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10 Ways to Save Money on College Textbooks
The average college student spends nearly $1,000 on textbooks every single year. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are lots of different ways for students to save money on college textbooks. Here are ten of the best.
10 Ways to Save Money on College Textbooks
1 Buy Online
Shopping at the campus bookstore can be expensive. You're much better off shopping online where it is easier to compare prices. When you buy online, you can also take advantage of coupons, free shipping and other perks. Barnes and Noble provides new coupons to their customers every month; Amazon has free shipping on orders of $25 or more.
2 Buy Used
Buying brand new books isn't practical for most people. Since the books will only be used for a short time, it is also a waste of money. If you buy used, you can save an average of 50 percent, and in some cases, as much as 90 percent. Used books can be found through ads on campus and through online booksellers like Alibris or Half.com.
3 Look for Free Books Online
The growing cost of college textbooks has led to a number of free book sites. Rice University's Connexions is a good example. Professors at Rice, Ohio State and other colleges are using the free books that are available on the site in the classroom. Students can read the textbooks on their computer screen and print off the assigned materials for free. You should always scan free book sites carefully before you spend any money on textbooks. You never know what you might find.
4 Sell Your Used Textbooks
If you are a second, third or fourth year college student, you can raise most of the money you need to buy textbooks by selling all of your old textbooks. Often times you can sell the books to other students or to the campus bookstore. There are also several sites online that buy textbooks or allow you to sell textbooks in their marketplace.
5 Buy International Editions
One of the best kept secrets in the college textbook industry involves international editions (textbooks that have been printed outside the United States.) When you buy the international edition of a textbook you can save as much as 90 percent. The best part is that international editions almost always contain exactly the same content as U.S. editions.
6 Rent Textbooks
Renting college textbooks has become one of the easiest ways to save money from semester to semester. You use the book for as long as you need it and return it when you don't. Most textbook rental sites work a lot like Netflix. There are no shipping costs or late fees and rental costs are reasonable. Some places even allow you to make notes in the margins.
7 Make Copies
Although it can be incredibly time consuming and less than practical, making copies of someone else's textbook is one way to save money--especially if you only need a few chapters. If you don't know anyone who has the textbook you need, ask the professor for a sample copy or borrow one from the library.
8 Purchase Electronic Textbooks
Electronic textbooks are great for students who don't mind reading off their laptop. Ebooks save trees and could allow you to save at least 50 percent on your college textbook costs. There aren't a ton of places that offer full-text electronic textbooks for download right now, but this market will probably begin expanding soon as more students struggle to buy the books they need.
9 Trade Textbooks
Trading used textbooks is another good way to save money. There are several sites on the web and a number of different schools that offer free textbook exchange services to college students. Taking advantage of these services could save you a bundle each semester.
10 Comparison Shop
Comparison shopping is the only way to make sure you are getting the best deal. There are a lot of different sites that are set up to help you comparison shop. The three shown above are just a small sampling. Visit a few and pick the one you like best. Then, start punching in titles and ISBNs to see what you come up with.
Bonus
Not sure where to shop? See a list of 10 Places to Find Cheap College Textbooks Online
2 comments:
When selling your books back, use BookScouter.com to compare prices from 30 different websites so that you know you are getting the most money back for your used book.
Check out www.textfortext.com. The only site where students can trade college textbooks with other students for FREE!!!
Why Buy When You Can Trade!!!
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