Searching for Cheaper College Text Books?

Dear Parent, 

It’s that time again: time for your student to buy the college text books they’ll need for second semester. Most parents and students greet this with dread. College books are not cheap! 

But there are alternatives to the college bookstore and their heavy prices. Internet bookstores have come along and changed how students buy their books. Not only have Barnes and Noble and Amazon started college arms of their popular websites, but there are a crop of websites that cater solely to second hand books with heavy doses of college texts.

Here are a few you might want to check into:

www.half.com   While this is now part of e-bay, it still offers buckets of books at dirt-cheap prices. This isn’t a warehouse, but a way for other users to post what they have, what condition they’re in, and they vie to be the lowest price. Users can search by title, author or ISBN number. The downside? You might be waiting for your book, depending on when the seller puts it in the mail. Check their rating per other users first before putting down your money.

http://www.textbookland.com/   This site will search for prices on the same book across the internet, scanning through such popular websites as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ecampus and Powells. 

http://www.ecampus.com/   Ecampus is another textbook site but one that some say is more user friendly, and it has a host of other areas that would interest the college student. 

www.bn.com and www.amazon.com   Their prices might slant a bit higher, but their service is national, and they keep track of their sellers to make sure that they are delivering the used books on time whereas a half.com user might get a bit lazy, depending on the seller.

Used books are usually a better deal. Even if the book you have is one edition older than the one on your professor’s desk, the changes are usually few, but you might want to check with your professor first if you’re worried that you’ll be outdated. For texts of “classics,” especially for the humanities, there won’t be much more of a difference than introduction material and page numbers. Shakespeare isn’t still doing rewrites. Still, finding at least the same manufacturer might cut down on your being on different pages than the rest of the class.

Start searching now, though, because, pretty soon, the used books are going to be gobbled up fast. Don’t have a book list? Try your college registrar’s website, or ask the professor.  They are usually willing to help when asked. 

Most students and parents do not realize that they have other options when it comes to buying books.  Why not check out these websites to see if you can save some money?

Until next month…Best Wishes!

Randy Stoltz, President