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So I just found out that my books, if bought through Barnes and Noble, will cost me around a grand this semester. This is terrifying, so I was wondering if anyone could tell me the name of a great used-book website that I could get texts through...I've been googling but I'm evidently pretty bad at it because I haven't found anything too helpful. Isn't there one called "Books on Campus" or something?
Started by Melissa Cunningham (Tufts University) at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007 (permalink)
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Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
This is the best website: www.fetchbook.info/ It tells you which site has the book for the cheapest.
This looks promising: www.textbookflix.com. You can rent books for a semester or longer, at seemingly reasonable prices!
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Bigwords.com is amazing.
You enter the list of books you want to get, and it basically searches every online textbook seller and 3rd party marketplace (i.e. amazon.com marketplace) and it returns you the best possible price you can get for all your books by telling you where to by each book. It even factors in shipping & handling, and sometimes gives you coupon codes if they're available. I personally don't use anything else.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
You could try Amazon Marketplace or Half.com. If you type "textbooks" in Google, you will get a list of sites that automatically search for the cheapest prices.
The bookstore will generally only return the books if in shrinkwrap. Use www.bkstore.com/tufts to find out the book you need for the course before you come back to college.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Abebooks.com has some pretty cheap books. They can be very slow so I'd get
the order in ASAP. In addition, getting the international edition of text
books can save quite a bit of money. You have to be careful though. For the
most part the international edition is exactly the same as the US edition
but either soft instead of hardcover, lower quality paper, B&W instead of
color, or some other price saving difference. There are exceptions and in 4
years I only had 1 book be a problem. Another thing that saved me is sharing
books with people I was close with in my major or class. If you can do hw or
study together it works out well. Good luck.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
half.com, ebay, amazon are great places to start.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
If you're looking for books, check out www.campusi.com. You can search for
each book by ISBN (which I usually find on Amazon), author, title or
keyword. This site searches all possible sites you could order the book from
and lists all the prices (with shipping), so that you can find the cheapest
one. You also have the option of purchasing used or new books.
Campusi.comhas saved me a bunch of money, but I usually end up
ordering books from a
number of different places. Good luck!
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Half.com isn't too bad, Search for your books on Amazon.com or BN.com
and find their ISBN's, then search by ISBN on half.com or
studentshopper.com
I'd watch out for the really low prices though, be careful of getting
ripped off or a book that's in terrible shape. It's pretty average
for books to cost $300+ per semester, even if you get them pretty cheap.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Make sure to check the book swap on tuftslife.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Hi,
try www.amazon.com or www.abebooks.com.
They usually have cheap books far below the price of the new ones.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
I always had luck with half.com, which is an ebay site. I also bought books
from the students a year ahead of me...ask around and I bet people are more
than happy to sell them to you.
ciao!
Jill
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Getting Texts for Free
Check the Tufts library catalog: http://library.tufts.edu/.
Textbook are usually on reserve (read in library or photocopy the sections necessary pgs for 10 cents/pg).
If you have access to free photocopying, borrow a classmate's book to photocopy what you need.
I've borrowed a text for a class from the library. (You can borrow for 3 weeks, or more if you renew. Before the due date, you can renew online: click on "My Account" at the library website).
You also might be able to share a book with someone else from your class, each pay half for it, then sell it at the end of the semester and split the profits. This is especially useful if you live close to one another and you don't need the book during the class.
Some texts, like writings by oft-studied philosophers, are available online for free: just google the title & author.
A few textbooks are available for free downloading at http://www.textbookrevolution.org/how-to and at http://freeloadpress.com/booklist.aspx (this one requires free registration and a short survey).
Buying Texts
StudentListings.com has price comparisons of books for sale by online bookstores and by students at Tufts (or any university near you).
Campusi.com seems better for online bookstore price comparisons though.
If you buy a book online and don't get it in time for class, buy it at the Tufts bookstore and return it by the last day for book returns.
You can also find books for sale (possibly free) by individuals on Facebook's Marketplace and TuftsLife.com's Book Swap.
I've never done this, but you could split the cost and share the book with a classmate.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
The cheapest place that I have found is Half.com. It's part of ebay. good
luck
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
What I've found to be most helpful is just googling the ISBN or title
of the book or whatever you know. That way, you can compare prices
from different websites that you wouldn't have known about otherwise.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Use Ebay (pay homage to founder Pierre Omidyar, Tufts '88) or the
Facebook marketplace. If you don't feel comfortable purchasing books
over the internet, it might be a reasonable idea to ask around once
you're on campus. Not all upperclassmen have sold their books after
each semester; someone will probably have what you're looking for lying
around at a great price.
What are you looking for? I could always give you some deals.
RZ
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Hey Raeann,
here's some:
1. booksoncampus.com, you're right about it. don't know why it didnt
show up on google,though.
2. tuftslife.com - the BookSwap tab. best one because you can instantly
get the book from somebody else on campus.
3. half.com
4. facebook also has a used textbook sale.
hope it helps! also, i'd recommend you go to the Tufts bookstore's
website and get the ISBN numbers of the book for your class, just so
that you dont get the wrong editions of your textbooks.
Shivani
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
half.com or amazon.com has better deals, especially on used books.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
For some classes, the professor does not really require a textbook so
you might be able to get away with it by using the reserved copies in
the library. Also, sometimes i buy the earlier edition, it is much
cheaper and in MOST cases, the exact same material with just different
page numbers. hope you found this helpful
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
You MUST check out Better World Books at http://www.betterworld.com/. You
can get them for mad cheap, they support a good cause, PLUS they will carbon
offset your delivery. Only problem -- their selection isn't the greatest,
but I've found amazing steals there. I always go here first before I check
anywhere else.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
Go to cheapesttextbooks.com and it will list the best deals you can
find for your book. I buy all my textbooks through this site.
Anonymous said at 3:51pm Dec 19, 2007
I've used sites like bookfinder.com that search through other sites for the best deals (bookfinder factors in shipping and includes cheap versions from other countries), and half.com usually comes up with the best deals (and amazon.com is great, too, especially if you're buying books for an English class instead of normal textbook fare). Alibris.com also has really good prices, but it's definitely not as trustworthy. You could really run into trouble if you don't go to a reliable site for used books (either they won't come, the wrong book will come, or it'll take forever), so use a site with protections in place. Be extra careful when buying used books that it's the right edition. The bookstore website isn't exactly useful in this department: this semester 3 of my books had the wrong publication date listed on the website. It's really annoying to not have the same page numbers as the rest of the class, or to have whole chapters missing like when I was one edition behind for my sociology book last year. But aside from these issues, buying used online is great! I got some books that are listed at over $100 at the bookstore for less than $30, and they're still in great condition with little to no writing inside.
vivek said at 11:18pm Oct 09, 2008
www.BostonBookWorks.com has some great deal for boston-area college books
Charles Abudulai said at 3:29pm Oct 10, 2008
get a handheld scanner and make friends in your class!
Charles said at 4:23pm Oct 10, 2008
http://www.campusbooks.com/
Leonard Desir said at 5:45pm Oct 10, 2008
well, i agree with other responses but there is a new website that is pretty good called http://www.skoolboy.com, after you buy your books from there, you can list them back on the site for free.
Jen Huggins said at 4:07pm Oct 11, 2008
Some good sites are listed like half.com or amazon, but I think the best way to get books cheap or free are to either buy them off someone who took the course in the past semester for cheaper or borrow someone's book for a semester and return it to them.
Jessica Callaghan said at 11:04pm Oct 12, 2008
DON'T GET YOUR BOOKS AT BARNES AND NOBLE! You're asking for it to be expensive! Go to HALF.COM, it's like an ebay site for books, but you can buy them instantly instead of "bidding". Think more of another website for used things like amazon.com.
Tim Gilmore said at 9:57pm Oct 16, 2008
Don't get your books at Barnes and Nobele! You will be paying way to much and I have to agree with the others, check out half.com and even Ebay for that matter.
Derek Creadore said at 10:58pm Oct 16, 2008
go to http://www.dealoz.com/ you can get cheap textbooks the only difference is that they are all international editions which mean that they're all paperback
Chad Jessup said at 5:32pm Oct 20, 2008
AMAZON.COM or HALF.COM or some bookstores have used books for sale. Otherwise, ask friends/upperclassmen who have already taken the course and ask to borrow/buy their books. They'll probably sell it to you for the cheapest or even for free!
Kira McNeil said at 5:51pm Oct 20, 2008
Amazon Marketplace.
Brandon Jolley said at 1:17pm Oct 26, 2008
amazon.com was good place to buy books..i got my economics book for 3 bucks
Rita Close said at 7:59pm Oct 26, 2008
Amazon.com & eBay are great places. Half.com isn't too bad either.
David Oster said at 2:43pm Oct 27, 2008
GO TO ULOOP.COM!!! ALWAYS CHECK THERE 1st! You can find someone selling the textbook you need for CHEAP sometimes!