Dang! Textbooks are Expensive!

Textbooks are one of the most pricey things about college besides tuition. I've been going to college for two whole years now and I can't tell you how much money I've saved by buying them here on eBay. I've probably saved a hundred dollars each semester by shopping here. There are a few bits of wisdom I can pass on to other students looking for textbooks on how to save even more money.

My Bits of Wisdom

1. See if there is an older version of the textbook out. For my British Literature class, the college bookstore was selling brand new 2005 British Literature books for about $50. I looked on eBay and found the same textbook, but it had been published back in 1999. The text was the exactly the same because the book was the same edition. Publishing companies often reprint the same editions over and over again. This is a great way to save money. It saved me $40 on just one book!

Same edition, just published in a different year

2. If your class just got a brand new textbook for the course, don't buy the textbook right away. Go to the first day of class and see if the teacher will accept an older edition of your textbook. I've seen teachers do this many times such as in my American History, Art History, and Fundamentals of Speech classes. They sometimes teach from both the new version and older version of textbooks. I wouldn't advise doing this for mathematics courses though.

Sometimes teachers allow students to use the older edition

3. Don't be afraid to buy used textbooks. All of the used textbooks I've bought on eBay were in great shape even though they were used. The only thing you want to really watch out when buying used textbooks if it has been heavily highlighted. I personally find it distracting when trying to read the book for the first time. Ask the seller if the textbook has been; they are often very truthful about the condition of their books.

A little highlighting doesn't ruin a good book

4. When searching through all of the listings, check all of them that match your search. Look at the listings without pictures and those in the seller's stores. Don't be exclusive or you might miss out on a great deal.

5. When bidding on textbooks, it is best to wait for the last 1-2 minutes of the auction to bid. Early bidding causes the textbook price to skyrocket. If you don't have high-speed Internet, then you should put up a pretty big bid in these last couple of minutes.

6. If a textbook doesn't have its CD, you should still consider buying it. Usually the professors in your class don't bother with these CDs. The only textbook CDs I've used were for my computer classes. When buying textbooks for computer classes, you don't necessarily always use the CD. If you don't have the proper software for the computer class already, then you will probably have to buy the book with the CD/CDs. You can get away with buying used computer textbooks without CDs if you have a version of the program that is going to be used on the computer.

Save money by buying a textbook without the CD

I hope my bits of wisdom will help you save lots of money while in college as it has saved me. College is expensive, but at least textbooks don't have to be.