Tuition is bad and book prices are worse. Just about every college course requires a book and those books, bought new, are extremely expensive. Prices range anywhere from $50 on up.
Well I'm here to tell you what most college advisors will not, and that is, most college course books can be bought online and at dirt cheap prices. I recently paid $47.92 for Computers: Navigating Change and $67.92 for Microsoft Office Xp: Spiral (Marquee Series) at the on campus bookstore.
I was almost sure that the book price had been hiked up or something so I returned home with my sack of gold and did some research on Amazon.com. I entered the ISBN numbers and to my suprise the books were in fact priced fairly, without a markup. Then I noticed a small link in the corner of one of the pages that read "Used and New from $(super low dollar amount here)".
I could not believe my eyes, they were offering used and new books I paid $47.92 for, at the low price of $1.97 and the other book I paid $67.92 for, at the low price of $12.75. From then on I vowed to never buy another college book at full price and I encourage others to do the same. I found Amazon.com to be the most noteworthy place to buy used books but there are surely other options out there.
At Amazon.com just enter the iISBN or title and be sure to check out the seller's reputation, the description and condition of the book being sold, and make sure that you are aware of any missing items like CD-roms that originally came with the book. This will surely relieve pressure on your pocket and you will not have to worry about damaging a book you paid a fortune for.
Article comments
1 - SFC SKI
"college coarse " Let me guess, English major?
2 - Josh Andrews
You can't win them all. And lets stick to helping the article be more informative and helpful, Im sure you know what I ment "professor".
3 - Josh Andrews
Here you go "professor" a correction.
ment - meant
LOL.
4 - Matthew T. Sussman
Are buying used Amazon similar to the eBay method? If so, be careful.
5 - Josh Andrews
Yes it is similiar but I think it may be safer as long as you deal with a person that has a good and long reputation.
6 - Tatiana
Josh,
I just finished my MPA and the site with the most cost effective books always proved to be www.bigwords.com
This website allows you to search by ISBN, author, etc and will display a list of all online stores selling the book you need. In addition, it will also give you shipping methods/prices.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Tatiana
7 - Dave Nalle
It's not just college. My daughter had a $80 social studies book in 7th grade. She lost it and had to get a replacement. I found a pristine copy on Amazon for $9.95.
As for ebay, I wouldn't worry about too much risk there. Those who are running scams aren't likely to be doing it with used textbooks. Just make sure they have a good rating.
Dave
8 - DrPat
I adore hearing about better ways to buy books (cheaper=better in my mind).
Thanks, Josh!
9 - vikk
Well, this is true. My daughter has bought the majority of her text books online the past two years.