Thursday, March 3, 2011

Well it has been a rough week of midterms but I have enough time to sneak in a post. I'm going to talk about college textbooks and the best ways of getting them. College textbooks are very expensive and are often a way for universities to make extra money, so you want to explore all your options before buying. There are three ways about acquiring your textbooks: buying new, buying used, or renting.

1. Buying new
This is the most expensive route of the 3, but it can be beneficial in the long run. When buying a new book you know it's going to be in mint condition and contain all pages. Also, if you buy a new book and take care of it, you can often sell it used for around 50-60% of the new price. The resale value can be higher then the price you would have paid for a used book, so this option interests some.

2. Buying used
Buying your books used can be risky but it can also save you a lot of money in th end. Used books are generally 50% cheaper than new ones, but often in worse condition. When buying online you have to trust the sellers description and hope there are no missing pages or torn covers. This doesn't apply if you are buying a used book in person because you can just check it yourself. Buying a book from a friend is usually cheaper than one on amazon.com so make sure you check locally before using the internet.

3. Renting
You can also rent your books. Most university bookstores have this option, but you can also rent them from websites like chegg.com. From what I've seen, bookstores rental prices tend to be a higher than a used books, so make sure you check all your options before renting. Also, make sure you take good care of your rented books so you don't end up paying some ridiculous fee when you go to return them.

Hope this helps!

18 comments:

  1. I almost always get them from the internet. The campus bookstores are so overpriced its insane. A science or math major where I go would have to spend 400-500USD a semester if purchased from the bookstore.

    Minnesota here.

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  2. Even though I'll probably have any use of this information I still find it interesting.

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  3. Nice. I wish you would say which way you preferred though.

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  4. Chegg is a joke. For the most part, they pay near new or the same price as a used book, but 1. You don't get to keep it, and 2. You get crappy copies. The one I got was written all over, even though they said they don't send out books that are marked. I would avoid Chegg.

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  5. Renting books always worked for me, but we weren't charged.

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  6. did not know you could rent books lol

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  7. I chose to rent them a little cheaper

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  8. When I was in school, I never had the option to rent books. I think it's a pretty good idea. I almost always bought used and never had any issues.

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  9. if possible i'd just download the ones i can.

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  10. Interesting, I like to mark my books up pretty heavily, so I only buy new!

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  11. Renting books is a good idea.

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  12. Buying books online is the way to go

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  13. It gets worse in grad school. There are NO cheap options except for borrowing books from people in your lab, and the average book is 180

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  14. I never buy books. Never use them.

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  15. Cool read bro, follow me too please.

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  16. i miss my collection so bad :\
    followed

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  17. Great points, i will follow them!

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