How do you prevent your bookstores from robbing you of your hard-earned cash when buying textbook...
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If you don't mind waiting for your book to ship, the best places to find cheap books are internet stores like half.com and amazon.com. Aside from already low prices on most books compared to your bookstore, the advantage of these sites is that you can find old editions. One thing to realize is that when books are republished, there is usually very little change in content and the prices of older editions plummet immediately. So if you buy a book that is one or two editions old you could get a $100 book for less than $10. If you're going to do this it is helpful to have someone you know in the class to make sure you are studying the correct material.
This brings me to the other ways to save money on books. If you have a friend who previously took the class, you could borrow their old book. If you have friends currently enrolled in the class with you, you can split the cost of the book and then split whatever you make back if you sell it.
You can also try to get the book from your school library but this is usually fruitless. Most schools only have one or two copies of textbooks and often times these are checked out and never returned.
Another unlikely way to save on books is to see if you can find parts of the book online. Sometimes sites like amazon.com or books.google.com offer previews of the books which include random chapters or pages. Sometimes even the publishers have book previews online. This seems ridiculous but can be effective. For example, if you have predetermined assignments and the pages you need happen to be online, you don't need to buy the book. This method is also helpful if you are assigned a paper or project on a specific chapter in a book.
These tried and true methods will save you tons of money in a time when money is already a little tight.
This brings me to the other ways to save money on books. If you have a friend who previously took the class, you could borrow their old book. If you have friends currently enrolled in the class with you, you can split the cost of the book and then split whatever you make back if you sell it.
You can also try to get the book from your school library but this is usually fruitless. Most schools only have one or two copies of textbooks and often times these are checked out and never returned.
Another unlikely way to save on books is to see if you can find parts of the book online. Sometimes sites like amazon.com or books.google.com offer previews of the books which include random chapters or pages. Sometimes even the publishers have book previews online. This seems ridiculous but can be effective. For example, if you have predetermined assignments and the pages you need happen to be online, you don't need to buy the book. This method is also helpful if you are assigned a paper or project on a specific chapter in a book.
These tried and true methods will save you tons of money in a time when money is already a little tight.
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