Sticker Shock on Textbooks: Consider the Alternatives

The semester is about to begin. You have your list of required textbooks and are stunned by the costs. What about that book that sells for nearly $200 at the college bookstore? There are options to consider. First be certain to get the ISBN number and be aware of the edition required. Email your professor to determine if an earlier edition might suffice.

1: Find someone at school who recently took the class and buy the book used.

2: Purchase the book used from the bookstore.

3: If you and a friend are truly organized, consider sharing a book with a classmate.

4: Check to see if the book is on reserve in the library. You can consider using it in the library all semester or at least until your copy arrives.

5: Consider the book swapping sites mentioned in two of my prior posts (11/25/2008 and 12/17/2008).

6: Search online for a multitude of sites that sell used books, or elicit suggestions from friends. New sites are frequently cropping up.

7: Consider renting. Check out Chegg.com and Bookrenter.com. Read the limitations for renting books. Chegg allows limited highlighting. Many rental sites will not allow writing in the books. If you own the book, you will have more liberty to write notes and highlight the reading.

8: Shop around. Compare book prices and remember to include shipping costs. Check out bookfinder.com, where you can compare the cost of new and used textbooks, rental books, older editions, and international editions.

9: Ask an upperclassman for suggestions. Their experience (mistakes included), wisdom and savvy are to your benefit.

If you have additional suggestions, please make a comment on my blog from which others can benefit. Thanks. Happy hunting.

Textbooks and more

It is more than likely that time in the semester when you have already registered, or will soon be registering, for classes. Those $100 and higher textbooks are a reality. However, a little ingenuity will help you monitor those steep costs. .

Consider registering for free with Borders Rewards to receive a variety of (nearly weekly) specials throughout the year. For example, while it expires today, a recent email includes a coupon (for members) for 30% off any purchase of $10 or more, online or in the store. Do not despair, inevitably there will soon be another email with an additional book discount available. For more information regarding the benefits of joining, read the program benefits and facts. In the meantime, find out the titles and ISBN numbers for your textbooks, and this may be just one of many ways to begin cutting your costs.

In addition, if you are beginning to plan for the holidays, today's email provided a coupon (for members) for 40% off all Cd's (limit 3).

Barnes and Noble offers a similar membership card, however, they charge a $25 yearly membership fee. Given that many university bookstores are owned and operated by Barnes and Noble, this may be an option worth considering.

Also, begin to ask around at school to see who may have already taken the class you're intending to take. They may be willing to sell or lend it to you.

I'll cover a number of additional ways to save on textbooks in future posts. Stay tuned!