I know it’s far too late in the semester for this to be useful now, but Spring 2008 semester is right around the corner after the holidays. I usually try to rent my textbooks at a little shop in Kennesaw, but occasionally they don’t have the books I need available to rent. On our campus, getting in and out of the bookstore is a nightmare! I only go there as a very last resort. This semester I decided to poke around and see if I couldn’t find my textbooks at a more convenient place. Turns out, not only was it more convenient, but it was way cheaper too!
If you’ve ever frequented Amazon.com, sometimes you might notice the item you’re looking at actually ships from a different vendor than Amazon itself. There are third party sellers on Amazon.com who take advantage of the large selling community. Sometimes you can find more obscure items this way, without having to fight over an auction on eBay. That’s how I found the textbooks for the English class I am taking this semester. When I checked out the school bookstore’s website, it said the books were currently unavailable. I didn’t want to trek over to the store to come out empty handed so I did a Google search for the title and author. Lo’ and behold – they appeared on Amazon! So I poked around through the 3rd party vendors and found the best deal – low price, high quality – on each of the books I needed. With shipping per book, it all came out to less than $20 – which is what one of them would have cost me through the school bookstore!
You just have to be careful when purchasing textbooks through outside sources – pay very close attention to the edition needed and the edition for sale. Sometimes drastic changes can be made from one edition to another. The easiest way to make sure you have the right book is to use the ISBN number. This number is unique to that specific publication. Just copy and paste the ISBN number from the school provided list into either a Google search or an Amazon.com search field. That way you’ll know for sure it’s the right title, author, and edition.
Hope that helps you save a little bit of dough this coming semester. Remember, you can save a lot of time and money if you just know what you’re looking for!
6 comments:
I will definitely be trying the alternative vendors for spring semester. I've purchased a lot of my books at the General Bookstore on Chastain - but I've noticed over the past couple of semesters, their prices are slowing going up.
This is so true! I've been able to get certain books for literally less than a dollar through searching on Amazon.
By the way, I've never thought of using the ISBN to locate a specific edition - I'll definitely be utilizing this method in the future!
I totally agree with you on this one! Amazon is a great place to find books for a cheaper price. They have a large selection, so you will almost always find what you need. It is easy, fast, and cost efficient.
Also, ebay has a co-site similar to amazon. It is: Half.com. Here you can find new or used textbook, and even sell you old ones. I usually compare the prices between amazon and half.com and then buy the book wherever it's cheaper. But it is true what you said, you have to be careful on buying from the internet.
Tina - so glad this was helpful! I've gone to General Bookstore a few times, but other than being a little easier to get in and out of, it doesn't really seem to be a better option compared to the campus bookstore. The prices are pretty comparable.
Franco - glad I could make your search a little easier!
Gulnar Nathani - Thanks for the tip on half.com. Perhaps I'll look into selling some of my books there, since I haven't had any luck on eBay.
Hi Anna,
Like all students, I'm terribly frustrated with the price of textbooks. I just paid nearly $150 for a paperback French book that I'll only be able to use for one semester. I'll have to take your advice and look into Amazon and other alternatives next semester.
I have many grievances to air about our campus bookstore and the general bookstore across the street. However, I think that these grievances all go back to the fact that textbook publishers are out of control. There should be some, or more, governmental regulations on these companies.
When I check Amazon and other companies, I'll make sure to check the ISBN numbers like you suggested. Thanks for looking out for us little people. Keep up the good work.
-Chad Register
My freshman year I sort of fell victim to the idea that ordering books online could result in getting the wrong edition, but I agree with you: Using Amazon has been a much better means of acquiring books and usually at substantially cheaper prices. As others have noted, even the General Bookstore has pretty high prices.
As far as selling textbooks go, I have had enormous success selling them through facebook's marketplace. I realize that may not help those who aren't interested in having an account there, but I've managed to sell everybook that I couldn't sell back to the KSU and General bookstores.
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