How College Students Save on Textbook Costs
To attend a community college in my county in California, it costs $20 per unit. Each class is 3 units, so if you’re taking the full load (12 units), it’s costing you $240 per semester in tuition. Quite a steal, really, when you consider the fact that the average cost to attend a UC is around $20,000 a year, and a private university is upwards of $30,000. I took 12 units my first semester of college, and spent $498 on books. I spent twice as much on books than I did on my actual classes!
So I did a little digging. I cruised around online and visited some company websites for offset printers (people who print our too-heavy, oversized tomes of college wisdom). It can cost as little as $0.70 to print a standard paperback, so to print a full-color textbook, average market price $50-$100, my guess is that it only costs around $10 to $15. If your eyeballs aren’t falling out of your sockets yet, just know that book distributors, book stores, and publishing companies are collectively making $40 to $90 off that book gathering dust under your bed all semester. I hate money-stealers. I hate being ripped off. And as a college student, I especially hate paying more than I have to for something I need to make a future for myself.
I’ve got some suggestions for cutting down on your textbook costs, so listen up!
1) My personal favorite, one I’ve practiced intermittently for the past year, is just standing in the aisle at my campus bookstore and reading the chapter of the week. You have to be kind of surreptitious about it, though. And it doesn’t work well if you’re pressed for time or if there are a ton of people standing around. And it’d be pretty hard to take notes. In a pinch, it’s the way to go.
2) Find a friend who’s willing to take the class with you, and go halves on the required textbook. This works better than the standing-in-the-aisle approach, but you have to do some clever orchestrating when test time rolls around. It’s also good if you plan to study together (which you’ll probably be doing a lot of anyway, because you have to share a book), because you’re likely to score better on tests when studying with a partner. When the semester is over, try to recover some of the cost by selling your book back to your college bookstore.
3) Another thing you can try is to find a friend who’s taken the class previously and still has the book. If they’re feeling Good Samaritan-like, maybe you could talk them into letting you have it (or borrowing it). You could see if they’d give you the book for your handy car-washing skills or rides to class. Or if they’re strapped for cash too (likely), offer them a slightly-less-than-used price in exchange for them not having to wait in a long buy-back line.
4) Organize a book swap with your friends or classmates. Have everyone price their books for 10-20% less than the advertised used price at school, and make trades that are roughly equal in value. You can always use a little cash (or services) to make up the difference.
5) Check your college bulletin boards to see if they have one advertising second-hand books of former students. They have one of these at my school, but I’ve never used it because I’ve never taken the classes for which the books are needed. If your campus doesn’t have one of these boards, start a committee to get one put up. Most times the students trying to get rid of the books will consider a swap.
6) Of course, you can simply buy used textbooks instead of brand-spanking-new ones from your campus bookstore. I’ve had great luck on Alibris.com, Amazon.com, and eBay. You might also try Craigslist.org, but that one’s rather hit-or-miss. Shipping charges usually don’t exceed $4.00, and often after a certain amount of money spent you’ll actually get free shipping. Alibris sends out occasional coupons if you order from them or sign up for their mailing list.
7) And lastly, my second personal favorite: photocopying! Highly illegal, but when push comes to shove… Just don’t try to resell your carbon-copy masterpiece, okay? Staples has the cheapest 8 and 1/2 by 11 copying price I could find, at $0.06 per side. If your textbook is 600 pages long, you’re looking at $36 compared to, what?, $70? My only request if you choose to use this suggestion is that you please print on both sides of the paper! You cut down on bulk in your backpack AND save trees. Your spine and the environment will be grateful, I’m sure.
We’d love to hear your ideas!
I have used half.com for purchasing and selling most of my books over the last three or four years. For the most part, I was able to find pretty good deals on used and new books on there as well as to get more money for my books than I would of gotten at the bookstore.
However, you have to be careful about a few things. Checking seller rating and recent feedback is sort of common sense. You also need to read the book description carefully. There are a lot of “international” edition books on there that can cost half as much as the actual hardcover edition. These are generally low quality crap that will fall apart in couple weeks and you’ll have to wash your hands because all the ink will stick to them. These are also sold illegally in the US. It says on the books that they are not for sale in the US, however most of the sellers just put a sticker on top of that.
I did get one of these books long time ago and have been able to avoid getting ripped off ever since (yea, you are saving half of the actual cost but how much do you think you will be able to sell it for after half of the pages fall out and the whole thing looks like its been used for a decade after just one semester?).
Dima,
Thanks for the tips and precautionary tale! A bargain is only as good as the quality of the product you’re saving money on.
Erin
My recommendation is to buy used (and not at the bookstore). My favorite sites for buying and SELLING (way to recoup at least some of the money) are http://half.com (a section of eBay) and http://amazon.com (only buy used books and pay $3.50 for shipping). I agree with Dima that you have to be careful about who you are purchasing from. However, I have never had a problem with an international edition. I usually buy a book that is in good condition (slightly used, maybe some highlighting) because you know that someone survived a semester with it. Also, I find it amusing to read the notes that other people write in the margins. Some of my books had smart previous owners…and others…well, didn’t….
had that exact same horrible Bio book a few semester ago at Golden West Community College. So expensive… but at least I used it.
For those that don’t mind going up to strangers and asking them questions, I generally head to the last day of class from the previous semester and simple ask people if they’re willing to sell their book on the spot for cash. This requires you to know your class ahead of time, of course.
If you’re trying to unload your book and don’t want to deal with the hassle of selling it online, you can always find the course that use the same book, and head to the first day of class and ask if anyone needs a book.
I use to buy/sell on half.com a lot, but lately I’m so cheap and lazy that I just forgo getting the book (unless I absolutely need it).
You may also be able to read some texts at the library via course reserves. It’s worth checking. One semester most of our textbooks were out of print, but our instructor put her copies in the library. (Small class, about 10 people, so buying used would’ve been difficult anyway.)
Also, consider selling back your used books at the end of the term, especially frequently updated lower-level texts. If you want to refer to them in the short term, they are at the library, a student lounge, or at a friend’s place. Before long even the three dollar used books online will be more up to date than the one you kept, but if you sell quickly, you can make a proportion of your money back.
I know your pain! This is exactly why I buy used (if not from the bookstore from amazon of half.com) and I attend a cheaper community college instead of the big college.
That is why I created http://www.StudentBookTrades.com. An easy way to find college textbooks that other students have already completed courses for. Students are automatically matched with each other to trade textbooks for classes they have completed. Trade, Swap, sell, or buy college textbooks from other students. Search the book database, contact the student at your home campus, city, state, or nationwide about the book and save money.