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College is expensive. It’s not only the tag price of tuition, fees, and room and board. Materials that most students need to be successful in class, such as textbooks, also tend to be expensive. The high price of books causes a difficult decision for some students. As a result, some college students simply skip buying them, which can negatively affect their performance in class.
If the beginning of a new semester finds you struggling to pay for all the books in your course syllabus, there are ways to save money while still buying the book entirely.
If money is not an object, for sure, buy new textbooks from your university campus bookstore. However, the prudent shopper knows that buying new textbooks is not essential and will instead look to the many other ways to acquire the necessary books at a significantly reduced price.
#1 Do not focus just on the campus bookstore
The problem is, you may not get the best price if you exclusively buy books (both new and used) from your school bookstore. So, it pays to shop around.
There are plenty of other options available now. You can find a copy of a new textbook or an older edition at an online retailer or bookstore such as Amazon. Some schools have a locally owned bookstore located outside the campus boundaries, and that store usually sells books for way less than the official college store.
#2 Check your curriculum for unnecessary materials
By reviewing your curriculum, you can get an idea of what you need. In addition, teachers often include add-on materials that you may not need. Typically, such articles may consist of study guides and other support books. Your best chance is to wait until you are in the middle of the semester to see if you need to make these purchases. You can also ask other students who have taken the identical course before or read class reviews online for more information and additional tips.
#3 Network
While updating your Facebook or Twitter account, posting about the textbooks you need never hurts. People, especially students, occasionally sell used textbooks. If you are friends with other college students, you may be able to get a deal or an exchange. You can also post a comment on your university’s Facebook page or take advantage of campus classifieds or the marketplace website if your school offers one.
#4 Sell them when you’re done
Make sure to sell old textbooks to recoup some of the initial expense. Amazon and eBay are great websites for selling your books, but if you don’t want to go through the whole process of listing them and paying shipping costs, several other websites will buy your books.
For instance, Bookdeal has a leading role in the market as one of the experienced textbook buyback websites. That is a great place to start selling your used books for the highest possible price. They make the whole process so easy and provide a guaranteed payment and free shipping.
Final Thoughts
Thanks to the Internet, we can compare prices that different websites offer, sell our used books and buy new ones at the best possible price. In addition, it gives us the possibility of purchasing the textbooks we need second-hand. Here the savings can reach 50 to 75 % of the annual expense.
It also makes it possible for us to sell or exchange those textbooks that we no longer need and can be of use to someone. This way, the savings can reach 100% in purchasing books for the next school year.
You can also sell old textbooks to the campus bookstore directly, but you probably won’t get the desired price.
The best way to organize your college textbook savings efforts is to start early. You don’t want to be left behind in class because you are waiting for a textbook. So quickly check out some of these tips and compare prices today. This way, you can start executing as soon as you have your curriculum in hand.
