Resourceful students save on expensive college textbooks
After tuition and room and board, the greatest expense a college student will face is textbooks. A student can spend $1,000 or more on books and supplemental materials that they need for classes.
Congress has stepped in with the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which will force institutions to disclose in their course schedules detailed information about the costs of textbooks, and the revisions made. That doesn’t go into effect until 2010.
Until then, those with the current burden aren’t taking it without a fight. College students are resourceful, and that is evident as they’ve sought — and found — ways to keep more of that money in their wallets.
Students are:
- Using eTextbooks
- Renting textbooks
- Purchasing and reselling used textbooks online
- Buying new textbooks at discount prices online rather than paying full price on campus
- Exchanging and buying textbooks on Facebook
According to CourseSmart.com, an eTextbook company, of the 5,800 institutions with students who’ve made purchases, Georgia State is in the top 25 and the University of Georgia is in the top 50.
“My CourseSmart is a great option to buying books. This was my first time hearing about and buying from CourseSmart and I loved it,” said Georgia State student Chantal Shepherd. “My money was tight this semester and I need my books to study so instead of renting books for three days I decided to use this website.”
Frank Lyman, vice president of CourseSmart, said sales are up 600 percent since 2008 for the company that boasts the use of 12 different publishers and 7,000 textbooks. CourseSmart was founded in 2007.
“Almost every student in America can find at least one of their textbooks with us,” Lyman said. “It’s great for students. They do have a lot of choices, and they are getting smart about how they spend their money.”
On average, eTextbooks are 50 percent less than hardback books. CourseSmart has tried to replicate a traditional book, with page numbers and the same page layout. Books are also easily accessible, and you can make notes on the text. There is also a helpful search function, and pages can be printed in whole or in part.
However, it is not the method of choice for everyone. Many people strongly prefer to hold the textbooks in their hands, use highlighters, write in the margins or even save their books for years after they’ve finished the course.
That’s why students continue to sell books on Facebook and at their college bookstores, though there are no guarantees they’ll get back even half of the original price. They also resell books and purchase them through online buy-back companies. One popular site is Better World Books, based in Atlanta. Co-founder Xavier Helgeson began the company with two others while they were students at Notre Dame.
What started in 2002 as a single book drive collection of 2,000 books sold to raise money for a community center is now on 1,000 college campuses with millions of used textbooks and general books. Books can be drastically reduced, sometimes 80 to 90 percent below retail, and there is no shipping fee.
“Will they find every book on their list at 90 percent off?” Helgeson said. “Maybe not, but we try to give you the best value we can.”
They also continue to do good will. The company has raised $6.5 million for global literacy through initiatives like Books for Africa.
Renting textbooks is also becoming a popular option for those who know they only need the book for a semester, and aren’t interested in making notations in the text. Chegg.com, BookRenter.com and CampusBookRentals.com are the leading resources for rental textbooks.
Helgeson from Better World Books Offers these tips:
Things You Should Do To Drive Down Your Costs:
- Call your university professors to ask which books you’ll need well before school starts. This will give you time to search for the best price.
- Get the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) to know the precise version of the book you’ll need.
- Ask the professor if there are significant differences in the newly-revised book and the older version to determine if you do need to buy a new book or if a used one is a better option.
What have you done to save money on college textbooks? What resources have you found most helpful? Least helpful?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
19 comments Add your comment
April
August 5th, 2009
1:35 pm
Students can also find textbooks (current and older editions) in their libraries–for free. If only older editions are availiable, speak with the instructor to see if using a previous edition will be fine. Most older editions are the same, minus a chapter or two.
ASCScottie
August 5th, 2009
1:51 pm
Definitely a good idea to get the ISBN number. Professors are always willing to give titles, editions and ISBN numbers in my experience, and they can usually sympathize with the ridiculous prices at the bookstores. Definitely also a good idea to ask about older editions, usually the pagination is all that is off. Relying on the library to have the texts isn’t always a good idea though. I suppose at bigger universities they have lots of copies, but I know at my smaller school there is usually only one copy of the book and it’s on reserve and can only be checked out for a couple of hours at a time. It also never hurts to post on a school message board / bulletin board and see if you and another student can trade books for a semester or just borrow the book.
Tj
August 5th, 2009
2:42 pm
Enter your comments here
Charles Schmidt
August 5th, 2009
3:25 pm
While several valid points are made in this column, readers should be aware that buying textbooks isn’t always better or cheaper. Students also must consider the “value” aspect of any transaction.
At least a passing mention should be made of the dangers and uncertainty of purchasing or renting textbooks on the internet. Often the lowest price found online is misleading (what about shipping costs?) and may point a student to the wrong book, wrong edition, or a book in poor condition or missing required supplemental materials. (Unlike with general book titles, the value of ISBN as an accurate identifier of course materials has declined significantly in recent years.)
In addition, the standard for identifying the condition of a book is self reported on marketplace sites and a seller’s definition of “slightly used” might be quite different than the buyer’s.
While it is possible to find the correct course materials from online sources, it is important for students to understand that their college store is the only source that guarantees them the correct textbook and accompanying supplemental material that a faculty member may require (new OR used). College bookstores also have clear, plainly documented return policies.
And then there’s the buying local benefit. When a student makes a purchase from the campus store, they can be confident that a portion of that price will be returned to the campus through scholarships, paying the salaries of student bookstore workers, etc. This can’t be said for money spent at an online site with a company based halfway across the country.
Listen, I’m not saying that in all cases the college bookstore is cheaper, but neither is it always more expensive, as seems to be the claim in this opinion piece. A recent study by the Florida Office of Program Policy & Analysis and Government Accountability found that students purchasing new college textbooks online saved an average of only $2.15 per item. In fact, online prices were HIGHER for 27% of the textbooks examined by the study.
Check out http://www.nacs.org/public/nacs/mediaroom.asp to dispel some more textbook buying myths.
Sincerely,
Charles Schmidt
Dir. Of Public Relations
National Association of College Stores
Oberlin, OH
David S
August 5th, 2009
4:36 pm
When I went to college, more than a few of my textbooks were written by the professor who taught the class (talk about conflict of interest and feathering your own bed!). They had an uncanny habit of revising the textbook every other year and requiring the current edition. Sure, nothing really changed from edition to edition, but the checks kept rolling in.
Best advice, make sure you know EXACTLY what you need to buy, then begin shopping. Chances are great that these folks know exactly how to force you to pay the most money possible.
Thank goodness the internet universities are on the rise and driving a stake into the heart of these marble monuments to massive waste that pass for institutions of higher learning.
Rana Cash
August 5th, 2009
4:43 pm
Charles, Thanks for the helpful tips. Comparison shopping is a basic requirement here. That includes checking out your campus bookstore, and bookstores in the immediate vicinity. The sooner you know which textbooks you’ll need, the more shopping around you can do.
I neglected to include libraries as another option. Of course that means turning the books in every few weeks, which might not be too convenient.
Student
August 5th, 2009
10:50 pm
I agree comparison shopping is the key..You have to check many places to get the lowest prices on books or textbooks. Here is the blog which has good tips for this too:
http://www.textbookhunting.com/blog/?p=5
This website helps little bit in your book comparison shopping :
http://www.textbookhunting.com
Good luck!
Mike
August 6th, 2009
12:22 am
One of the better ways to save on textbooks that I’ve seen is at:
http://www.dontbuytextbooks.Net
Give it a try.
Tony
August 6th, 2009
5:02 am
I think renting textbooks is a very good idea. I have tried Skoobit and they saved me money last semester. Very reliable and easy to use!
Monica
August 6th, 2009
3:35 pm
Great article! Rana your comment about comparison shopping is exactly right and doing that has saved me a lot of money over the last couple semesters. There are websites that do the comparisons for you, which saves time as well as money. I use http://www.campusbooks.com to find the best deals. They even show rentals and ebooks as well as used and new books. Thanks for a good article. I hope all students realize that they have choices if they just compare!
Frances
August 7th, 2009
2:54 am
You can also check out http://www.DealOz.com , DealOz compares 200 bookstore prices and free discount coupons too. Their coupons are valid and have saved over $500 on my textbooks.
Morthon
August 27th, 2009
7:21 pm
I hated mortgaging my home for books, and then not being able to get refunded for them! -stupid new editions. I found a website called Chegg.com. It lets you rent the book for the entire semester, rather than buying them. You save up to 65% to 85% off retail. I also found a discount code: CC100221 that gives you an additional 5% Off your entire purchase. No minimum required and you get free return shipping.
Frances
September 2nd, 2009
4:10 am
You can also check out http://www.DealOz.com , DealOz compares 200 bookstore prices and free discount coupons too.Their coupons are valid and have saved over $500 on my textbooks.
Alex
January 5th, 2010
6:46 pm
I had great luck with Chegg. I saved $400 on textbooks as an incoming freshman! The books were in great shape, shipped fast and included the CDs. Save an extra 5% with promo code CC101071. Use the same code and get an extra $5.00 when selling your old used textbooks.
Free Georgia Aquarium deal | Freebie for teachers | Save 90% on textbooks | Atlanta Bargain Hunter
January 6th, 2010
12:14 pm
[...] you make a purchase, be sure to read an earlier blog for more details on saving money by buying electronic textbooks from places like CourseSmart.com, and other book [...]
Laura @ BR
January 8th, 2010
2:08 pm
Renting textbooks at BookRenter.com saves you at least 50% off retail price, with most books at least around 75% off. Moderate amounts of highlighting & writing are also allowed and we carry the latest editions and titles, not just old versions of books. All our titles are the U.S. edition, no shady international or teachers’ editions.
Matthew Taylor
February 12th, 2010
10:59 am
I just ran across your blog and wanted to make sure that you knew that eCampus.com also sells eTextbooks. You can find search through our available ebooks here: Buy eTextbooks from eCampus.com
Ron
February 17th, 2010
10:22 am
I hate that most of these comments are actually advertisements from companies tring to sound like students. Be careful, any comment complete with link, discount codes and statistics such as percent savings ect. are online companies trying to reach into your pocket. Talk to fellow students who have used these sites if you want true comparisons.
Find the cheapest college textbooks | Atlanta Bargain Hunter
August 6th, 2010
7:01 am
[...] blog written last year highlights some of the most popular options for buying college textbooks. They [...]