Where do you buy your books?

Online learning is so new to me. When I was in college, you went to the bookstore, picked up your books, and it was charged to my tuition fee. 24 years later, things sure have changed, lol!

I see there is a link to the FHSU bookstore where I can buy the recommended text. However, I went to Amazon, and found that the books are slightly cheaper. Then I see new, used, rent, ebooks, etc. So many choices!

I love my e-reader, but I would prefer an actual book for studying. For my first class, Survey of Art History, I purchased the book new on Amazon's website. It just arrived today!:banana: Can you tell I'm excited to start school?! My first class isn't until June 4th, and I am ready, lol!

Books are so costly. Has anyone had experience with renting or purchasing used? I wanted to get some ideas from the "seasoned" students. :cool2:

 

I usually go to Amazon.com or Half.com for used textbooks. You can find it cheaper there...the problem with ebook cannot be re-selling.

 

And if you have a .edu email you can get Amazon Prime, which I LOVE. You can also sell your books back to Amazon and get credit towards purchasing new books (or whatever you want to use it for).

 

I usually buy my books from either Amazon.com Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more or BookFinder.com BookFinder.com: Search for New & Used Books, Textbooks, Out-of-Print and Rare Books.

 

Just a warning, if you are buying used, make sure it's the same edition of the textbook that your class is using. I bought a textbook one time off a friend who had taken the course the previous semester, not realizing that the textbook chapter order changed a lot from the previous version. I ended up studying extra hard for the midterm because when I read the assigned chapter numbers I thought, "I don't remember any of this stuff!" Of course that's because I was studying the WRONG MATERIAL! Doh. Still passed the course tho ... psychology, all multiple choice

A good site to check for books is bookdepository.com ... free worldwide shipping, sometimes cheaper than Amazon, just keep in mind that the books ship from the UK so it can take awhile to get to you. (I guess this is a better deal for me than for you since shipping from Amazon.com to Canada is expensive, and Amazon.ca sucks.)

Another place to check is alibris.com for new and used books (it aggregates many different online booksellers) but again check the edition and note that it may take more time for some little bookstore to ship it to you.

 

Abebooks.com

 

Free textbooks, almost. I get my textbooks for next to nothing by following this simple plan, similar to the ones above. I buy used on Amazon or eBay, being careful to get the right edition. When the class is over, I then sell the textbooks on Amazon. It's easy to open an Amazon seller's account. The price you get for a book depends on your timing of when you offer it for sale; you should time it so the books appear about 2 or 3 weeks before the start of classes.

Sometimes I end up out of pocket a few bucks for a textbook and occasionally, I make a profit. The final cost, if done properly, is close to zero. After finishing 36 units in my doctoral program, I have not even spent $100 on textbooks by buying used and selling again.

The drawback to this plan is the fact that you don't have the textbooks for later reference. I keep copious notes to study for when I take my comps.

 

WOW. Thank you all for the helpful responses! I'm on my way to check out the resources now!

 

I do what SurfDoctor does. Buy used from Amazon (free shipping with an Amazon Prime account), resell back to Amazon, use the credit to buy more books. I usually end up with very low out of pocket costs, if any. I love Amazon. lol

 

Amazon typically....and I always check for an international edition on ebay, these can be alarmingly affordable by comparison.

 

At amazon you can get a year of prime free (free 2 day shipping) if you are a student.

 

Get a Free Year of Amazon Prime with an .EDU Address

 

I agree to every one.. you can find your textbook in amazon.... good luck buddy!!

 

I bought my books mostly from AbeBooks Official Site - New & Used Books, New & Used Textbooks, Rare & Out of Print Books I looked for International Edition books (IE) that are MUCH cheaper. For example, I purchased a $270.00 for $35.00. One word of caution - Make sure the seller clearly states that the IE book is "the exact same as the US edition."

I also purchased books from half.com, ebay or anywhere that had the cheapest price. Book expenses can be a MAJOR part of educational expenses, so shop around. I usually found the IE books to be the cheapest, so that is where I started my price checking.

Have fun!

Abner :smile:

 

International editions are great. Always check for them. They sometimes have a different ISBN but contents are the same. I have used Textbooks.com and Textbooksrus.com in the past 6 months. I liked them both.

 

You guys are the best. Thank you so much!

 

You just saved me $79 because my Prime membership was literally due to renew tomorrow (April 22, 2012). Now I just signed up with a student account and got 6 months free...nice! Thank you

On topic: I always buy from Amazon. Used sellers who ship through Amazon get you the book in 2 days.

 

I sometimes buy international editions from Amazon UK, otherwise I get them from Half.com or Amazon in the U.S. Also, don't forget to check your local libraries. Sometimes you can find textbooks there, and even if you wind up paying a few late fees it's still cheaper than buying the book.

 

We have lots of threads about textbooks so I chose this one semi-randomly. Here's two textbook stories. The first about open source texbooks, the second about Barnes and Noble college bookstore division.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/your-money/putting-a-dent-in-college-costs-with-open-source-textbooks.html?ref=education

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/business/dealbook/barnes-noble-to-spin-off-college-bookstores-unit.html?ref=education

 

If you type ISBN and the number into a search engine it will pull up lots of vendors for that book. I usually end up using half.com (a division of Ebay) because I wait until the last minute and need to expedite the shipping.