Should I buy college textbooks from campus?
Rabid Season asked:
If I buy my textbooks from my school’s website, they will be very expensive. I want to buy them from Amazon or eBay, but I’m afraid of how long it will take to get them. Classes start this Tuesday, but we all barely registered for classes today. Will my professors give me time to get the books or should I just order them from the school?
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If I buy my textbooks from my school’s website, they will be very expensive. I want to buy them from Amazon or eBay, but I’m afraid of how long it will take to get them. Classes start this Tuesday, but we all barely registered for classes today. Will my professors give me time to get the books or should I just order them from the school?
September 30th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Most professors will assign book work the first day. No, they’re not going to let you wait until you get your book. Either use the library’s copy or just buy them on campus. eri
October 1st, 2009 at 3:56 pm
i would use ebooks.com or amazon. Katie
October 4th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Usually professors will let get away with not having your book for a couple of days. You reall really should explore other options besides the campus bookstore. It will rip you off. I suggest you rent your books. I use chegg.com. In my experience the shipping fast, they always have my books, the prices are good and I don’t have to deal with selling my books back at the end of the semester. Also with chegg you can buy your book later in the semester if you decide to keep it. Use this coupon code to save an extra 5%– CC101135 .
Also if your afraid of needing your book right away, you could share with someone. It really wouldn’t more than a week.
Avoid the bookstore.
Good luck! getschooled
October 5th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I would wait to buy books myself. Most colleges and universities send out book lists 2 weeks in advance in the hope that you will purchase books from the college bookstore. its called a cashgrab. After you start class (at least at my school) you find out you only need half the books on the book list and have wasted hundreds of dollars on books. I think there is some kind of rule that professors must put a book on the book list for the course even if they’re not using one. I always wait and ask my professors first if we will actually be using the book enough to warrant buying it. Most college libraries carry the textbooks (or you can borrow one from someone cute in your class
)so you can use those until the books you do need arrive in the mail from Amazon. I would also be very careful about buying textbooks online, many textbooks have multiple editions and may not be the same as the one being sold in your college bookstore. Ashley W
October 8th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
From my experience, teachers usually give a few days to get your books.
Some books have a higher priority, so try to figure out what you need asap.
You should start looking to buy the books online. Most sellers give the option of expedited shipping, so if you need the book quickly, use it! (Unless, of course, the book store sells it cheaper than the total cost of buying it online)
Also, you should look for where the book is being shipped from, because it makes a difference in the shipping time, so try to look for a seller that is closer to you, if you are in a hurry to get the book.
I’m not sure about your school but at my school’s book store, they give a two week period from the first day of school to return the book for the full price. So check with the bookstore if they allow 100% returns also. That way, if you need a book right away, you can buy it at the bookstore, and also order it online, by the time you return your book, most likely the book you ordered online will have arrived.
I use dealoz.com for comparing online book prices, you should check it out, it’s easy to use and very useful when you are trying to save money! Cat
October 11th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
You should be able to specify when they will get delivered when placing your order. Buying them from somewhere other than your campus bookstore will be much, much cheaper. And amazon is only one of many places to get your books. I use They are a textbook search engine that searches all the online textbook retailers (including amazon, half, ebay etc) and rental sites (including chegg, bookrenter etc) to find you the best prices. You can even use them at the end of the semester to search for resellers to sell your books to. J. Scott
October 12th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
From my experience, I think it isn’t a big deal to have textbooks one week after the school starts. When you really need textbook for homework, you can just share with your classmates or make a photocopy of the pages needed…
For me, I bought all my books, both used and new ones, from Amazon. They often give good discount, and I normally receive my books in a week. However, I do think you should check them out early, or there will be less and less choice for used books:
Hope it helps
Pauline A
October 15th, 2009 at 9:03 am
bigwords.com - I just got a 195.00 text book for 35.00 - only difference is tht the 195.00 text book hase color graphs and the international version has black, white, and grey graphs and a paper back cover
Goodluck… EILISHA
October 18th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Do not order them from school
Just get Priority Shipping
And do not ever sell them back to them either.
Read my article about how you can save money on textbooks xlambeauleapx