College Textbooks: How To Get Them Cheaply?

Self | January 13, 2003 | PJ-Comix

[PJ-Comix]

If you are a college student you already know how ridiculously expensive textbooks are. The new textbooks are often well over $100 and even used ones in the college bookstores are usually over $50 (with some around $100). Yesterday I noticed all this at a local college bookstore. Also a lot of students I talked to were complaining about textbook costs. Often they will spend over a $1000 per semester for textbooks.

Okay, enough with the lecture. What I want to know is if there is a way to get textbooks cheap. Yeah, I know they can be purchased on Half.Com or eBay for a lot less (I've sold some there myself) but is there ANOTHER source for cutrate college textbooks? One solution is to buy the overseas versions that the textbook companies sell at a discount in foreign countries but how to get them? Also, aren't there warehouses with lots of recent mint condition textbooks stored by the textbook companies? Is there some way to purchase the stored textbooks at a bargain rate?

If anybody has ideas on this, please post them here. Also if you are a college student, feel free to post your textbook horror stories here as well.

[PJ-Comix]

Anybody out there have the feeling that there is some collusion in terms of $$$ between textbook publishers and college profs?

[LJPenney]

Hey! Does this mean that you are another college freeper? It's always nice to find others that are around my same age!

Thanks for this thread! I have been wondering the same thing about where to get cheaper books.

Yes, there is a conspiracy between the textbook manufactures and the colleges. It's probably Clinton's fault.

[LJPenney]

Hey! Does this mean that you are another college freeper? It's always nice to find others that are around my same age!

Thanks for this thread! I have been wondering the same thing about where to get cheaper books.

Yes, there is a conspiracy between the textbook manufactures and the colleges. It's probably Clinton's fault.

[LJPenney]

Hey-- you really wanted to read my post twice, didn't you?

SFTDP : (

[alisasny]

My girlfriend had a recent 3 week course and the 3 books needed cost 275. She got together with her girlfriends in the same class and they took the books to a printer who made 2 additional copies of the book and split the cost 3 ways. The original book needed to be unbound but big deal.

If you do not know anyone in the printing business you can pay for this service at kinko's or another similar place.

Otherwise if your in NY don't fret, Chuckie Schumer feels your pain and is looking into this...LOL

[Scannall]

Nah, it ain't Clintons fault. I was in college during the Carter administration, and textbooks were a major scam then. I worked at a bookstore across the street from the college. The textbooks were marked up 100%, unless they were medical or legal and were marked up 200%. And it was cheaper than the bookstore on campus.

Dan

[Tijeras_Slim]

Just a suggestion.

[Auntie Mame]

Oh yeah, this is an outrage. I really like how they change the textbooks almost yearly so when you go to get a few measley bucks for a crummy book you cracked maybe once, because not only was it lame, but the professor didn't even reference it, a book that you spent $98.99 on, they tell you, "Sorry, we're not using this book next year, there's a new version coming out."

It's a scam that's been ongoing for decades with no end in sight.

[cdefreese]

Having just recently graduated, I know exactly how you feel. My only advice is, if possible, wait a week or two into the semester/quarter or even longer and see if the book is needed. Many times I have taken a class and never even used the book... even when it was listed as required. Also, if you know what classes you are going to take the next semester/quarter, see if you can buy/borrow/rent the books from those who are taking the classes now after they are done with them.

I was lucky enough to have plenty of friends who sometimes took the class before I did and I'd either buy or just borrow the book. Even if it was an old edition, many books did not change enough to warrant buying a brand new one. Of course if it is for one of the classes for your major, you may want to go ahead and buy it to keep for future reference.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Textbooks don't cost any more than any other book, on a quantity of content basis, despite the fact that most require a lot more research and credentials than other types of books. Check out the fiction section at any bookstore -- you'll find 220 page books, in 12+ font size, with huge spacing between the lines, and no color illustrations whatsoever, selling for $20-25. Four or five of these barely equal the quantity of content, much less the quality of content, of a $100 textbook.

[GovernmentShrinker]

For some courses, you can easily get by with the 2nd most recent edition of a text. These can be had online for a tiny fraction of the current edition price. Try www.addall.com and go to the "Used" section.

[P.O.E.]

Scams abound. Buying my calc textbook I noticed the previous edition (the used ones) had the same questions at the end of the chapter, but in different order. Let's say the prof gives the odd numbered questions, or problems 1-20 for homework. Without the new edition, you're out of luck.

[McLynnan]

I feel your pain. I'm doing 16 hours this semester and have spent almost $600 on books. I bought used ones when possible, but two of my core courses require textbooks that are updated annually. What a racket. And I really hate it when the bookstore offers me about 20% of what I paid for a book when I sell it back. I was told this site has good textbook prices, but have no personal experience with them. Bookcentral.com

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

In a lit course that I took the instructor encouraged us to get a used book because the only change between the new and old printing was the forward of the book. Guess those printers have figured a way to continue to keep profits up.

[John Beresford Tipton]

Recently there was an article [WSJ, I think] on this very subject.

It found that textbook publishers, like drug companies, charge very much less for the same textbooks overseas.

It said great savings could be gaines, even after shipping, by buying them on the internet from bookstores located in the UK

[PJ-Comix]

I have been wondering the same thing about where to get cheaper books.

Right now eBay is your best bet.

[cyborg]

What I do is point blank ask the professor if they actually use the book. If they say yes, I'll ask them if they've put any copies on reserve at the library,etc.

[PJ-Comix]

The textbooks were marked up 100%, unless they were medical or legal and were marked up 200%.

Medical textbooks are the most expensive of all.

[PJ-Comix]

As an example, calculus hasn't changed a bit in the last 60 or more years yet every couple of years they come out with new calculus editions. Have there been new discoveries in calculus to warrant the new editions? No. They just want you to SPEND $$$ for new editions. If they kept the same book for 20 years then you would have very low cost used textbooks to choose from. Something the textbook companies don't want.

[PJ-Comix]

Even if it was an old edition, many books did not change enough to warrant buying a brand new one.

Most new editions have only cosmetic changes.