$$$ help for college student's parents buying books!!!

[decaff38]

I just bought 1 of my daughter's books for next semester. Her book at the bookstore was 71.00. I bought it off Amazon.com for 5.50 + shipping. It was also on Half.com for 6.50. I found a site called Bigwords.com and it compared and listed all the places I could get the book ( new and used) the prices and shipping costs. Love that site. It is so easy to save BIG BUCKS!!!!

 

[mrsklamc]

Just make sure you check the ISBN. They come out with a new edition like once a year.

 

[decaff38]

she goes to the book store and writes down all the info. including the ISBN# so that's how we search for the book. I did buy 2 of her books that were one edition below the one requested and she had no trouble. They could not cover all the info in those books in a semester. The difference in the editions was 4 pages more in one book and a new cover and 3 diagrams in the other. We took a chance and saved 150.00 . She was happy and I wasn't broke. Good all round.

 

[Cindy B]

Lucky you! I've been pricing out my semesters worth of books--and I am finding that the college bookstore is in fact cheaper, yes cheaper than half or ebay. Granted sometimes its only a difference of 10 cents, but then I can get it instantly instead of waiting for shipping and such. I did some comparison shopping and it was only a dollar difference either way for all books but one.

Granted I am in my senior year and these books are pretty complex and specific to the school. Half or ebay, collegebooksdirect, varsity, efollett and amazon don't have on curriculum instruction book that I need.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Thanks for this! My dh just completed enrollment to finish his next degree and we will be needing all the help we can get to save on costs!

 

[D&D's Mom]

We've gotten the best deals on books, new & used, from valorebooks.com. They also buy books & pay the shipping to send to them.

 

[chesirechik]

Check out www.campusi.com - it compares all the prices available online, along with the shipping costs, number available and where it is shipping from and provides direct links. I use it every semester.

 

[EthansMom]

You might also try http://www.paperbackswap.com. There's a large supply of different books for swap there. You can purchase swap credits for about $2. $2 per book is pretty reasonable!

 

[Luvdancink]

When I was buying large numbers of books, I went ahead and got a barnes and noble membership. There were always soo many online coupon codes for them plus shipping is free if you spend 25. I saved a ton buying books that way. Plus you can return them to the store if you find out they aren't what you need.

~Kristy

 

[Golf4food]

The first thing I would do after getting a syllabus was run to the library and check out anything on the list that was available. No $$$ at all. Just keep renewing them... never had a problem. At worst you return it and then check it back out again if they have a # of renewals policy. Most kids only venture to the library when they have to, and don't realize some class books can be found there...

 

[mom2grace]

she goes to the book store and writes down all the info. including the ISBN# so that's how we search for the book. I did buy 2 of her books that were one edition below the one requested and she had no trouble. They could not cover all the info in those books in a semester. The difference in the editions was 4 pages more in one book and a new cover and 3 diagrams in the other. We took a chance and saved 150.00 . She was happy and I wasn't broke. Good all round.

Be careful though. I teach at a community college and use a textbook that is entry level for psychology at a 4-year college, even though it looks very similar, the statistics, etc are new, and my students who don't have the latest edition don't do well on the tests since the choices are not the same. Of course, they won't admit they have the wrong text edition, and they are frustrated that they are doing poorly. It's a vicious cycle that I totally understand--I am going back to school for my RN, so I buy books too!

In general, the publisher prints a new edition every 4 years.

My #1 piece of advice is to not buy books before you attend the first class, that way if the teacher isn't using all of the books, or using them 1 at a time if there are multiples, you don't have to get them all at once, and you don't buy ones you won't use.

 

[cats mom]

My #1 piece of advice is to not buy books before you attend the first class, that way if the teacher isn't using all of the books, or using them 1 at a time if there are multiples, you don't have to get them all at once, and you don't buy ones you won't use.

Except you might get the professor who is trying to prove a point and docks anyone who shows up the first day of class without their required books (yep, had it happen - started out that class with negative points)

It also limits your options. You might not be able to order from some of the online discounters since you have to allow for shipping time.

I do agree that you should make sure you really need the books first though, but most of the time you can find that out just by talking to someone who has taken the class or by contacting the professor in advance.

DD needed 3 big expensive books this semester.

1. Found used (barely) on e-bay for about 1/3 the cost of buying new. Had it 4 days after payment was made.

2. Got from e-campus new for about 1/2 what the bookstore was charging. It did take 2 weeks to get here though.

3. Couldn't find a big enough savings anywhere to worry about so DD is buying at school.

I knew about Bigwords, but I'll have to check out campusi too. Sounds good

I've ordered online before only to get notice 2 weeks later that the book had not even been received in their warehouse yet. Great - I was able to cancel, but left me scrambling to find something last minute when I thought I was ahead of the game.

 

[jordansmomma]

I swear I hate buying books. This quarter I spent over $350 on books. I have Anatomy & Physiology the book alone was $166 but i use it for 2 quarters and will keep through my entire college program & nursing program for refrence. But the price of books are just insane. I couldnt find this book online anywhere.

 

[branv]

If you're buying any psych books, check out abebooks. Last semester I found 2 of my books on there that were international editions. Both classes were requiring the brand new editions, so Amazon didn't have any cheap used ones, and the cheapest I could find each of them was for over $75. One international edition cost me $23 and the other cost me $35..brand new! The only difference btwn these books and the US edition was that the international edition was paperback. All the same information was in the books, in fact I got a 4.0

It kind of stinks that overseas the books are so much cheaper, and that for the most part for a while people are not legally allowed to turn around and sell them over here. But that's changed with some new laws, so I'm seeing more and more international editions.

Though I did read you have to be careful when buying math and science course books as the problems, etc. can be different than in the US edition.

 

[mom2grace]

Except you might get the professor who is trying to prove a point and docks anyone who shows up the first day of class without their required books (yep, had it happen - started out that class with negative points)

OMG! That had to be a long semester!

I couldn't imagine, I went to a Big Ten school for undergrad, and SEC school for grad, we didn't even take our textbooks to class! I think it's called "lecture" for a reason!

 

[dis-happy]

subscribing...dd is heading to college next fall

 

[BostonTink85]

I swear I hate buying books. This quarter I spent over $350 on books. I have Anatomy & Physiology the book alone was $166 but i use it for 2 quarters and will keep through my entire college program & nursing program for refrence. But the price of books are just insane. I couldnt find this book online anywhere.

Totally agree that the prices are insane....I had two accounting books this semester, one was 150 the other was 180, in total I spent about 550 on books and probably got 200 back if I was lucky. The problem with most of mine is that I go to a business school so most of the books they make custom for a specific class which they think is helping us since the books are smaller but in reality they are wayyy more expensive!

Another website I use for comparing prices is http://www.directtextbook.com/ It really takes from A LOT of different sites so you can usually find the best price with no problem.

 

[kinntj]

36 year old here going back to finish my college degree. Intro to Algebra was an $82 (not too bad) and then you add in the extra special photo copied spiral bound thingy we had to buy was $13 and the scientific calculator ($100). Thank goodness I'll be taking 2 additional math classes after this and it also covers biology and chemistry. I've been out of math for awhile, so I didn't know that they came with USB ports now?. How advanced!

Can't wait to add the total cost of books for an entire degree's worth. WooWee! Right now I'm taking one class at a time, so recovering from costs shouldn't be too bad.

 

[maggiew]

One thing to worry about if you buy older editions is if the instructor assigns homework out of the book. Often the material in the book doesn't change much, but the homework questions may change. It is a pain for both the student and the professor if a student has an incorrect edition.

Maggie

 

[MrsPete]

Except you might get the professor who is trying to prove a point and docks anyone who shows up the first day of class without their required books (yep, had it happen - started out that class with negative points)

My advice: Get thee to the drop/add line! In a school of any size, multiple professors teach almost every class. There's no reason to stay with an anal-retentive control freak like this! If he acts this way on the first day, it's bound to get worse as the semester progresses.