Did you know in one year, 134 college stores across the U.S. sold 3.4 million new textbooks and 1.9 million used textbooks? Textbooks are an expense that college students can’t ignore because they are required to complete work and assignments for their courses.
You can reduce these unavoidable textbook costs. You just need to do some research to find discount college books you can rent or buy used books instead. Are you ready to save big on this major college expense?
Keep reading, and we will help you reduce spending on college textbooks.
Fall into Discount College Books
The leaves are changing colors, and you can smell the start of another college semester. Before you go back to college, you have a to-do list a mile long. Looking through the courses, you selected there’s a list of college textbooks you need to get to start the year.
You may be thinking about the class last year, where your professor required seven college textbooks, and you only used 4 of them the entire semester.
Start doing some research on the costs of your textbooks. Add up the total cost to buy all your books new and then move into the discount textbook options.
There are some classes where a textbook is needed more than others, read class reviews online so you can make an informed decision.
Buying New or Used College Textbooks
When it comes to buying textbooks, you have a choice at your college bookstore between new and used books. Used books may be considered cheap textbooks, but there may be leftover highlighter or notes and doodles in the margins.
If you’re thinking about looking into discount textbooks, but realize you can’t sell those or try to make some of your money back after the semester or year, there are other factors to consider.
Some students have explained that you shouldn’t expect to get a lot of money by reselling your college textbooks. Most of the time, new editions or extended versions of college books make the original version much less valuable and less expensive.
Another reason that people won’t buy a book from their friend is that now, textbooks include online work that requires a password, and usually, only the initial purchaser gets the password. This password only works for the time allotted, most likely just the semester, for the initial buyer.
Students turn to other options because new and used textbook prices are rising, and you aren’t getting the same money back if you try to resell the books. Used are even harder to resell because there may be writing or highlighter in the book.
Save Your Money for a Rainy Day
There are other options than just buying a new or used textbook; you can find cheap textbooks online, with a range of options to rent, buy, and the pricing of ebooks. They will list out the different price options and recommendations on if it’s most efficient to rent or buy, depending on the book.
Renting
Renting your textbooks is the quickest money-saver. You can only borrow books for an allotted amount of time, so if the class has a late final or you don’t have the syllabus yet, verify that you can extend the rental for a small fee if needed.
You should look at more than just your campus bookstore, even if they are renting textbooks. There are much more cost-effective options online, and it’s essential to look at all of them to find the one that best fits your needs.
If you are taking Biology and are trying to decide if you should rent or buy a book, you can use our website to determine the price to buy, rent, how much an ebook is, and how much you would get if you sold it back after the semester.
For example, after looking at the science textbook Biology: Science for Life with Physiology (6th Edition) (Belk, Border & Maier, The Biology: Science for Life Series, 5th Edition), it is $83.54 to buy the book vs. $26.42 to rent.
However, this isn’t the most important part – if you look at the “Sell Back” section, if you bought the book, you could only sell it back for $36.75, which puts you out $46.79, almost $50.
Two tips for renting:
- You want to make sure to keep the book in tip-top shape
- Make sure that the time period you have with the book is enough for you to have it through your final exam or project
Etextbooks
Ebooks are also available to rent online, but currently are around 25% more expensive than renting the physical textbook. In the future, these may get cheaper because grade schools and high schools are adapting to using iPads or other digital devices in place of textbooks. But for now, they are a little bit more expensive.
However, ebooks are still discount textbooks, and if you think that it would be beneficial to have a specific class book on your laptop, it is still cheaper in most cases than buying a textbook at your college store. You also can’t spill coffee on the book or get it wet in the rain.
Students can also benefit from ebooks because it encourages independent learning if you have access to more and can download and study books you’re interested in related to the topic.
What’s Your Major?
Another question you can take a step back and ask yourself before you spend money on buying books is, why do you need the book?
If you’re an English major that feels that you would keep or reread a required book for your class as inspiration, buying may be for you. You may also need to reference a book in a future class, another good reason to buy.
If you’re a science major that knows once the semester is over, you will close your book and never reopen it again, renting is the best route.
Money may not be the main factor when looking for discount college books, and you want to make sure you think about all of these things before making a decision.
Cue the Class Bell
Imagine yourself next semester…
School is in session, and you are ready with your discount college books. You took a look at every book you needed, considered price, and if you had to buy the book. You saved hundreds of dollars renting textbooks.
Doing your research and comparing prices is key to saving money, college is expensive, and saving on books can go a long way.
Take a look at next semester’s schedule and start your research or pull up the ISBN, title, author, or keyword and start searching for your books here!