How to Find Cheap College Textbooks

Like many college students, I remember the initial shock my freshman year when I first began looking for my first semester of textbooks. After gathering all the required books together (plus a few study guides I was advised to buy but never used), the total came up to about a third of the value of my car!

Since I was earning my way through, I knew I didn't want textbooks to swamp me financially. Even after applying to every scholarship I could find and trying to avoid going into a lot of student loan debt, financially I knew I had to do something about the cost of books.

Here are a few ideas you may want to consider that I found helpful:

1) Buy Used

A lot of times books change out a small amount of information every other year and in some cases every other semester. This keeps the book "new." Buying a book that's a semester or two old isn't going to cause you to miss out. In some cases, you can even go an edition or two back and have all the core information. It often makes the difference between paying $100 for a book and paying less than $10.

2) Buy On-line

Amazon.com and Half.com are established enough that you can trust that they'll protect you from a customer standpoint. Usually the prices are cheaper than most campus bookstores, mainly because you've got a lot more competition and greater availability of books. Sometimes you'll even run into a deal where the same book that's $50+ on campus is less than $10 used on-line.

3) Barely Need the Book? Check the College's Library

This is useful to know, especially if you've ever had one of those, "Why did I buy a book I only used once?" moments. Some college libraries keep extra copies of textbooks that you can't check out but can used inside the building. This is great for classes that are mainly lectured-based but require the book for small reading assignments, etc.

4) Check Normal Used Bookstores

This is a little of a long-shot, but some general used bookstores carry a limited number of textbooks. They're just harder to find, since textbooks values can drop rapidly when a new edition comes out. You'll be more likely to find them for a cheaper price however. Locally it may be the best place to find used "custom" editions marketed to a particular school.

5) Buy, Borrow, or Barter with Friends

This is a lot easier when you're in a particular major and know enough people that have books for classes you need and that you have books for classes they need. You can trade out or at least pay a smaller difference if the books are not equal in value. Check bulletin boards (both on campus and on-line) as well to see if anyone's posted selling their books.

6) Check with Your Instructor

Sometimes you can check with the classes instructor to see if they know anyone selling their used book from the previous semester. They will usually also tell you honestly whether you really need certain materials or not-unless they wrote the textbook.

7) Try the "Off-Campus" Bookstore

These usually aren't a whole lot cheaper than the campus bookstore (sometimes I've even seen them bought out by the college and the store name kept), but they'll sometimes save you a few dollars if you've exhausted all of your other alternatives.

8) Check With Your College Bookstore for any Scholarship Information

There are scholarships specifically for college textbooks. I received one my junior and senior years, and basically it's like a library program. You don't have to pay anything for the textbooks, but you don't get money back when you turn them in (and you're required to turn them back in to the college with the one I had). It's worth a shot to see if your school has a similar program. I didn't know until I asked.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. Good luck and best wishes!