For me, the new semester started about 4 weeks ago. Everyone told me time would fly, and it really has. I am a freshman. Full time student and have a job part time. It gets challenging managing the two, but I try my best. Even though I am just a freshman, I do have some experience with textbooks. I have taken a large amount of college courses prior to starting college, 2 other members of my family went to college, and now it's me. As often as possible, we try to buy used books. Since this is my first year, I decided to track my expenses with books, and I was surprised. Now, I will share some of my tricks with you.
1 - Take a loot at the popular sites: Amazon.com, Half.com, etc. Many times these sites will have people who are just trying to get rid of books and you can get them for pennies on the dollar.
2 - Get creative. Not everybody wants to post on the popular sites. Some people have their own websites for selling books (I actually made one a few years ago). Others choose sites that don't take commission. Look around. Use Google search and type in the ISBN number (this way you get an exact search). If you decide to search by title, use "quotes". Google will always give you pages of results, and you don't want to sort through all of them, do you?
3 - Google Product Search. Lets face it, Google is the best search engine out there. It can gather info from many sites in a few seconds. Along with using the regular Google search, try Google Product Search (http://www.google.com/products).
4 - Listen to your professor. Unless the professor wrote the book (and that does happen from time to time) they want you to save money just as much as you do. Pay close attention if they have any preference over editions. Usually books will not vary too much with editions. You might end up with a 1 or 2 page trailing distance from the class, but it will save you lots.
5 - Location, Location, Location. Some book selling websites tell you where the book would ship from. If you can find one that is nearby your city (even it if cost more than the lowest price) try contacting the seller and buying the book in person. They will be happy because they wont have to pay commission. You will be happy because you will save on shipping (and usually you can negotiate a few dollars).
6 - Don't forget local sites. Craigslist, for example, has local listings and sometimes (not too often) you can find the book you want around your area. Again, you save on shipping and you can negotiate.
7 - Condition. Usually I go for the lowest price and I don't care about the condition, but there have been a few times when I went with a higher price. When I buy books, I plan to resell them after I am done with them. If it's in horrible condition when I get it, nobody will want to buy it after me. If you don't plan to resell, make sure the comments don't mention any missing pages or torn binding, you might save a lot, but you want to be able to make it to school without it falling apart.
8 - Book Store. My last resort. I only bought from the bookstore once and that was because I was running out of time and the professor wanted us to get books ASAP. Keep in mind that when you buy online, it will usually take 2 weeks to get to you.
9 - Use the books. No sense of buying them otherwise.
As I mentioned earlier, I made a list of all the books I bought this semester and their prices. Since I already have it, I thought I would trow it in.
Book ~ Price
Introduction To Logic ~ $7.99
Ethics and Modern Life ~ $19.94
Comparative Politics: An Institutional and Cross-National Approach ~ $6.50
Comparing Political Regimes ~ $28.00
A Writer's Reference ~ $58.00
Atkinson and Hilgard's Introduction to Psychology ~ $12.98
Total Cost Of Books For The Semester: $133.41
That's really good. (I have to brag, the "Introduction to Logic" book (which cost $4 + $3.99 shipping) is one of my best finds. A friend in the same class paid $70)
