College Text Book Guide

2009-02-23T06:40:22Z

College text books are not cheap. So, how can you save money when buying text books?

Here are some tips:

Obtain a list of your required books as soon as you register for courses. This can be done by either asking for the information from your professors or by getting a required text book list from your college book store.

Start shopping online. There are many Web sites that offer text books for lower than average prices. Given sufficient time, you might find several of your required text books at bargain prices.

Go to your local library and ask whether it has your needed text books. Even if your own library does not have your books, it can request those books through inter-library loan. Chances are good that, should even one library have your requested text books, you will get them.

Collaborate with students who are taking courses for which you plan to register. These students will probably be selling their text books back to their college bookstore at a much lower than original purchase price. The bookstore will then raise the book prices in order to make a profit. If you do your research, you might buy these text books before they end up in the bookstore. Just be sure to pay students a slightly higher cash amount than the bookstore.

Consider taking the same courses with a friend, or a group of friends. Split the cost of the text books and share them amongst yourselves. If a common exam comes up, you can photocopy the needed chapters and pages from the text book in order to study.

Sometimes, you might get away with buying an older edition of the same text book. The chapters may be a little out of place, but with a little organization, you can stay on track with what the rest of your class will be learning and when.

Don't forget to peruse your local book stores. You'll save on shipping costs, at the very least, and have the satisfaction of helping local merchants.

Finally if all else fails, go to your local college book store and buy your books early. Don't wait until the day before your classes begin- by then, everyone will have picked through all the cheaper used books and left only the brand-new and expensive ones.

With a little forethought and planning, you can find your required text books at cheaper and more affordable prices.

Save on College Textbooks

2008-10-20T07:46:34Z

According to a 2007 Accounting office report, the average student spends $932 on college text books per semester.

Below is australia.edu top insider tips to save on your next semesters textbooks.

Online book selling sites

Check online for easy price comparison sites such as Amazon.com, Half.com, or Fishpond.com.au. Make sure to order a couple weeks in advance as shipping is sometimes slow for these types of sites. Fishpond even guarantees that it will beat Amazon.com's prices!

Electronic Textbooks

Did you know that these existed? Electronic books also known as e-books are a great way to save paper in more than one way! You save some trees and save some money at the same time!

The major players in the textbook publishing business are going green and are now allowing students to obtain electronic textbooks at a cheaper price then a print version. This is new and not all textbooks are available in the electronic version. Please ask someone in your college bookstore for the websites to obtain electronic textbooks.

Think ahead

If you know your going to or have to take a certain course for next semester then you could walk or stand outside of that class on the last day asking students if they will sell there books to you (cheaper then the bookstore price). It is very common to make deals with other students to save each other some money.

Ask around campus

Ask your friends or classmates if they have had an upcoming class you are about to take and see if they still have their textbook they could lend or sell to you.

Facebook.com

Facebook.com has a new feature where students can post their textbooks for sale. This is convenient because there is no shipping cost and you can meet up on or near campus to receive the textbook.

Share your textbook

If you have a girlfriend, boyfriend, significant other, roommate or friend that is taking the same class with you and you see them on a daily basis (or often enough to share a book), it might work out for the both of you to buy one textbook for your class and share it. Sharing a book is sometimes beneficial because you have a higher chance of studying together and keeping on top of each other in the course readings.

Ask your professor

Local book store

Check in at your university library to see if they have an archived version available for checkout or review while you are there

Course books

College Text Book Guide

Save on College Textbooks

Ask your professor

Local book store