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I recently wrote about buying cheap college books by shopping online. (For cheap online books, I recommend Bookbyte.)
But there are many more options for you to find cheap books and save on your overall book costs. Here are just a few of the choices available for cheap college books.
1. Buy single chapters. Why buy the whole book, if you only need part of it? iChapters is the resource you need! This site lets you buy single chapters of books for as low as $1.99. I purchased part of a law book this way through a legal site, and it was awesome! I got just what I needed, and I only paid a few dollars.
2. Buy ebooks. Ebooks are cheaper to produce than printed books. And they’re better for the environment. iChapters offers ebooks for 50% off the regular price. And you can use a site like CourseSmart to get other ebooks. You really should pursue this option, especially since you’re probably already lugging a laptop around campus. Might as well put it to use for something more than solitaire!
3. Rent books. Book renting outfits are now becoming popular online. Many sites provide good deals by renting books to you for a cheap price. Check out Chegg, BookRenter, and CampusBookRentals. I’ve never rented books, but it sounds like a great option to save some cash. Since you’re probably just going to sell back your books at semester’s end, renting makes sense.
4. Find free books. Yep, free books exist. They’re the ultimate cheap college book. And don’t all college students love “free” anything?! The best source for free books is Project Gutenberg. If it’s in the public domain (like those old literature books you have to read), you can probably find it there. The Freeload Press is another contender for this option.
5. Borrow books. The library is an obvious option. But have you thought about forming a little group of students to borrow books? Each of you can buy a book or two, and you can all share them. Most classes don’t need the book in class anyway, so you just need to make sure everyone can do their reading. This model could work well, especially if you don’t have many over-achievers in your borrowing group.
Price Comparison sites are the way to go. They compare prices from a bunch of bookstores so that you can find the best deal. Use CampusBooks.com when buying your books. It compares prices on new and used books in addition to book rentals and ebook sites.
If you decide to go with a new or used book, at the end of the semester check your book on BookScouter.com to compare buyback prices and sell your books back for the most money.
In many cases, you can buy a used book, keep it in good condition, and sell it back at the end of the semester and it will hardly cost you anything
Most departments recommend professors put books on reserve in the library for easy access; most professors do.
Also, Amazon is negotiating with book publishers to realize a College Textbook version of their Kindle reader, which could seriouly drop the cost of text books
Great resource, I wish I'd read this while I was still in college! I went to three different universities and none of them allowed students to check out the textbooks that were on hold. Maybe something to keep in mind...
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