How to Save Money While Buying College Textbooks
4:11 PM- Don't buy a full-priced textbook. I mean, if you are financially capable, do so. You could sell those textbooks at a used price to get some extra cash later. I just wouldn't recommend selling your books to your campus bookstore because you can probably sell it for a much higher price on Amazon or eBay. Even better if your school has a textbook exchange/sell group on Facebook. That way you don't have to worry about shipping because you are selling books on-campus.
- That Facebook group is a great place to look to buy textbooks too.
- Amazon is another great option to buy books. There's a good chance they will sell it for a bit less than buying a used one from your campus bookstore and shipping is pretty fast.
- Rent. Rent is a bit cheaper than buying used, but you can't sell it back.
- Check out Chegg. They give you all the options to rent, buy used, buy new, or get an etextbook. Sometimes, their prices are even cheaper than Amazon! (I wish I checked out Chegg before renting on Amazon; it turns out I could have paid $30 instead of $50 for my chemistry book )':
- Now on to eTEXTBOOKS. I personally like going digital. I used my iPad to download etext and the access code for only $45 each (via Pearson etextbooks) for two of my science classes. This is the same cost it would take to rent the books, only I don't have to return them back. Only downside is that I can't sell them. Now some people can't stand reading on a screen, so if that's your case, it's probably not the best option. For me personally, I like to quickly access the pages I need to read without flipping pages, highlight and add notes using the textbook tools, and not have to break my back carrying hundreds of pounds across campus.
- Check out Slugbooks. What you do is you search for the textbook you need on their search engine, and they will list a comparison of prices from different sites such as Amazon and Chegg and Bookrenter. That way you can find the cheapest deal on one site.
- Go to your school library and check out your textbook.
- If you know the professor doesn't assign much reading, you can borrow the textbook from a friend or the library and photocopy/take pictures of the assigned reading. That way you don't have to spend money on a book you won't even read that much!
So these are the inexpensive ways I bought my college textbooks. You can seriously save hundreds, even thousands of dollars once you find all your options. Cause you know, college is EXPENSIVE, and they like to rip us poor students off. But that ain't happening this time cause this homegirl has your back!
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