August 30, 2010 / Suzie

6 Ways to Save Money on Textbooks

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Everyone, it is that time of the year when textbook fees are slamming college students young and old. Have no fear; there are ways to ensure that you are buying your textbooks at the cheapest price (and you don’t always have to skimp on quality either).

Do not buy from your campus bookstore unless your textbook is impossible to find.
Use isbn.nu. Don’t know your book’s ISBN number? Look it up on Amazon and scroll halfway down the page. I’ve found that ISBN-13 is better than ISBN-10.
Calculate shipping costs. Remember that Amazon has free shipping for college students.
Used saves… a lot! However, you don’t want your textbooks to be unreadable; try sticking to “Very Good” and “Like New” books only.
If you are only planning on using your textbooks for one semester, consider renting. Chegg has the best prices that I’ve found.
Unless you are planning on keeping them for life, resell your books at the end of the semester. You will have the most luck selling your book to students within your university first, amazon marketplace/ebay etc second, and sites like Cash4Books or your college bookstore third.

Happy reading!