by Carol H. Morgan

Created on: July 07, 2010

These days it is fairly easy to figure out when, where, and what kind of books to buy for your freshman classes.  Because they are so expensive, usually any way to save money figures in as among the most important factors, with ease of buying them and perhaps selling them at the end of the term coming along as distant seconds and thirds.  Most of us don't care that they are brand spanking new, because that transforms an outrageously expensive item into one that is ludicrously so, so purchasing the all-important and important textbook will usually be done with an eye toward saving money.

Some items, not often books, but things like packets and teacher-made study guides, are only available through the school book store and very rarely do they offer them used since the teacher usually changes them per class.  But anything available new is always a score, so make sure to buy books the very first day you know you are taking the class as to have the most selection. Sometimes these seem superfluous and other times they are done with an eye toward saving money as they are readings from many books that buying individually would leave a college student broken.

Often a college teacher will say something like "I didn't say this but (wink wink) you can copy each other's study manual."  Usually when the teacher doesn't profit from the item they are more likely to say something like this and yes they can get in trouble but usually teachers, hurt by the prices of books themselves, are sympathetic to the student's plight and hate requiring several hundred dollars of reading material.  Also if something is going to be read infrequently it can be read in the study area for the class so ask if one can be made available.  That goes for less-used books as well.

The main books that the students will use for a class will be bought either at the bookstore or online at one of the used college text book places.  The only reason really that a student would want to at least visit the bookstore would be to double check the edition that the teacher will be using - it can be awkward if you end up with the wrong one.  After that, as it will be apparent that the used books will go fast if they are available at all, it will be a good idea to find the book off campus.

There are a lot of choices here.  There are many websites that cater to college students particularly and claim to have texts cheapest. Again, check edition. The only real concerns are what makes a book impossible to read.  There are other sites that offer any book they can get and resale, so try several of those sites.  Sometimes you will look on Amazon or some such site and they will list the cheapest source of the book and its condition and a list of all the other prices, which is very convenient. 

The only thing to mind after purchasing books in such a manner is treating a book so it is in about the same shape as when you bought it to get some of your large sums back.  It might be a good idea to sell it right away or even before the semester ends if you have your own notes or went on to another text because that will be the best way to assure that the class is still using the text and didn't move onto another one or different edition. 

The best way to make use of those text books financially and in every way: Crack them open!  Often!  That is the same for your tuition and other fees. They will only come in handy if the student gets as much as possible out of the use of these admittedly expensive items.

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