How to Save Money on Your Textbooks

By Elana Goodwin on August 20, 2015

Before each semester, professors will upload or email their students the syllabi for their courses and inevitably, numerous textbooks and reading materials are needed for the class.

Buying textbooks can be really expensive, especially since you most likely will never use the book again after the semester’s over and may not be able to sell it to another student.

With school just around the corner, here are some tips and websites to help you save money on your textbooks for this year.

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1. Comparison shop. While it may be easier to just run to the nearest Barnes and Noble, you probably won’t get the best price on your textbooks if you just buy everything from the bookstore.

Websites like BIGWORDS, University Network, Slugbooks, Chegg, Valore, Half.com, CampusBooks, Amazon and Uloop.com will offer you better deals when it comes to buying and renting both new and used textbooks. Plus, some of the sites have buy-back programs, which means at the end of the semester you may even make some of your money back and get rid of your big and heavy textbooks, too.

Additionally, if you sign up for a free trial membership of Amazon Student — which is easy to do if you have a “.edu” email — you can get free 2-day shipping through the site (though certain sellers may not qualify) so you can get your textbooks rush-ordered if you’re taking care of your textbooks last minute.

2. Rent instead of buy. During my first years at college, I usually bought my books, thinking I could resell them to other students and make my money back, if not a profit. But this wasn’t always the case. Factors like the textbook edition you have, when you’re trying to sell your books, and how much you’re hoping to get for them will all affect whether or not you can get rid of your bought textbooks.

That’s why sometimes it’s better to rent textbooks — you pay to use the book for the semester and then send it back to wherever you rented it from. Renting is cheaper than buying and oftentimes the price you pay to rent is cheaper than what you’d get if you tried to sell the more expensive textbook you bought to another student.

3. Check out the library. My junior and senior years at Ohio State, I barely had to spend any money on textbooks. Instead, I ordered copies of the books through the university’s library or through a bigger library network. It’s super easy and you can do it with your Student ID, plus the books are completely free for you to use.

You do have to be careful about when the book is due back and sometimes the textbooks aren’t renewable as other students have the same idea as you, but checking out books from the library is still a really good way to use textbooks for the semester for no money at all.

Additionally, if your professor put the textbook on hold at the library, you can go there and check out the book for a short time to use in the library, which may help you be more productive as you’re only able to make use of the text for a short time. Seriously, check out your college’s library site and see if the edition of your textbook that you need can be borrowed, or if there’s an older version you can use for the semester.

Photo Credit: n3rdbomber.com

4. Purchase an older edition, used book, or ebook. Every year, new editions of textbooks are printed and professors often want their students to have the newest, most current version as that’s what they’ll be using for the course. But here’s a secret — the newest version of the textbook usually isn’t that different from the previous version of the book, and sometimes even the version before that. The older versions of the textbook are pretty much always cheaper and you can buy or rent them used to save even more money.

In fact, I’ve had teachers who specifically told the class to just buy the previous version of the textbook since they wanted to help students save money and other teachers who have scanned pages of the book and put them online for the class to use so students wouldn’t have to even buy the textbooks.

Ebooks are another great way to save money on textbooks as the digital version of the textbook is a great deal cheaper than the hardcopy paper version of the book. Since you most likely always carry around your laptop or tablet anyway, buying or renting digital textbooks will make things much easier and your bag will be a lot lighter.

5. Buy from other students. Most colleges have multiple Facebook groups where students can post items they’re selling or looking to buy, and that goes for textbooks, too. Rather than buying or renting textbooks from a bookstore or online, look for the books you need in your university’s social media groups and see if another student is selling the textbook you need for a class.

And here’s a tip if you’re going to buy from another student — never pay the price they’re asking for. Most students selling textbooks are desperate for some cash and want to get the book out of their dorm or apartment and don’t want the thing lying around all semester. Always know what the value is of the textbook you’re buying (check out online sellers for prices on used books) and make a counter-offer and negotiate the price.

So as you head back to school for the semester, keep these tips in mind to save money when you go to buy, rent, or borrow your textbooks. Good luck!

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