I’m working on a new project that had me researching average college costs. While tuition, room and board are important to know about, most college websites included an estimate of how much money you might end up spending on textbooks. Though I’ve been out of college for a few years now, I still remember the financial pain of buying my books for class.
That’s why this recent tip sheet from the National Association of College Stores (NACS) caught my attention. It offers four ways that colleges and their college stores are trying to help keep the costs of textbooks down, and helping students save money in the process.
- Buybacks. Most college stores do their best to promote a strong used book market through aggressive buyback policies. Over 95% of Cornell students receive personalized e-mails during buyback season. As a result, the store nearly doubled its supply of used books over two years, allowing them to resell used books for even less. Likewise, the University of Connecticut bookstore has recently launched a buyback web site that informs students how many books the store will be buying and at what price. Combined with other programs, UConn Co-op estimates that it saves its students about $3.6 million annually on textbooks. Some stores, such as that at California State University-Fullerton, have guaranteed buyback programs to increase used book stock and put a little extra cash in student pockets.
- Price Matching. George Fox University, Weber State University and California State-Fullerton are just a few of the stores nationwide that participate in these programs, which practically guarantee students the lowest price.
- Creative Concepts and Promotions. Washington University bookstore hands out $20 bills at random times throughout the year, the University of Illinois-Champaign store helps match used book sellers with buyers, and the University of Arkansas saved students more than $500,000 over two years by discounting books the day before classes begin.
- Textbook Rentals. Stores like those at San Mateo (Calif.) Community College are saving students money through textbook rental programs. The San Mateo Community College store estimates saving participating students $79,000 in two years.
I’ve heard of some colleges now offering their students the option of accessing textbooks online. I wonder if they charge for that access. I mean, if they didn’t, how else would the college and textbook publishers make their money? If you know additional ways that college students are saving money on their books, let us know.
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My older son, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, has purchased his books in a variety of ways, but mostly online. He has also borrowed books from friends who have previously had the class. He’s borrowed books from the university library and he’s gambled and NOT bought the book at all, waiting for the prof. to use the book. He has told me that on several occasions the prof requires a book, then never uses it.
My younger boy, a sophomore at Appalachian State in Boone, is lucky enough to attend one of the few schools that includes books as part of tuition. The kids simply pick up their textbooks, use them and return them at the end of the semester. He only buys the occasional novel or special book. Saves a ton of money.
My school has a buyback program, but occasionally the school will not buy back if they are not using that text or that edition next semester, so I sell them on ebay. I also buy books on ebay if the used books are sold out at the college bookstore.
When you sell the books on eBay, do you at least recoup some of your money?
Here on the west coast we also have a program called “Slugbooks” started by UC Santa Cruz (hence the the slug term) which you can sign up for. You can find people who are selling the books you need not just at your school but any other school in the program. It also gives you a comparison of sellers prices, including student to student sales, the college bookstore and various places on the net. Slugbooks already has the schools main classes programmed in so you get the right book for the right class which is great! Classes that are not offered as often might not be there. It’s local to CA only (as far as I know) but it’s a really great resource!!
Half.com! I returned a $100 book to the University when i found the same book for $50 three years ago for one class my husband was talking.
My husbands graduate school (University of Wisconsin-Stout), either his department or the entire grad school, actually BUYS all the books and you just check them out from the library. Talk about a huge savings for students, and a way for professors to realize even if they “get bored” with a textbook, they should use it for a few years so students can maximize the return/purchase.
great post! When I was in college, the most effective way to save money on text books is to check them out of the library. Most university libraries carry text books, but you’ll need to contact the professor early to beat others to the punch.
another great alternative is to purchase an older edition of the book. If it’s a lit book or something like that, usually only the binding and intro have been changed for the new version. You can score the older version for pennies and it’s virtually the same book.
My daughters also had good luck with half.com for college text books. And they both found it helpful to wait until classes started to find out which books the profs were actually going to use. Math text books are incredibly expensive – one of my daughters was a math major – and that was tough. I remember one semester when she spent more than $600 on books – and this was a few years ago. Ouch.
Interlibrary loan!!! Like others who mentioned above, the library is great, but you have to beat others to the punch…but don’t forget you can request books from other college libraries through interlibrary loan. That got me through Johns Hopkins without buying a book.
I had no idea this was an option. I going to tweet it!
Leah
I’ve always found that it’s much, much cheaper to buy text books online rather than going through the bookstore. You can either visit the college bookstore and write down the ISBN#s of your books (or perhaps email the professor/departmentof your class). Then visit half.com or amazon.com or any other college bookseller online. I saved a small fortune this way! And almost any recent college text can be resold through the internet for a much higher price than you will receive from the bookstore.
Also check if there are any student message boards specific to your school where students in previous sections may be selling used copies.
Thanks for this tip. Do people also sell books on Craigslist?
I was a whiz at saving on textbooks. During law school I worked for Westlaw as a student rep, which gave me a big discount on any West publication textbooks (many, many). Also, I checked services like bookfinder.com which gives you comparison of book prices.
I just returned for a LLM and discovered something new: textbook rental. One class book costs $200 new ( couldn’t find it any cheaper) but I can rent it for the semester for $80. I don’t plan to keep it or need it again so it’s great. Google ‘textbook rental.’ I used chegg.com, but there are others.
If you do buy, definitely sell it back asap if you won’t need it. I always used amazon.com b/c I found I got a much better resale price. People do sell on cragislist, but the books go for pretty cheap there. School bookstores give you terrible returns on the book. Go with amazon for selling. Be sure to post it in time for someone who will need it the following semester. Describe it very thoroughly and accurately. Decide, depending on the weight of the book, if it’s worth it for you to offer expedited shipping to the buyer. Good luck.
Melissa, thanks for your great suggestions.
Leah