Textbook Strategies

[Texsox]

Besides lining up like lemmings at the campus bookstore, what are other venues? Between my son and I we are looking at a sweet $1,000 next week in text books.

[Rowand44]

Besides lining up like lemmings at the campus bookstore, what are other venues? Between my son and I we are looking at a sweet $1,000 next week in text books.

Definitely don't buy the books until your son gets all of his syllabuses for his classes. There will most likely be classes where he doesn't need the book(s) at all. Besides that, I really don't know what to tell you, buying books sucks.

[FlaSoxxJim]

There are a lot of online places to buy textbooks for cheap, like half.com, valorebooks.com, bookbyte.com, etc.

 

Personally, I keep my textbook costs down by thoroughly abusing the system and requesting preview copies from the publishers. telling them I'm considering adopting their text for use in a course. When they think it might lead to a sale of 10-20 copies, they are very quick to get a preview copy out to me. In truth, I have adopted a half-dozen different texts for various classes over the years, so I guess I'm not such a bad abuser of the system after all.

[dasox24]

I go with the combo of what the two before me said. I wait until classes start to see which books I really need b/c a lot of teachers will say the 1st day that you don't need to bring a certain book to class ever. Then, I go on amazon or half.com and buy used books for a lot cheaper than the campus bookstore will charge.

[Texsox]

There are a lot of online places to buy textbooks for cheap, like half.com, valorebooks.com, bookbyte.com, etc.

 

Personally, I keep my textbook costs down by thoroughly abusing the system and requesting preview copies from the publishers. telling them I'm considering adopting their text for use in a course. When they think it might lead to a sale of 10-20 copies, they are very quick to get a preview copy out to me. In truth, I have adopted a half-dozen different texts for various classes over the years, so I guess I'm not such a bad abuser of the system after all.

How would you like to teach a few Psychology course?

[SnB]

I wait until I am assigned something in one of the books and then go and buy it. There were too many times my first 2 years when I bought a book and didn't use it.

[FlaSoxxJim]

How would you like to teach a few Psychology course?

 

Meh, I don't do soft science.

 

[/hides from Soxy]

[santo=dorf]

buy used from sellers on amazon.com

ebay

I had two international editions of textbooks (text was english) but since they were soft covered they cost less

If you are assigned a novel, rent it from the local library.

...and once you make some friends borrow books from them. I bought my buddy a 12 pack of Corona Light (hey, that's what he wanted) to use his signal processing book for a semester.

Hell Tex, you could charge the underclassmen to be the "hookup" and pay off your books in one weekend.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Hell Tex, you could charge the underclassmen to be the "hookup" and pay off your books in one weekend.

 

How drunk would they have to be before they'd want to hook up with Tex??

 

[Not that there's anything wrong with it. . . ]

 

I Kid, I Care, So There®

 

[Texsox]

How drunk would they have to be before they'd want to hook up with Tex??

 

[Not that there's anything wrong with it. . . ]

 

I Kid, I Care, So There®

 

Mexico is too close. Kind of like when WI was 18 and IL 21. Road trip.

[StrangeSox]

I bought all of mine used on Amazon. Usually saved me $75-100 off the new cover price at the bookstore.

[Chisoxfn]

Besides lining up like lemmings at the campus bookstore, what are other venues? Between my son and I we are looking at a sweet $1,000 next week in text books.

International editions are the same book for a boatload less and you can typically find them online (problem is you have to than sell them online because no bookstore will buy them back).

 

How legal it is to buy an international edition in the US, that I don't know.

[kapkomet]

International editions are the same book for a boatload less and you can typically find them online (problem is you have to than sell them online because no bookstore will buy them back).

 

How legal it is to buy an international edition in the US, that I don't know.

It's perfectly legal.

[Texsox]

It's perfectly legal.

Twenty "lawers in training" on this site and the MBA answers

[The Beast]

Besides lining up like lemmings at the campus bookstore, what are other venues? Between my son and I we are looking at a sweet $1,000 next week in text books.

EIU, my university, rents books to the students. My bill for books is a whopping...$152.00!

[WhiteSoxfan1986]

Don't buy from the bookstore, that's for sure. I usually wait to see if I will actually need the book, then buy from amazon, half, bookbyte, etc. Last semester I had a friend in a couple of my classes and we just shared the book. I learned a lesson my first semester in college when I spent $500 at the bookstore and never used half of them.

 

Hell, if you had a scanner you could buy the books, scan every page, and return them. I actually talked to a guy who did that.

[Texsox]

EIU, my university, rents books to the students. My bill for books is a whopping...$152.00!

I have one Psy text that would cost that new.

[whitesoxin']

I just got done spending $500 this week on my books for the semester. I got raped though because the majority of my books are specially made editions by IU/Kelley School professors and you can't find them online. I'm still going to try to find some online and just return the others to the bookstore.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I just got done spending $500 this week on my books for the semester. I got raped though because the majority of my books are specially made editions by IU/Kelley School professors and you can't find them online. I'm still going to try to find some online and just return the others to the bookstore.

 

It's turning out that the custom-made books is a real racket and that the publishers are tossing the schools and profs a few bucks to adopt the custom strategy.

[kapkomet]

It's turning out that the custom-made books is a real racket and that the publishers are tossing the schools and profs a few bucks to adopt the custom strategy.

Yea, I'm seeing that too in the undergrad area... just more $$$$$$$$ the universities can pull in for themselves. What bulls***.

 

[3 BeWareTheNewSox 5]

My best resource is half.com , I literally got most of my books for half price. Note though, it's basically the same as Ebay, so be sure to check feedback and all that.

 

Amazon is next for me. They have a marketplace too but I haven't really used that. If you use Amazon.com, use the code TB7CHASE for 10% ($20 limit), I think it goes for another month. Mainly for newer books that don't have cheaper versions used online, but still slightly cheaper than the bookstore.

 

Worse comes to worst, I use the bookstore, mainly for the really new editions where it's hard to find cheaper.

 

EDIT: And you never know, check a library, sometimes it's not a real textbook, or if you have a big library, they might have it anyways

Edited August 27, 2007 by 3 BeWareTheNewSox 5

[Texsox]

It's turning out that the custom-made books is a real racket and that the publishers are tossing the schools and profs a few bucks to adopt the custom strategy.

So when does your book come out?

 

I am hearing discussed buying an older edition, pros? cons? stories?

 

One Prof said buy the older if the savings were big, the other, a grad student teaching Test and Measurements (sound familar Soxy ) wanted the current.

[Soxy]

So when does your book come out?

 

I am hearing discussed buying an older edition, pros? cons? stories?

 

One Prof said buy the older if the savings were big, the other, a grad student teaching Test and Measurements (sound familar Soxy ) wanted the current.

I actually try not to get my students to buy new books. But the edition can matter a lot depending on the type of course. If it's a Psychobio or Neuro book or Evolutionary psych it's usually usefull to buy the new book. Intro texts (and developmental) tend to be more fixed.

 

And good luck with the graduate student, I know (now) that they can be a really mixed bag.

[Texsox]

I actually try not to get my students to buy new books. But the edition can matter a lot depending on the type of course. If it's a Psychobio or Neuro book or Evolutionary psych it's usually usefull to buy the new book. Intro texts (and developmental) tend to be more fixed.

 

And good luck with the graduate student, I know (now) that they can be a really mixed bag.

 

My Theories of Learning Prof, who has been using the same text for 25 years said if the saving were significant, but the previous version. I believe $12 versus $96 was significant.

[Soxy]

My Theories of Learning Prof, who has been using the same text for 25 years said if the saving were significant, but the previous version. I believe $12 versus $96 was significant.

Ha. Learning also doesn't really change much. That being said, I heart (conditioning and) learning

 

Also, if you look in the reference section of your book, and see R. Miller (he's kind of a big deal)--he's my professor. f***ing genius. Absolute genius.