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Thread: College textbooks?

  1. #1
    Member Spitball's Avatar
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    College textbooks?

    Our college aged son is about to start another semester. He works at a local pizza place and has a great boss. The problem is his textbook prices.

    We paid for two of his books, and they were almost $350 dollars. One had an option to buy a used copy but had an internet requirement that would have made that avenue even more expensive. He has three more texts to buy, but he says many professors never use the texts and prefers to wait. If he does that, he falls behind if they do use the text.

    It is very frustrating. My wife and I graduated from colleges in the mid-1970s and did not pay these prices. What is going on with these prices? My wife and I worked in public education for more than thirty years and know the textbook companies go all out to push their product.

    What is going on with these prices???
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  3. #2
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    Re: College textbooks?

    Try the used market.
    My children are in the habit of using amazon and checking version numbers,
    Most schools have a rental program.
    If that fails you can buy new and sell back at the end of the semester.
    It's illegal, but many students xerox entire textbooks.
    Of course some just scan them.

    Every break the used text company sends somebody up and down the hallway at work asking faculty members if they have received a new version and would like to sell their old ones,

    It's crazy.
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  4. #3
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    Re: College textbooks?

    I always used Cheapesttextbooks.com. That site saved me so much money on books. Usually they were used but once in a while there were new books dirt cheap if you paid attention to it.
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  5. #4
    They call me "chef"
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    Re: College textbooks?

    Never buy the newest edition.

    Never but the newest edition.

    New editions are a money making scam to keep one-time-use-only textbooks at a high price in a market that is flooded with used copies at the end of every semester.

    The total changes in every new edition of a textbook is a new author's foreword, a handful of new sidebar blurbs with quaint paragraph long asides, a few chapters switched in order, and new chapter titles. The actual content is always the same.

    History, science, and math haven't changed too much in the 11 months since the last edition was released.

    There is a sea of 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th edition textbooks you can find for 75% below cost on Amazon and Half.com. Amazon offers free Student Prime accounts to students who can show proof of enrollment, which gives you free 2 day shipping on all products including text books and text book rentals (the rentals are great and way cheaper).

    Never buy new editions of textbooks.
    Last edited by Larry Schuler; 01-08-2014 at 01:06 AM.

  6. #5
    They call me "chef"
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    Re: College textbooks?

    The school, the campus book store, and some teachers will pressure students into buying the newest editions and make it seem like it will affect your grade or contribute to the poor school's bankruptcy. You pay a fair tuition to be there and don't owe the campus your participation in price gauging. Save you and your son's money for his food, travel, and living costs.

  7. #6
    They call me "chef"
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    Re: College textbooks?

    Also if your son finds himself in a class where the teacher abandons the syllabus or has the students buy books and never uses them, he is well within his rights to talk to the Dean of the department and bring that to his or her attention. Chances are other students have also been deprived of their money and an engaging, effective educational experience from that professor. There are also plenty of adjunct professors who would be glad to take over that class if the current professor is bored with being an educator.

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    Kingspoint (02-03-2014)

  9. #7
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    Re: College textbooks?

    I'd suggest looking into renting textbooks. I'd provide a link or two, but there are numerous reputable renters. You can find most texts for under $50, many as little as $10 or so.

    I'd also encourage your son to consider the library. Whether it's through reserves or intra-library loans, many books can be had for no cost. There's a lack of convenience with this route, but with enough ingenuity, lots of money to be saved.

  10. #8
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    Re: College textbooks?

    It is a big scam. Be nice if our government spent time investigating this scam instead of investigating important issues like steroids in MLB. There is absolutely no way the prices of college textbooks can be justified for their cost and the time the author (some professor) put into writing it. Supply-and-demand? Please.

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    dougdirt (01-08-2014),Kingspoint (02-03-2014),Spitball (01-08-2014)

  12. #9
    he/him *BaseClogger*'s Avatar
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    Re: College textbooks?

    Quote Originally Posted by BillDoran View Post
    I'd suggest looking into renting textbooks. I'd provide a link or two, but there are numerous reputable renters. You can find most texts for under $50, many as little as $10 or so.

    I'd also encourage your son to consider the library. Whether it's through reserves or intra-library loans, many books can be had for no cost. There's a lack of convenience with this route, but with enough ingenuity, lots of money to be saved.
    Yes. Rent the books. And share them with friends/classmates. I always did my homework after midnight, so I would let my classmate(s) use the book before then and then I kept it for the graveyard shift...

  13. #10
    Mon chou Choo vaticanplum's Avatar
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    Re: College textbooks?

    I second the half.com recommendation. Does the free amazon prime for students still exist? I thought they cut that a couple of years ago.

    I also echo the suggestion of the library -- his own school's, other schools', and public libraries. This can get tricky due to time limitations, but he should have a syllabus early on that can give him a guide for what he might be able to photocopy or scan and use later in the semester.

    Check his library's online resources as well. It's a long shot for many recent textbooks, but it would still be good for him to familiarize himself with what's available. Many student IDs will permit access and an absolute treasure trove of online resources -- scholarly texts, journals, periodicals, etc.

    If he is really struggling to pay for resources, have him talk to his professor. Most professors completely understand the financial hardship of books and may have ways to help him out -- loaning him an extra copy, helping to find scanned pdfs of the material, etc. I'm someone who is completely appalled by the scam that is the textbook industry -- used books are bought back for almost nothing, with the rate going down and down with each resale, but are resold at pretty much the same price every time. It's staggering. The internet has evened this out somewhat. But I have never handed a booklist to students just noting the required brand-new textbooks they need. I try to go with scans of chapters or books (shhh) or earlier editions, or at the very least provided them with resources for cheaper or used books (which they're usually familiar with anyway). This is very common. Professors are well aware of the cost of books and they, along with librarians, can help.

    I took great pride in the fact that I never once bought a textbook all through graduate school. I was pathologically tightfisted and got extremely creative with getting what I needed. Of course I also still have an outstanding $220 bill at my school's library, but hey, still cheaper than most new textbooks.
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  14. #11
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    Re: College textbooks?

    I'm in grad school right now and I only buy course readers from the book store. The cost online is anywhere from 30-80% less than at the bookstore. Another trick is to try and find international editions of books. They are usually the same books, but with some extra sections for that country and can be much cheaper. I had an econ text that was $450 at the bookstore and I got the international version for $45 and just skipped over the parts that pertained to India.

    I also find that a lot of times you don't even need the texts. I typically wait until the second week to get the books. Even buying them online you can get them within 3 days at worst.

  15. #12
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    Re: College textbooks?

    First dont buy any books until after the first week of class to make sure you actually need it. Some teachers put everything on blackboard. I rarely bought books and never had a problem. Make friends with people in the class and start having daily or weekly study sessions at the library or wherever (with someone who has the book)

    Then try chegg. My gf just got $250 worth of books for $80

  16. #13
    Mailing it in Cyclone792's Avatar
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    Re: College textbooks?

    Since I was in college 10+ years ago, the only recommendation I can give that's still likely applicable today is absolutely do not, under any circumstances, buy a textbook before class begins or even during the first week or two of classes.

    In the majority of my classes, I realized within a few weeks that buying the textbook was worthless so foregoing the purchase was an immediate savings. For the few classes that I ultimately needed the book, I tried other avenues first, such as borrowing from friends. On more than one occasion I met a classmate in the school library who had the book, borrowed it for 20 minutes and fed dimes into the copier to make copies of the few sections I needed. Spending $3 on copies for 30 pages was better than spending $100 for the entire book.

    If all else failed, I'd give in and buy a used copy usually in the third or fourth week, but that was probably for only about one third of my classes. Not once did I feel like I had fallen behind on anything either.

    With today's much more wide options, I figure it's probably easier to buy less textbooks than even I bought 10 years ago.
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  17. #14
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: College textbooks?

    I always enjoy the professors who write their own book, then it sells for $150.

    The prices of college textbooks is simply put, a joke. They know you"must" have them, so they can charge whatever they want. And they do.

  18. Likes:

    RedFanAlways1966 (01-08-2014)

  19. #15
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    Re: College textbooks?

    How about when they make you buy the edition printed for that specific university/college? Something like History, Part 1 Greendale Community College Edition. It's a scam.

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    dougdirt (01-08-2014),RedFanAlways1966 (01-08-2014)


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