Posts tagged with expensive.
How to save money when buying textbooks
It's a special kind of book.
Sometimes you dread reading it. Sometimes it's downright boring. Once you're finished reading it, you may hope you never have to read it again.
And it's probably the most expensive kind of book you'll ever have to buy.
Yes, I'm talking about university textbooks, of course.
When my two oldest started at the University of Waterloo last September, the tuition was bad enough. But between part-time jobs, scholarships, and student loans, it was pretty much covered.
But then there were the textbooks.
The textbooks, lab manuals, course readings and tutorial manuals cost well over $700 a semester at the school's bookstore.
I wasn't too surprised. Heck, when I was a student, the textbook situation was even worse. My two oldest said that a few of their professors claimed they can only list one required textbook (in addition to readings and course manuals) for a class. Most of my classes, on the other hand, had multiple textbooks. It was always frustrating to spend hundreds of dollars on five books for one course. And then use only one of them for the entire year.
But my daughter discovered that a couple of her textbooks are $20 cheaper on Amazon.ca. And since shipping is free for orders $39 or more, she didn't have to pay anything extra for shipping and handling.
My son's history class requires a 'clicker,' a sort of remote that students can use to answer multiple-choice questions during a lecture.
The problem: It costs $42 at the University of Waterloo's bookstore.
It's $32 at Amazon.ca. But that's when it's in stock.
The solution: eBay. My son found a second-hand clicker for less than half the bookstore's price. Thanks to the Internet, this generation of university students have a lot of options when it comes to trying to save money on their course textbooks.
And for students at the University of Waterloo, there's UW-ACE, a Web-based course management system that allows instructors and students to interact with each other. During the school year, its main purpose is for students to access homework assignments, tests and course notes. But it also provides a great network for students to buy and sell used textbooks.
My daughter recently sold three of her old textbooks to AbeBooks Canada, an online marketplace for books that is a subsidiary of Amazon.com. In addition to buying textbooks, Abebooks also sells used, new, rare, and out-of-print books, and even provides you with a prepaid and trackable shipping label when you sell your used textbooks.
Several readers of this blog have given their own suggestions. Matt recommends finding international editions of textbooks. "They've got the exact same content as the regular $175 books, except they're printed on thinner paper and have a soft cover. Oh, and they also cost about $20-$50 on eBay instead of $150-$175 at the bookstore."
Cheap as they may be, Tyler warns there's a "certain amount of risk" involved with buying international editions of textbooks. "I've bought three in the past couple years, and two were perfectly legible. The third, however, was printed on extremely absorbent paper, and the print quality of most of the diagrams and figures was too low to be discernible. " Also, be aware of potential copyright and trademark violations, AbeBooks warns.
Jeff suggests borrowing textbooks from friends in different years, or checking Facebook for second-hand copies. "Borrowing books, or even renting them is always better than buying, unless the book is worth holding onto."
Tim Jacobs points out that newer editions of textbooks might not necessarily be worth the extra cost. Turning to older (and therefore cheaper) editions can save money. "The material is largely the same, but the cover and, perhaps, a few of the graphics will have changed - certainly not a substantive difference in editions."
Of course, as soon as you stray from the campus bookstore and turn to sources like eBay or Facebook, there's a certain amount of risk involved. Especially when purchasing older editions. Buyer beware: although the changes from one edition to the next might not be huge, sometimes important information is updated or completely changed. The newer editions sometimes correct mistakes from the older editions. An important diagram might be fixed, or an entire section will be updated with new information. So, although buying an older textbook will save you money, it might cost you in marks. Make sure you know what you're getting. Or not getting.
University textbooks cost hundreds of dollars every semester. But thankfully, for this generation of students, there are lots of other options. Between Amazon.ca, eBay, and buying textbooks secondhand from other students, your campus bookstore might be the last place you should look.
(Editor: Also read about how school supplies last longer in university and Beer or food? A savvy student can have both.)
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KATHY DOBSON 
