7 Tips to Help with the High Cost of College Textbooks

When you first price college textbooks, you instantly understand why you don't want a student taking their courses too lightly. College textbooks are extremely expensive, but they are what they are. You may want to spend some time checking out alternatives to buying new textbooks.

It's difficult to put an estimated cost on textbooks per semester or year because there are many variables based on what courses of study a student takes. A student majoring in English will need many course books as well as others for research, and none of them are cheap. An engineering student can expect to have fewer books, but the ones used are very expensive.

Upon enrollment, students are given a list of the textbooks required for the semester. That is the time to immediately begin a quest to find books for the best prices possible. Pricing for new books is available from the college bookstore, but you want better pricing than that if at all possible.

Here are some suggestions on how to get the best bang for your buck with college textbooks:

1. Buy your books early. As soon as your child is enrolled, begin to look for all the options and the availability of materials.

2. Check with students who have just completed courses your child will be taking and barter for second hand books. You should comparison shop between former students to get the best resale price.

3. Buy based on individual book prices. Don't get into a situation where you buy all of the books from one person unless you can negotiate a price that has the lowest cost for all.

4. Check to see which textbooks you can rent. Not all course materials will have rental possibilities, but many do.

5. Encourage your child to find students who want to sell their books when they have completed courses your student plans to take.

6. Look for course materials in places other than the college bookstore.

7. Check online for textbooks, where former students may sell theirs. Additionally, some books are available online for download. Downloadable textbooks still have a cost, but it is much lower than that of the hard printed copies.

Be positive that you have the right books when you buy. Don't assume that the materials for a class remain the same for every semester. You don't get a bargain by buying outdated and relatively useless books, no matter what the price.

College Textbooks - Profiting from Used Books

When many think of college expenses initially, tuition, room, and board seem to be foremost in their minds. However, there are other expenses associated with college, and one of these is textbooks.

College textbooks are expensive, with required materials in a single course often costing hundreds of dollars. This is true at both expensive private schools and state community colleges. Most college students are always looking for ways to save money, and textbooks is one of those ways.

Many college bookstores offer compensation for used textbooks, but usually the amount paid for them is extremely low, regardless of how good a condition they are in. Some students like to keep some textbooks for some of their courses, but for the most part once a course is completed you have no need to store used textbooks.

The bookstores make more money on new textbooks, so of course they don't want to make it an attractive incentive to sell the used books back to them.

Another alternative that usually provides a better return on the cost is to sell the used books to other students at a discount over what they cost new. This can be done in a variety of ways. Here are some suggestions:

1. School community bulletin boards - Most colleges have a central location where students can post advertisements, community news, and other campus information. This is a great place to post ads for used textbooks you have. Be sure to do so as early as possible after the term ends so students can view the ads prior to the start of the new session.

2. Social media websites - This is another great way to get the word out about used textbooks you have for sale. Take advantage of the communication power of websites like Facebook and Twitter to let others know you have discounted books to save them money on the courses you've already completed.

Some campus bookstores keep updated information on what textbooks will be required for a specific course and instructor. This way, it is easy to check online what books will be required for an upcoming course so a potential buyer can verify you have the books they will need.

Sometimes new editions are released that may outdate the books you have for sale, but often times if you or the potential buyer checks with the instructor, they will allow the dated version to be used for the course.

Selling used textbooks is a great way to help cover the cost of those you will need to purchase for the next term, so don't store them away on a shelf when you might be able to use them to pick up some additional cash for school.