Save Money on Textbooks; Shop Online and Shop Early

Buying textbooks can be quite expensive these days. You can easily spend $400 or more on new textbooks at the beginning of each semester. Even purchasing used textbooks from your campus bookstore can become expensive. But, with a little planning you can save money buy purchasing your textbooks online.

Get the Information ahead of time:

Once you have registered for class you will need to access the class website or contact the instructor to find out which textbooks and editions you will be needing for the course. If your instructor can provide you with the ISBN number for the textbooks, that is the best case scenario. If not, make sure you get the title, edition number, authors and copyright date. You will need this information no later than two weeks before the semester starts if you are wanting your textbooks in hand for the first day of class. Once you have the list of books you can take your money saving search online.

Online Sites selling textbooks for cheap:

BookByte (www.bookbyte.com) and BigWords (www.bigwords.com) sell new college textbooks at prices up to 33% less than that of your campus bookstore. These sites may even have used copies of the textbooks you are looking for in stock for an even better deal. Half.com and Amazon.com also sell used textbooks at a price that is designated buy the student looking to sell their book. For these sites it is important to remember that the books have not been inspected and are being sold to you by a student just like you. Make sure that you note the condition of the book and get a good description from the seller. If the description is not listed you may wish to contact the seller via email. If you do not hear back within 24 hours, I recommend choosing a different seller. You can also get used textbooks on Ebay. Here again, pay attention to the description of the book and communicate with the seller before bidding. Also, note the shipping that the Ebay seller is providing. Make sure that once purchased, the textbook will make it to you on time.

Buying your textbooks online can save you a lot of money. But, it does take some upfront planning. Waiting until the first day of class to begin shopping online may leave you behind in the class. So, get your book information early and begin shopping as soon as you can. Typically used textbooks from sites like Half.com and Amazon.com will ship media mail which can take up to ten days to arrive at your door.