Ok, so fall semester is coming up. Anyone know a place to get cheap textbooks for school? I don't want to shell out another $500 just for textbooks this semester.
Find a second hand shop selling last years editions - very rare cases where it actually makes a difference (in my experience) to have an up to date edition. Or realise that half the books on the list you need so rarely a visit to the library every so often will suffice.
Usually ten at most. If they take it back. I had a year's worth of books to sell back after this past quarter. About 1200 dollars worth i'd guess. I got back a whopping 85. College rules
I actually had really good luck a couple years getting my books from half.com They know they'll get a better deal than seeling them back to the bookstore... those THIEVES! <- the bookstore, not the people selling their books
Bingo. Books for your major, you should look into buying. Everything else, either check the library or register for the class with a roommate/good friend or two and split the cost of one set of books. I spent a total of about 80 bucks on books during my last 2 years of college. My biology book, public speaking, literary theory, etc etc were all in the library.
That's it? 80 bucks? Seriously...this kinda crap is gonna have to end one day. Books for general courses should be free, it's not like you are choosing to take those classes, they are making you take them. The library idea sounds nice. What are the chances of that happening? I'm sure there's more students with the same idea.
You'd be surprised. It just doesn't occur to a lot of people for some reason (or they get anal and think that just because the library has the 4th edition and the syllabus asks for the 5th or 6th edition that it isn't good enough. The texts are nearly identical from one edition to the next). Even if you go to a school where a lot of people have that idea, all you have to do is get there early, sign the books out, and keep resigning them out during the semester. There is no reason to pay for books you don't intend to keep.
I go online for my books. Sometimes I use Froogle or I'll search Amazon or Barnes and Nobles and find used ones there. I just used superbookdeals.com and they had good prices but took way too long on shipping. Though you can't buy with this option, you could also try your campus library. My school supposedly has a copy of all textbooks used in all programs' curriculum. I was able to find some and check them out and renew throughout the semester. Saved me a bunch.
Try Ebay. Actually have a guy in one of my classes that buys a lot of his books off there, and sells it to the bookstore for more than he bought it for.
I've had students get dinged on Ebay. This is especially problematic if you try buying at the beginning of the semester/quarter. It forces you to wait and wait and wait and then get behind. For classes that work out of the book quite a bit, the wrong edition becomes a burden. Language classes are like this. Having said that, I have noticed less and less changes per edition in language textbooks, as the turn-around btw editions has been hastened, due to the "Internets" and the mass recycling of textbooks. I was told by a textbook agent that sales drop to virtually zero w/in 2 years of a book being released. A word of caution about sharing a text: my freshman year roommate and I did this for a lecture hall bio course. Everything was honky-dorry 'til he got mad at me (for asking him to kick out his noisy, loser buddies on the night b4 first day of finals) and he threw the text into the apartment pool! So not only could I not study for the final, we were out the $ from the textbook buy back.
I agree with uclacarlos on this one. When I was in grad school I had a job with a big publishing firm revising the instructor's manual for college level text book. I did it for several editions (I was, ahem, in grad school for a while). While there were some things that didn't change at all, there were also some major differences that could really bite you in the ass if you had an older edition. This was with a social science textbook. I don't know if the the information in these turns over faster than in, say, science texts or not. One way of getting around this problem is possible if your prof puts her books on reserve at the library. You can use an older edition where all the stuff is the same, but photocopy all the new stuff from the newer edition on reserve.
The worst thing I did in my academic undergard life was sell back my books. Keep them, if you can. I'm not saying buy them new, get them as cheaply as you can (here's a site); but don't sell them, especially not for your major...
When I am planning a course, I use abebooks.com to buy preview copies - it is a used bookstore clearinghouse and you can browse away. If you are going to go with a way other than the bookstore, however, have caution, as Carlos recommended. Find out who the profs are a month or more in advance, and email them for the book list. Then order the materials in order to receive them on time. Buy backs can be "managed" better some times. By students, I mean. There are three levels of compensation for books; the highest is for books on order at the same university the next semeter. If a class is taught each Fall semester, don't try to sell it back for Christmas cash, sell it for Summer spending money. You'll do much better - unless the dreaded next edition comes out!
amazon.com - i bought all of my books this qtr for 20% of the original price and they were in better condition than the used texts at the bookstore
Once you know that you'll be going to grad school, keep the books remotely related to your major. I sold back some gems.