Textbooks are one of the basic necessities that you will need to succeed in college. College Textbooks are very expensive and sometimes, they are even hard to find. But it is difficult without them, for example, when you do not know how to end a term paper or what to write in your essay.
There are many secrets to learn about college textbooks. There are many different ways to cut the costs and save you some cash. I thought I would share some of the techniques that I use to save money on my books each and every semester.
Besides my freshmen year when they were already bought before I got to school, (They were given to me during orientation) I would recommend that you don’t buy any of your textbooks until you have been through the first day of classes. I recommend this technique because if you want to change classes it becomes a big hassle to try to return textbooks to the bookstore or Amazon etc. If you hold off on buying your textbooks this transition becomes much smoother.
The next piece of advice I would give you, is when you are registering for classes look to see if your friends are taking the same course as you and register with them. Even if you can’t take the course at the same time, almost always you should try to take the same professor as your friend. You should do this because the teacher will teach the same course the exact same way, even if the class time is different. This will save you money as you can share books with your friend. Now, you only need one book for the two of you. This method has saved me hundreds of dollars.
Another tip that I would give you would be to think outside of your school's bookstore. Think about using Amazon and other book purchasing websites. The cost is often much cheaper and it is less tedious than you would think. The shipping is not a problem either, as many people resort to this method to get books at nearly half of the price. You could also look to your schools book trade. Most all schools have this feature as students can sell their books to other students. These prices will be much cheaper as well. So, look elsewhere when you are considering buying your books. If you do choose to buy your books in the bookstore you should always look for used texts first as these will be marked down considerably.
Now, when you have reached the end of the semester and you have completed the courses and have no further use for those college textbooks you should look to sell them. You want to sell them as soon as possible so they do not become outdated. If they become outdated no one will want them anymore. Even though you might have paid 200 dollars for a book only 6 months prior, it could be worth nothing now. If your textbooks are still current then you should look to sell them to your friends or put them on your schools book trade. Most likely your school will also be buying some of the books back from its students, and this is another option. They do this so they can sell them in their bookstore for the upcoming semester.
Get to know all of the secrets about your schools textbook situation and keep your options open when you start each semester. I hope this helps you when you buy your textbooks!