Cheap College Books

Going To College Is Expensive - Reduce The Cost with Cheap Text Books

If you attend college, or have kid(s) going to college, you know that higher education costs are going through the roof. My daughter’s tuition, room, and board went up $3,000 this year alone. With the prices of food and gas going sky high, it makes it pretty hard to get through college without huge student loans.

What can we do about it? Not much you say? We can’t get a discount on tuition. It’s pretty much out of our control once you decide on the college you are going to.

There are, however, ways to cut corners.

One good example is buying textbooks. With just a little bit of effort, you can save $1,000 or more each year buying cheap college books.

It really bothers me that universities view their campus bookstores as a profit center and charge such high prices on absolute essentials. I guess that’s what motivated me to put up this blog.

I just spent the weekend shopping online for books. It does take some effort, but believe me - it is well worth it!. My daughter is a junior this year, so many of her textbooks are very technical, latest technology types of books. Only the latest editions would do.

Fortunately, I saved about $400 plus on this semester’s books alone.

And yes, it was worth doing and I will do it again each semester until she graduates!

So How Do You Get Cheap College Textbooks?

Order them online!

No Cheap College Books At The Campus Bookstore!

Stay away from the campus bookstore if at all possible.

Universities really do have quite a markup on the college textbooks (and the other gear) they sell.

There are lots of places to choose from when ordering books online. Both new and used college textbooks are available. AND - at a huge discount over campus (and off-campus) bookstores.

It’s easy to do and, if you’re careful who you purchase through, as safe as buying books on campus.

All you have to do is determine what textbooks you need, pull a little detailed information together, and pick your favorite book seller online.

What information Do I Need To Buy College Textbooks Online (and where do I get it)?

The easiest way to get the information you need is to check out your campus bookstore web site, find the course listing with the required texts, and copy that information down. Most campus bookstores allow you to order your books through their web sites, so the information is readily available.

The bookstore course information is usually organized by Class Name and Section number.

For example, the text book needed for English 101, Section 001, taught by Professor John Doe would have the following Information:

ISBN Number,

Book Title and Edition

Author(s)

Price

I would suggest copying the book information (highlight the information with your cursor and hit Ctrl-C) from the bookstore web site and pasting it (put your cursor in the document you are creating and hit Ctrl-V) into a Microsoft Word or even a Notepad document so you get it exactly right. Be sure to get the campus bookstore price for the book, too. Sometimes, but not often, the bookstore price may be the same as everyone else’s.

If the information is not yet available on the campus bookstore web site, you can check out the professors’ websites and see if they have the required text listed. If that fails, email the professor and request the text information. In my experience, the professors don’t really mind. I think they understand that purchasing textbooks is a major expense and they are glad to help.

The Most Important Thing is the ISBN Number

With that you can rest assured that you are getting exactly the right Book Title and Edition.
Getting the right Edition of your text is important.
- When publishers put out a new edition, at a minimum, they will change many,if not all, of the homework problems at the end of the chapters which means that students have to get the newer version.

If you can’t get the ISBN Number, get the book’s title, author, and edition.

So Where Do I Find The Cheapest Textbooks Online?

After doing this for the last few semesters, I usually start with Amazon.com.
Why?

They have a lot of book sellers which increases the chances of the books I need being available,

Both new and used textbooks are available, and

With all those sellers, the competition helps keep prices low and allows me to compare prices in one spot so I know I am getting a good deal,

Sometimes, if you order more than $25 worth of books, they will give you FREE 2nd day shipping,

Finally, I trust Amazon. A big company with a great reputation is going to be around long enough to handle any problems that might pop up.

Order Here! Amazon: New and Used Textbooks!

Where Do I Place My Order For These Cheap Text Books?

All you have to do is click Amazon to go to the New and Used Textbook search page at Amazon.com.
Once there, you can see in the screenshot below, the easiest way to see if they have the textbooks you need is to copy your list of ISBN numbers into the ISBN box indicated. You can just copy and paste the whole list in at one time, one ISBN per line. Then click on the “GO” button.

Amazon will search the entire inventory of all it’s book sellers and provide you with a list of new and used books available with prices.

Click on the book and you will get a list of all the different vendors offering that book for sale, the condition of the book if it is used, and some information about the vendor.

I usually go with the vendor that has the best price with the highest ratings who has made a significant number of sales. If they have made a lot of sales and have a high rating, I can be confident that they are going to handle my order properly.

Order Here! Amazon: New and Used Textbooks!