Textbooks can be extremely expensive. Many ring in at over $50, even for a small textbook. For a young college student, this can be a lot of money, especially on something that they will probably just get rid of after the class. Fortunately, there are things that you can do in order to save money on textbooks. The following are some strategies that you might want to consider.
Buy/borrow from someone you know
If you are fortunate enough to know someone who has just taken the class, you might be able to buy or even borrow the book from him or her. This can save you substantially and you might be able to pay nothing if they are planning on keeping the book and do not mind if you use it for a little while.
Share with someone else
In certain situations you might be able to share a textbook. You will just have to remember that you will have to split its use, even when studying before a big test. However, with certain classes and people, this might work and could be something to consider.
Buy a used copy from the bookstore
Oftentimes the bookstores will sell both a new and used copy of the textbook. You can often save a lot of money by purchasing the used version and it will be just as functional for you as the new one. You can check the prices to see what is best.
Price compare
Many times different stores around the campus will sell the books for different amounts of money. These can range significantly, and you might be able to save a lot of money by purchasing from one that is cheaper. Sometimes if you go a little further from campus, you will get a better deal. You can ask around to your friends to see if anyone knows of a store with better prices.
Buy of the Internet
This is another great way to save a lot of money on textbooks. The Internet will often offer books for much better deals than you can find at the brick and mortar bookstores, which often have very high markups. You can look at places such as www.ebay.com and www.amazon.com.
You can also save money when you are selling back your textbooks. Instead of just looking at the college bookstore and the surrounding stores you can look to see how much you might be able to get from it on the Internet. When purchasing the books from these other sources, you will want to make sure that you have the exact book. Remember that they will often change editions so be on the lookout for that as well.