Buying textbooks online

[OKgirl]

I'm thinking about buying some textbooks online, but I have a few questions first.

1. What are some good places to buy them from?
2. How long does it usually take to ship? If I'm ordering soon and I won't need them until mid-August, could I get away with just doing normal shipping?
3. Is it easy to sell them back? My college bookstore offers book buy back and I feel like the savings might not be as great if I end up stuck with the book.
4. How often do professors switch the required book? All the books are listed in the bookstore, but I'm worried that they might change it and I'll be stuck with the wrong book and not be able to get the correct one in time.
5. Any tips for buying them?

To make this pharmacy related, is this something that I could do once I hopefully enter pharmacy school or is it harder to find those books?

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[inquirer89]

I use eBay or Amazon. I recently bought a pre-owned chemistry book for my summer class for only $27 including s/h, and it was $110 (used) in my college bookstore! If you don't need it until August, then you should definitely go for regular shipping. eBay sellers usually use the cheapest anyway. I got my chemistry book 3 days after it was sent.

You can also sell them back online. I actually made a $5 on one of my books by doing that. Some bookstores also offer buyback, although I'm not sure if you could sell something you bought online to your college store.

 

[tharper14]

I use ecampus.com if I buy online. It's free shipping if you buy over a certain amount. Usually takes a while to ship though... at least 10 days.

 

[Sparda29]

I used Chegg.com last semester. Basically, you just rent out the book for the semester for like 1/4 the selling price. When you're done, you print out a shipping label, toss it in a box, and send it back to them.

However, for Physics this summer I used half.com, 2 weeks have passed since I ordered the book and the class started, but still I don't have it.

 

[Acid11]

Order them online, perhaps from amazon, ebay, half.com, etc. Big, Big savings indeed. If you are so unsure, you can check with your professor and ask which book will he/she be using, or you can ask the bookstore. If you ordered the wrong thing, sure, lyou can always sell it again.. Hope this helps

 

[nerv12345]

1. What are some good places to buy them from?
i've used amazon.com for the past 4 years

2. How long does it usually take to ship? If I'm ordering soon and I won't need them until mid-August, could I get away with just doing normal shipping?
my books arrive no later than 2 weeks. they have an "expedite" shipping option if you are really desperate--you pay a coupla bucks extra and they ship it within like 5 days

3. Is it easy to sell them back? My college bookstore offers book buy back and I feel like the savings might not be as great if I end up stuck with the book.
75% of the time it's easy to sell them back--also, you can sell it for way more than the bookstore offers to buy them back..in some cases i've gotten the same amount i've bought it for and once, i even sold it for more than i bought it for


4. How often do professors switch the required book? All the books are listed in the bookstore, but I'm worried that they might change it and I'll be stuck with the wrong book and not be able to get the correct one in time.
never happened to me before..in fact, sometimes the professors don't even bother with them--so i sell them back within a week or two of my purchase

 

[tootoo30]

Another good site is barnesandnoble.com and valorebooks.com, both ship within 1-2 days usually. I have been using them both for about a year now with no problems. I brought my Chemistry book this summer for 9.00 regular price 100.00, no kidding.

 

[omnione]

To answer strategy, some new P2s may offer their books for sale. I don't know if this happens at your school but if it does, then you could buy the book for less the bookstore price and then sell it to the next P1 class for the same price. In the long run, it's like renting a book and then getting the fee back!

The problems with this strategy is that: 1. You may pay more than the Amazon cost, 2. The book could change edition meaning that its demand for the next class is lowered. 3. You have to wait a while before you get your money "back".

The one thing I've learned the hard way is that the campus bookstore rips you off on buyback prices. I wouldn't have gone that route this year if I wasn't so desperate for immediate money.

 

[JWells488]

Every semester, my school published a book list that they buy back from students with prices that they will pay. So I go on Amazon and find the books that my school is paying 95 dollars for and buy about 10 of them for $50 each and sell them to the bookstore. I'm sure that if I decided to do this on a larger scale I would make a lot of money. But my point is that buying online is definately the way to go. You might even make a buck.

Your concerns about edition changes will happen wherever you buy the book. They won't buy back old editions even if they were the ones who sold them to you. There's no reason to buy from the bookstore - other than convenience.

half.com and amazon.com are the big ones, so check each for the best price.

 

[rainsplash]

How do you know what books to buy already? If my classes starts in sept is there a way i can find out in advance what are my required books?

 

[OKgirl]

How do you know what books to buy already? If my classes starts in sept is there a way i can find out in advance what are my required books?

I looked on my school's bookstore website. Some don't release the info until closer to time.

 

[RxWildcat]

I use half and amazon all the time, they ship within a week usually. You can usually sell them for a decent amount too, but it really depends on the specific book and the time that you list it for sale (beginning of semester is the best time to sell).

 

[sanfranalaska]

I use gettextbooks.com it searches amazon, ebay, barnes and noble and pretty much every website that sells books and gives you the cheapest price.

 

[bananaface]

I used Amazon. You have to be careful though, as they sometimes change the expected arrival date on you. I ended uo gettign a medchem book a week later than originally told. If that happened and you wanted to get the book elsewhere they will let you cancel just that part of the order, though.

 

[Mistysmoke]

I have used half.com amazon marketplace, ebay and ecampus. With Half.com I have only had one problem with a book not arriving, however I was able to get my money back. The other places I have not had any trouble.

The trouble I have, when I call the bookstore for the college I am currently going through and they will not give me any information on the books, except the title. I explain that I am out of state so it isn't like I can come into the bookstore to check the ISBN or see what the cover looks like. Luckily starting in the Fall I will be going to a local school.

 

[s1lver]

http://www.addall.com/

This site searches EVERY online bookstore and lists results starting from cheapest first. It's only useful for college books so forget using it if you're looking for a novel or something similar...




EDIT: Btw, are you on CC, too? Good luck on your exam on the 14th!

 

[OKgirl]

EDIT: Btw, are you on CC, too? Good luck on your exam on the 14th!

Yeah I am. I don't think I've ever seen you.

Thanks! I'm really trying to raise my score to at least a 30.

 

[PharmDY]

the best site i know of is campusi.com because they compare prices from a lot of popular textbook websites, including amazon, ecampus, half.com, barnes and noble, etc. i'm wondering the same thing.. if it's possible to buy books online in pharmacy school like i did during my undergrad.