The Art of Buying Textbooks: Part I

With three weeks until classes start, I just started buying books last week. Not the best choice, but I'm still finding great deals on the internet and you can too! Here's how:

The Process:

1. Find out what books you need for your classes.
2. Make a list of these books either by hand, in Open Office, in Microsoft Word, or whatever word processor you use. (Make sure to note the Name, Edition, Author, and Price that your bookstore sells them for.)
3. Go online and begin hunting!

Where to Hunt:

• Campus Books (my first stop)- They search tons of online stores and offer a "bookbag" feature, which allows you to save your book searches so you can go back to them later. Very useful. Half.com is included in their search and is usually one of the lowest prices (from my experience).
• Ebay's Half.com (2nd stop)- Finds textbooks and organizes them by Condition (see below) then Price. You can find books sold by merchants that are affiliated with Amazon.
• Ebay - Pop the name of your textbook into the search bar and cross your fingers.
  
• Amazon - Another great place to buy books. Organizes textbooks by Condition then Price. You can find books sold by merchants that are affiliated with Amazon.
  
• Google.com - That's right, put the name of your book right into Google and see what you can find. You may find an awesome and unexpected deal! Always appreciated when buying textbooks!
  
• Google Product Search - Searches tons of stores on the web for your textbook.

Things to Consider:

• Condition: The Condition of the book is how used it is. Usually you can find the condition of the book in the description or some sites, like Half.com and Amazon list the books by Condition. This is important because some of the books have writing and highlighting in them and the cover may be a bit beat up. Carefully read the description and see if the book is still as usable as you'd like it to be. Sometimes I'll pay a dollar more to get a book that's in better condition and I personally feel it's worth it, but if I'm really in a crunch, I'll purchase the lowest priced book if the description says it's Acceptable.
• Merchant's (or Seller's) Rating: The rating is based on what previous customers have dealt with. Make sure you are buying from a trustworthy merchant to prevent possible headache and loss of money later. Also, make sure to read the reviews, not just look at the number.

Other Things to Consider:

• Borrowing - The greatest money saver! Ask around and see if someone will let you borrow a textbook that they used the semester before. Other people will usually have the books you need for General Education courses and if you know someone a year ahead of you in your major, they may also have books for you to borrow. Easiest way, just put up a facebook status like this, "Does anyone have a copy of [insert textbook name here] that I could borrow this semester? If so, please let me know!" *Remember to be polite when asking and to return the book at the end of the semester of course!
  
• Renting - Much less expensive than buying the book new, but I have never done it because I usually purchase the book used for much less so I'm able to sell it back later.
  
• Ebooks - Another option is to buy downloadable versions of your textbooks. You can view it on your computer without the extra bulk of a textbook, but sometimes they can actually be more expensive than purchasing a book, so do your research!

There are plenty of ways to save money on books! From used books on ebay to ebooks you can download onto your computer. Whichever method you choose, good luck hunting and be sure to check out Part II, which explains what you need to do after you've purchased your books online! Good luck hunting!

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