Tips for Buying Your Text Books Online
With tuition, supplies, rent, and living expenses, the last thing most students going back to college want to do is buy textbooks. Depending on the area of study, textbooks can cost hundreds of dollars each semester. Many students try to escape the high prices at bookstores by ordering their books online. Here are some tips to help you out if you decide to go this route:
Tip #1: Wait For The Syllabus
Many will go to their college’s bookstores and write down the names of the books that are shelved for the classes they are taking. The problem is that many times this information is outdated or even wrong. Most bookstores will allow you to return your book or exchange it for the correct one. However, this process could take weeks if you buy your books online and end up having to return them. Avoid this by checking the course syllabus for textbook information before you order.
Tip #2: Get The Correct Edition
A common book-buying mistake is purchasing the wrong edition. If you have the wrong edition it is usually possible to get through a class with little inconvenience, but the page numbers will be different and there may be assignments and test questions concerning material your book doesn’t cover. So be sure to double and triple check that you have the right edition when you order your textbooks online.
Tip #3 Plan For Shipping
One of the biggest setbacks when ordering textbooks online is the shipping time. Shipping can take from a few days to several weeks depending on the actual time it takes to ship the book and the availability of the book. So ensure that you have planned a reasonable amount of time for your books to arrive, usually a week or two, so you’ll have your books ready to go on the first day of class.
Tip #4 Account For Shipping Costs
Many sites will claim to sell incredibly inexpensive textbooks, but charge ridiculously high shipping costs, allowing them to make a much higher profit on the book. Do the math and make sure that when you add the cost of the books and the shipping, you are actually saving money by skipping the bookstore.
Tip #5 Check The Public Domain
Some classes will require students to read older literature, sometimes in addition to textbooks or in place of them. Most instructors are unconcerned with which edition you use and may not even require students to bring a copy to class. Talk to your teacher to see if this is the case with your class. When a book is old enough, it is placed in the public domain, meaning that the work is free to use. Many of these works are available for free on different websites, and some sites even provide them in a format for e-readers. Now that’s a deal!
College life can sometimes feel like a constant struggle to reduce costs, and ordering textbooks online can be a big step to saving money. Going back to college is difficult enough without high textbook costs. Follow these tips and you can save money by ordering online, but like any good college student, still be smart about it.
