Textbooks
Tips & Advice to help you make your decision on Textbooks
The format and use of textbooks is changing dramatically over time. Traditional textbooks were bought, extensively marked during use, and then sold back to campus book programs. Technological advances now allow traditional textbooks to be sold in electronic format instead. Electronic textbooks can be purchased as electronic books or PDF files. These formats can be purchased online and read or marked with reading devices.
Electronic textbooks have benefited students, publishing companies, and authors. Publishing companies save many costs associated with manufacturing and distribution. They profit from converting traditional textbooks to electronic textbooks. Additional costs are saved with publishing new editions in an electronic format. Authors benefit by gaining increased profits from the electronic formats of their traditional titles. Because of the extensive market for electronic books, many authors are able to publish more titles for less cost from publishing companies.
Students benefit from electronic textbooks because of lower prices and convenience. There is no need to carry heavy traditional textbooks at school. Many electronic books also feature study aids for better comprehension. Students can rent electronic textbooks for short intervals of time instead of purchasing traditional books for extended periods. For more information about textbooks, visit the links on this Business.com page.
Textbooks
Online textbooks offer the chance to save big bucks on a necessary evilBy Kelly Shetsky, Anchor/Reporter Textbooks can easily cost a college student hundreds of dollars each and every semester. It's often a frustrating part of the college experience because you feel you have no choice but to pay upwards of $100 or more for a single book.
Buying textbooks online gives you the opportunity to save money. You can compare costs of college textbooks, buy used textbooks and even sell textbooks back to recoup some of your money. Unlike the college bookstore, you get a choice on how much money you spend. Learn to:
1. Search for the exact textbook your professor requires.
2. Get the best college textbooks for your money.
3. Place textbooks for sale to make some of your investment back.
Use the ISBN to buy textbooks online
The ISBN is the International Standard Book Number, a barcode-like number found on the back cover of textbooks. It's the easiest way to search for new and used textbooks online. If you don't have it, you can use the title or author to search, but you may not end up with the correct edition. It's a better bet to type in the ISBN.
Try:
Amazon.com offers discounts on hundreds of thousands of new college textbooks. There's also a wide variety of used textbooks at prices up to 90% off the list prices. Textbooks.com has more than seven million textbooks for sale. The company offers fast delivery through UPS, so you can track your delivery online.
Compare prices when buying textbooks online
Once you enter the ISBN number, textbook websites generate a list of available books, some which are sold by the company directly. Other websites allow students to sell their books directly to you. Review the condition of the book, price and shipping information before choosing which one you want. Some will be like-new books, others will be full of highlighting and notes.
Try:
Buy textbooks at Half.com, Inc. or Bigger Words, Inc. Both websites advertise cheap online textbooks. Half.com is run by eBay so it operates in much the same way--people use this portal to sell their used textbooks. The site also allows you to pre-order books for next semester, to get a jump on other students competing for the same books.
Sell textbooks once you're done with them to recoup some of your money
Textbook buyback programs give you more flexibility for getting rid of your unwanted books than most campus bookstores. Simply enter the book's ISBN and get a quote. If you don't like that quote, check other textbook buyback programs' websites for their prices.
Try:
Sell textbooks to Barnes & Noble.com or AbeBooks.com. Their textbook buyback progams offer competitive prices for your books.
- When you buy college textbooks online, always make sure there's a guarantee or tracking system, just in case they don't arrive in time for your semester.
- Place your order for textbooks as soon as possible so you don't have to attend class bookless.
- When you buy textbooks, try to order as many from one seller as possible to reduce shipping costs.
Don't Get Screwed! Sell Back Your Book. We Pay Fast And We Pay More.
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