Purchasing a Textbook?

If you haven’t had to shop for a college textbook for yourself or your college student recently, consider yourself lucky! The costs can be enormous [that’s not even delving into the issue of what you get back at the end of the semester during sell-back]. Do I have a choice??

Aside from attempting to check textbooks out from the library, I’ve met students that don’t buy books because they view the cost as greater than the benefit. I don’t know that I’d go that far in advocating saving money. I do know, however, that more and more online outlets are selling college textbooks (both new and used), often for significantly less. While I don’t make personal recommendations/ endorsements, I think it is definitely worth the look to understand what alternatives are available to you.

Buy it Used.
A1Books
AbeBooks.com
Alibris
AllBookstores.com
Amazon.com
Biblio.com
Bigwords.com
Bookbyte.com
BookFinder.com
Campus Book Swap
CheapestBookPrice.com
CollegeBooksDirect.com
eCampus.com
Textbook411
TextbookX.com
Valore Books

Swap it.
I’ve also read of students that have used resources like Facebook, Craigslist, and MySpace to swap books with other students, sell books the bookstore won’t buy back, and find used book groups to chat with students to get personal insights. Websites like CollegeSwapShop focus specifically on linking students up that would like to swap books. Buying college textbooks will always be an expensive proposition, but perhaps there are options available to you that could lighten the pinch on your wallet a little.