creekland Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Just a PSA for those of us with college students on a budget. I looked up the books oldest needs for this semester and took a gasp at the bookstore prices - cheapest available came to $904.75. I just got finished shopping online using Dealoz and finding most things at Half.com (but some were elsewhere) and paid $224.03 including shipping. He still will need to buy $135.50 at the bookstore for things not usable used nor cheaper online new, so our grand total will be $359.53 + tax for the bookstore items. That's a MUCH better total for our family budget! The books I bought used are all supposed to be in very good or like new condition. Time will tell, but I only bought from those with superb feedback. The least expensive good books sell quickly - hence the PSA for those who are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 :iagree: with Creekland! We have gotten a lot of cheap, good books using dealoz.com. Buying early and being careful about the descriptions and feedback has worked for us. We like to look for the ones that say "no hilighting" or something similar. Both college-age dc's have had success with international editions. Sometimes you can get burned with those, so proceed with caution. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) I didn't buy any international editions. One of the write ups said problems may be different. That wouldn't work for Accounting! After that I just skipped over them - just in case. I was satisfied with what was available. I'm now shopping for middle son's one cc class (as opposed to five for oldest). His prof has selected a new book (grr!). We won't get nearly the savings. His books would be $92.50 at the bookstore and it looks like I'll be paying about $66. It's still a savings, but it'd be nice if it were a similar proportion to oldest's. Edited July 13, 2011 by creekland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice H Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Here's something I learned when I attempted to buy from the publisher, because it was cheaper than the CC bookstore. Do not input school name. Just be an individual doing self-study. When I had divulged the cc school name, the online system would not let me order or back up and change info. I guess I could have gone to a different computer and tried again (?), unless the mailing address had been "remembered". Just ordered the latest Campbell Biology from the publisher. For the the same price as just the book and online component at the bookstore, the publisher sold packages with a choice of extras. Also, I have shied away from instructor copies. There are some possible ethics issues with this, even if it may be technically legal, since I am not the instructor who sold a freebie from the publisher. (I've done some google research about this, but I'm not a lawyer.) Yep, it's tough when a high percentage of the books are 2011 copyrights. (We've got bio and math brand spanking new. :tongue_smilie:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Just a warning... some courses require online coursework. I teach a math course at the cc that uses CourseCompass / MyLabsPlus. A student code is bundled with the textbook that's sold at the bookstore. You can buy separate access online, but it's very expensive since it has the textbook online. I've had students have problems because they bought the book online and then needed to buy the access separately. It would have been cheaper for them to just get the book at the bookstore. (Of course, then you also get the issues where some teachers use the online resources and others don't, so unless you know the instructor, you may not know what to buy in advance.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) Just a warning... some courses require online coursework. I teach a math course at the cc that uses CourseCompass / MyLabsPlus. A student code is bundled with the textbook that's sold at the bookstore. You can buy separate access online, but it's very expensive since it has the textbook online. I've had students have problems because they bought the book online and then needed to buy the access separately. It would have been cheaper for them to just get the book at the bookstore. (Of course, then you also get the issues where some teachers use the online resources and others don't, so unless you know the instructor, you may not know what to buy in advance.) And this would be why oldest still needs to purchase a couple of things at the bookstore - they weren't cheaper online. Others mentioned needing a CD, so I made sure I bought versions with an unopened CD (and access code). Edited July 13, 2011 by creekland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverland Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Thanks for this post! I had never heard of Dealoz. I've been shopping amazon and ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 And this would be why oldest still needs to purchase a couple of things at the bookstore - they weren't cheaper online. Others mentioned needing a CD, so I made sure I bought versions with an unopened CD (and access code). I was looking at some science books through Amazon and noticed that there were a lot of complaints that the unused access code for the online components were coming up as expired when they tried to register online. So you might still want to be wary of whom you're buying from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Both college-age dc's have had success with international editions. Sometimes you can get burned with those, so proceed with caution. GardenMom My son has had mixed results with international versions. The psychology book he ordered was perfectly fine, but the engineering text had the same problems, but all of the units were metric! In the end, it was useless and he had to buy the standard text anyway. So, do be careful. Just a warning... some courses require online coursework. I teach a math course at the cc that uses CourseCompass / MyLabsPlus. A student code is bundled with the textbook that's sold at the bookstore. My son has had this issue as well. He's forced to buy a text for a course this term at the bookstore for $190 because it comes bundled specifically for his school and includes an on-line access code. Sheesh. Fortunately, one of his courses is a "part two" so he already has the book for that, and one of the others doesn't require a text. All together, it looks like he'll spend about $250 for books this semester. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 FYI - the math text we're using is unbound. The department chose that one over the bound version because the bookstore doesn't buy back the paperback version. Using the unbound version saves students about $40 over the bound. Going to hardback would run about $60 more and students wouldn't make it back with resale. I've been teaching 14 years. MML+ / CourseCompass is a wonderful way to help students learn. I think it's well worth the extra (assuming the teacher uses it & students use it correctly). There are online videos, online tutoring, and a help-me-solve-it feature that's really good. I don't see the need to continue to put out revised editions every couple years though... But the departments I'm aware of on my campus do their best to keep costs as low as they can for students - within the limitations of effective teaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Just a warning... some courses require online coursework. (Of course, then you also get the issues where some teachers use the online resources and others don't, so unless you know the instructor, you may not know what to buy in advance.) And this would be why oldest still needs to purchase a couple of things at the bookstore - they weren't cheaper online. Others mentioned needing a CD, so I made sure I bought versions with an unopened CD (and access code). These are excellent points. Dd sometimes emails her profs (easier to do now that she knows most of them well) with questions about what is really required. Sometimes the prof will say that the online/CD isn't required, and sometimes they do. This fall she's taking a CS course, so she made sure she got the CD/online package - she figures a CS class will probably require them, and she doesn't know this prof so she didn't email him. My son has had mixed results with international versions. The psychology book he ordered was perfectly fine, but the engineering text had the same problems, but all of the units were metric! In the end, it was useless and he had to buy the standard text anyway. So, do be careful. My son has had this issue as well. He's forced to buy a text for a course this term at the bookstore for $190 because it comes bundled specifically for his school and includes an on-line access code. Sheesh. Fortunately, one of his courses is a "part two" so he already has the book for that, and one of the others doesn't require a text. All together, it looks like he'll spend about $250 for books this semester. Brenda I hate spending so much, too! The worst was organic chem for dd. What a pricey class! Dd had an issue with her international edition genetics text. The practice problems were the same as for the regular edition, but were in a different order. Fortunately her professor posted the actual problems with solutions online, so she used those. If he had not done that, she would have borrowed a fellow student's text and marked hers up. For that class the savings was worth the potential problem. Ds bought the former edition for his physics book. A couple of the practice problems were different, but he figured it out by checking with his study partner's book every once in a while. Again, there was a huge savings by taking this risk. And one other thing - ds has traded/loaned/rented books to his friends. Once your student gets started in his major, he can network to do this. It works out very well for the sophomore courses especially. The students know each other pretty well by then, and they aren't too specialized to trade. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLG Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Second the caution about the webcodes potentially being invalid if you buy from other than publisher or bookstores. Will add that we had an OASIS account as homeschoolers with Pearson so we can purchase college books directly and they are quite a bit cheaper than the bookstore even with tax and shipping. Cengage also lets you do this thru CengageBrain plus they run discount coupons frequently and offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount. These darn things are still through the roof for math and science though especially when they have new editions or'bundle' or'custom'to avoid used books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Oldest's school has mentioned special bundles before. He needed one for two courses last year and they mentioned it was only available via the bookstore when I looked it up. This year, with the exception of the 2 "extra" items they tell us must be new, he pretty much just needs "books." He could have bought most of them used from the bookstore, so I don't think we're in any danger by going for bargains. That said, the warnings are good to know in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 And one other thing - ds has traded/loaned/rented books to his friends. Once your student gets started in his major, he can network to do this. It works out very well for the sophomore courses especially. The students know each other pretty well by then, and they aren't too specialized to trade. GardenMom My son has taken this route as well -- borrowing books from friends and then lending out some of his. Big savings there, especially for intro course texts where he won't need them for reference later anyway. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 My son has taken this route as well -- borrowing books from friends and then lending out some of his. Big savings there, especially for intro course texts where he won't need them for reference later anyway. Brenda My guy has done this for electives too. It is the least expensive method when it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Several places here rent the textbook for much less. If you don't return it, you are charged the rest. Dh's psych book for this term was I think $109 new, and to rent a used copy was under $50. It saves trying to get peanuts for them at buyback if they're even wanted for the next term by the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I'm a community college professor, and I expect that the emails about the books will start any day now. I'm always willing to let students know what books I'm using. If they're bought elsewhere, they do indeed need to be ordered NOW though. When students order them just before the semester starts and don't get them in time, it is a big, ugly mess. I have the two main texts on reserve at the library just in case, but that doesn't always work for students who are juggling a lot outside of school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asta Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Here's something I learned when I attempted to buy from the publisher, because it was cheaper than the CC bookstore. Do not input school name. Just be an individual doing self-study. When I had divulged the cc school name, the online system would not let me order or back up and change info. I guess I could have gone to a different computer and tried again (?), unless the mailing address had been "remembered". Close your browser window. Delete your history. Clear your cache. Delete your cookies. Re-open your browser. There will be no "record" of you ever being at the site. asta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. A Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Thanks for posting this. DH is going back to school here in the fall and I'm glad to know that the books may be able to cost less than we were expecting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 My college kids rent the majority of their books. And when renting math books through Chegg they have gotten the CDs with them. Saves them a bundle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice H Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Close your browser window. Delete your history. Clear your cache. Delete your cookies. Re-open your browser. There will be no "record" of you ever being at the site. asta Hope my addled brain remembers this for other similar dead-ends on the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace is Sufficient Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I guess I didn't do as well as some here -- I saved a little over $200, but without you guys we might have just ended up going with the college bookstore... $$$ Debbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I ask my professors if they mind me using the last edition. Sometimes they are actually teaching out of the previous edition anyway. I have been able to spend $5-10 instead of $80-100 several times because of this. I buy mine used on Amazon. My uni bookstore is online, so I know quite a bit ahead what books I will need. I email the prof, then I start watching. When someone posts a used book at a good price, I pounce. :D Our bookstore rents books, but they are almost as expensive as buying new. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I ask my professors if they mind me using the last edition. Sometimes they are actually teaching out of the previous edition anyway. I have been able to spend $5-10 instead of $80-100 several times because of this. I buy mine used on Amazon. My uni bookstore is online, so I know quite a bit ahead what books I will need. I email the prof, then I start watching. When someone posts a used book at a good price, I pounce. :D Our bookstore rents books, but they are almost as expensive as buying new. :confused: Have you tried Chegg for renting? We have found them to be very reasonable. We haven't rented from the college bookstores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Have you tried Chegg for renting? We have found them to be very reasonable. We haven't rented from the college bookstores. No. By the time I buy used and then sell them, I almost never pay anything, and sometimes I make money. I don't want to spend money to rent. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 No. By the time I buy used and then sell them, I almost never pay anything, and sometimes I make money. I don't want to spend money to rent. :001_smile: This is what we do too, except for the books oldest wants to keep. Renting doesn't work for that either. Dealoz gives the best price found for new, used, or renting. One has to check the quality of the used books, the cheapest isn't always the best, but we haven't found renting to be the best option for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.