Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Buy Textbooks from Your College Bookstore

College bookstores, in my opinion, should only be visited as a last resort. College bookstores not only overprice textbooks, but they also trick you into buying things you don’t need such as t-shirts, travel mugs, and overpriced school supplies that can be bought cheaper elsewhere.  Here’s exactly why, you shouldn’t buy textbooks from your college bookstore, unless you absolutely have to.

1. College bookstores overprice textbooks.  The biggest reason is because they can.  They know students have to buy textbooks and will pay what the bookstore charge, because they think they don’t have a choice.

2. Most people don’t know that their college bookstore isn’t the only place to buy textbooks.  You can buy new and used textbooks from thousands of sellers on the Internet.  When I say sellers, I mean people that sell on places like EBay and Amazon’s Marketplace.  You will not believe the deals you will find.  I bought a textbook through Amazon’s Marketplace for $5 and that included shipping, plus the book was NEW.  Used at my college bookstore the book was $55, new $77.  Talk about a savings.  I could have got a used one for $0.35 plus shipping, but couldn’t pass up a new one for $1.98.

3. Other than online sellers, regular online bookstores offer better prices than a college bookstore.  The savings aren’t as huge as the ones you will find from online sellers, but they are still cheaper.  I suggest you search for the best deals, using a search engine like Froogle.

4. Used textbooks can be found everywhere and most of the time they are a lot cheaper than the used books from your college bookstore.  If you’re lucky, you’ll find fellow students who want to get rid of their books and will sell them cheaper than the college bookstore.  You can also check used bookstores for more great deals.