Is it me, or is buying textbooks online just ain't cheap no more?!

[axelfox]

After several semesters of buying books online, the prices online vs. my school's bookstore just aint competitive no more. I bought my econ. book from my bookstore cuz it was cheaper than online. THe margin of price difference has shrunk, and there is just not enough encentive, unless you are going to buy hundreds of dollars of books and don't mind waiting a couple of days/weeks/months.

 

[Mday]

yeah, i can't really save anymore...

and sometimes the online stores don't even carry the ones i need... or if i find it, it's more expensive..

but i did save some $30 on one book this semester...

 

[shopbruin]

after bigwords.com went kablooie i realized online book buying wasn't going to really work. the only online book buying i would consider is trying to get some literature books from amazon or barnes and noble. otherwise, i wouldn't really go for it.

there are ways to make your book money stretch - go for used books, or see if you can buy from others. they opened a textbook shop in town and i hope they give our bookstore a run for their money. i've been going the used route lately - i sit there and flip through books that haven't been marked up and take those and when i sell mine back i try not to mark them up too much.

or borrow and photocopy if you only need a few chapters of the book. i did that for my french class after they changed editions on me at the beginning of the quarter.

 

[pdiddy]

i recently bought a used book online from B&N and the condition was absolutley horrible

 

[pdiddy]

i then checked the school bookstore and it was the same price for a much higher quality used book

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

check half.com. i got a good deal there before.

 

[Ladi]

Try textbooksatcost.com...if your book is carried and you order books more than a few days before the beginning of the semester, they tend to be much cheaper. 1bookstreet.com has potential too, but varsity books, etc. are really no good. b&n and amazon are even worse with shipping, let alone cost. If you really have time, b&n occasionally has things in stock or they can be special-ordered through the store.

my bookstore is affiliated with follet, so book prices can be checked online through efollet.com (that's also how we get most of our booklists)...they can also be ordered online for free pickup @ the bookstore.

~Ladi

 

[SpongeBob]

My schools bookstore is the worst, everything is overpriced, then you're lucky if they even buy the book back and if they do, you get maybe 20-30% back. Luckily work started pickin up the tab on my books!!

 

[Lily27]

One thing u can consider doing if text books are a big issue is getting a job at the bookstore itself. i worked in ours for the begining of the second semester and i got pretty significant discounts on all the books i purchased and got a higher rate for the books i returned. If you really don't want to find a job there, maybe just get to know someone that works there or something hehe.

 

[Modeps]

its just you.

 

[Capn]

My school bookstore has lowered prices to compete with online booksales. Perhaps yours has done the same.

 

[fir3wir3]

can you sell back your textbooks online?

I'm no longer a student at the college I originally bought them from so I dont think they'll buy them back.

I have about 12 different books from both colleges. Mostly criminal justice stuff ...would like to get rid of