College textbooks.

[CurlieQCarrie]

Textbooks are pretty outrageously priced, as most of you know. I've bought some online before, and I was wondering if anyone else does...? If so, what websites have you found to be the best/cheapest? This fall I found that the bookstore at school charges almost the same prices as Amazon.com, not even includng shipping. I still have plenty of time to get them so I figured I'd see if there are better places to look.

Thanks in advance.

[Le Type Français]

Your state doesn't have an association the pays for all of your school expenses if disabled?

[Lazlo]

My wife is a student and swears by half.com. Cool thing is, if the edition you buy is still current at the end of the term, you can sell it back on half.com for about what you paid for it.

[cheesecake]

Curley~ Are you getting voc rehab funding? If not apply or ask specifically for textbook funding.

[CapnGimp]

second that half.com
pay attention to the feedback, some folks ship really fast also
beats waiting

[mattblan]

I always order my books online but I use amazon.

[gurly2356]

half.com :)

[Scott Pruett]

Seriously, WAIT to buy books until you know you absolutely need them. You can find ways to get by for a week or two. I learned after dropping > $400 on books a couple semesters & getting minimal use out of those "investments."

Oh, and check out www.bestbookbuys.com (http://www.bestbookbuys.com) :D

[mr_coffee]

Carrie,

When i'm at school I'm on SSDI, get like 600 a month, so disability services will kick in and say hey we will pay for your books! I buy them, then send them the recepit, and they send me a check for that amount.

Its alot of hassel but its worth the $750 a semester!

[canuck]

Carrie try abebooks.com I don't know what they have in the way of textbooks but I have some good bargains on hard to find books there.

[JMILLER11]

Great topic. I have saved cash by buying used through Amazon, but with the sites everyone listed we can at least do some comparative shopping. A long shot is finding the text book at a library in your area. I was able to find a text, one edition old, for a class that worked out well.

[CurlieQCarrie]

Like Cory, it always has to come outta my own money before they'll reimburse me....so buying the books cheaper is easier either way.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I know most professors--that I've had anyway--are understanding about students purchasing online to save $$ so they never get too upset when people show up without books. About the third week is when they want to see it. Last semester, a friend and I had 2 classes together...so we each bought a book and swapped every other class. It worked out well and saved money.

[mike07]

That's great purchasing books online to save money. I will look into it as I am spending so much money on school. I was forced to take out student loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/) to pay for college since costs have risen so high. I am looking for any ways to save money so I don't have to take out more then I need with loans.

[Mike Honcho]

Students at my school set up a Web site to sell their used books to students who need them without going through the costly middleperson.

I get all of my textbooks from the publishers for free now, which is payback for 7 years of overcharging me. :)

[LaMemChose]

Half.com :)

[JDR]

Be sure to sell your books back online at the end of the semester as well.

Something should really be done about this whole textbook thing. It's such a scam. Professors should have limitations on how often they change the official class textbook and there should be little to NO kickbacks for professors/universities who choose to use a particular publisher/author's book.

[Mike Honcho]

Something should really be done about this whole textbook thing. It's such a scam. Professors should have limitations on how often they change the official class textbook and there should be little to NO kickbacks for professors/universities who choose to use a particular publisher/author's book.

Changing software and technology dictate that I use updated editions of textbooks about every other year. It's a lot more work for me, and I'd be happy to recycle material if I could.

Kickbacks? Non-existent where I work. I deal with 3 different publishing companies and have never had kickbacks mentioned.

[oscdude]

This is a bit too late but I have used Half.com, and if you do use it make sure the buyer has good feedback. I have purchased a few books from there for my summer courses and all has worked out so far.

At my university I am in the Disabled Student Services and every semester they issue me a voucher to use at the school bookstore for textbooks and supplies. Check your school for such services.
Another option is to look into used textbook stores near the university, they usually have the books there cheaper.

[JDR]

Changing software and technology dictate that I use updated editions of textbooks about every other year. It's a lot more work for me, and I'd be happy to recycle material if I could.

Kickbacks? Non-existent where I work. I deal with 3 different publishing companies and have never had kickbacks mentioned.

Okay, in a tech field, yes, I understand why you'd need to update, but I was a poli. sci. major and I had professors who changed their textbook almost every semester.

Maybe things are different in NC....and maybe I'm talking out of my ass....but I find it hard to believe that publishing companies/authors aren't motivating universities/instructors to use certain books in one way or another.