is abe.com) and usually end up buying from amazon. Probably right about the time we get my loans paid off we'll need to start paying for DD and DS to get their outrageously overpriced textbooks.

 

[Tink9295]

So when do you find out which books to buy? My son is a freshman in the fall and we haven't received a book list yet.

 

[Twins]

My son will be going to college in two years so this thread caught my eye. It's been many years since I was in college. Don't they sell books at the college book stores anymore????

 

[kimara3]

So when do you find out which books to buy? My son is a freshman in the fall and we haven't received a book list yet.

Tink,
I go onto the university's website and find a link to buy books or a link to the bookstore. Then you can usually find a link to order textbooks. I have seen it done two ways from there. Either you would have to go through and enter each class, then they should give you the titles and ISBN numbers. Or, sometimes when you click order textbooks, it will automatically list all of the required books for the classes he has registered for. After you have the titles/ISBN then go to one of the mentioned websites and search for the books. I have never had a booklist sent, and if you wait until he starts classes and gets the syllabus it will be too late to order the books this way. Good luck!