College text books

[Mermaid]

When Alex was our only one in college, we pointed him in the direction of the university bookstore, told him to buy new as a last resort, handed him the credit card, and hoped not to faint when we got the bill.

Now that Philippa is joining him, I think we need to get smarter about buying textbooks. Any suggestions on where to ferret out required reading on the cheap side?

 

[Cheering472]

Drew found many of his on Amazon.com (used). Good luck.

 

[Mermaid]

Drew found many of his on Amazon.com (used). Good luck.

Do we need good luck because most of the books are in bad shape or because they're still $$ even though they're used, or both?

 

[NoHall]

When Alex was our only one in college, we pointed him in the direction of the university bookstore, told him to buy new as a last resort, handed him the credit card, and hoped not to faint when we got the bill.

Now that Philippa is joining him, I think we need to get smarter about buying textbooks. Any suggestions on where to ferret out required reading on the cheap side?

If you're talking about actual textbooks, you're just screwed. (Can I say "screwed" on this board?) They're just expensive. Required reading, on the other hand, gives you some options.

I'm a connoisseur of used books. Try Amazon first (www.amazon.com). Look up the book like you would any other, and it will tell you if the marketplace sellers have used ones. I've bought used books for as little as $0.85 each. (Not textbooks, but novels.)

Another site: www.abebooks.com. If you're buying multiple books from either place, the trick is going to be minimizing the shipping costs. Try to find a common seller.

I'm not so good with eBay, but it would be worth a shot, too. Networking is good--I borrowed one set of books from a friend. Even so, I paid over $350 for texts. (One book alone cost $109, and I didn't even use it. They only paid me $30 in buy-back.)

 

[Ocean Lover]

Drew found many of his on Amazon.com (used). Good luck.

great idea...I'll file this away for future reference. Jeesh, at the rate technology is changing my kids may have virtual books! LOL

Where is Fyl going to school?

 

[Mermaid]

great idea...I'll file this away for future reference. Jeesh, at the rate technology is changing my kids may have virtual books! LOL

Where is Fyl going to school?

Purdue University and I think I'm more excited about it than she is. We spent the weekend at Purdue doing orientation and I hit the bookstore and bought all the Purdue logo clothing I could get my hands on. Fyl is fully kitted out with hat, sweats, tees, the works! (I admit I went a little overboard in my enthusiasm.) I almost bought a decal for the car that says "Purdue Mom" but I thought that would be a little obnoxious so I resisted the temptation. I am so glad my girl is going to a "name brand" school...I love a good logo. We're already a BoilerMaker family!

NoHall and Cheering those are some good leads. We've sent both of our children to private schools so I aready know about $100+ textbooks so I'm hoping to do better with university books. I figure there has to be a wider pool out there to buy from than we ever had in high school. Frankly, I'm weary of spending a second mortgage twice a year on books.

 

[Kurt]

I've never heard of Purdue. Are you sure they require books?

 

[Mermaid]

I've never heard of Purdue. Are you sure they require books?

I'm going to bonk you one on the head when I see you next week, and then I'm going to sic Fyl on you. You'll be sorry!!!

 

[30A Skunkape]

Make sure that she will actually need the textbooks. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I saw books in the bookstore being listed as 'required', but they were rarely used. Sometimes the school library will have a copy or two of previous editions-the textbook business is a scam where they keep releasing new editions without much revision.

 

[scooterbug44]

There are booksellers that sell used books who have set themselves up as a lower cost alternative to the "university" book store. I would do some online & campus searches.

Skunkape's suggestion about making sure you actually need the book is good. Sometimes you only need a couple chapters or pages - some profs were good about compiling the selected readings and you could purchase them through a campus printer.

Sharing texts w/ a friend is another option if it's a reference book, not a long read.

Might not be as much of a possibility in the fall, but we used to have dorm book sales and buy used textbooks from our fellow students who had just completed the course. This is also a way to recoup some $ on textbooks as the buy back prices from the Bookstore are insane.