Textbooks?

[PastHistory]

I am ordering textbooks and wondered if anyone has ever used Biblio? A couple books I need are ridiculously priced on campus, $100+ on Amazon and still rather expensive on Half.com but much cheaper on Biblio. ???

For those who have used them, how does it work? Do they process my CC info like Amazon does with the marketplace or eBay does with Half or do they give it to the various booksellers? Any horror stories I should be aware of?

Thanks!

[aginath]

I use Amazon and Valore.com to order most of my books. I just searched Biblio for one of my current textbooks and they had it for $30 higher than campus bookstores did.

One of the tricks I've learned is that more often than not, International editions work just fine and are substantially cheaper. The other trick (found here on TGC.com) is that students (.edu email address) are eligible for free Amazon Prime accounts. I can't tell you how much money I've saved in the last month on shipping from Amazon (seriously it's at least $50).

[poco_puffs]

I have to ask, especially since I couldn't find anything straight off, but what is the advantage of an Amazon Prime account? Is it primarily a shipping discount or other specials as well?

I'm not sure if it's this way for all of the humanities, but as an English Lit person my "textbook" situation is a bit different. Depending on the course, I have to buy anywhere from six to ten books, sometimes even more, and in general they range anywhere from $5 to $20 apiece. When I've research buying them online in the past, the sheer effort to find and buy a few dozen small books is rarely worth the slight discount in shipping, so I end up buying them used at the university bookstore where they're all in one place.

I've never been comfortable with online shopping in general, for clothes or books or anything in between, so maybe I'm just behind the game. Has anyone else with a textbook situation like this figured out an economical solution more convenient than Amazon or the university store?

[CultureOfIdeas]

Depends on if i'm just "reading" a book or working with it - if its something I'm actively engaged with/used in my research in some way, I like to have a new copy so I can make notes, mark pages, etc without someone else's commentary.

I also have always kept my books from courses in my field or related fields and I've actually managed to gather a quite nice little personal library so far. I hate buying books online (I'd much prefer a store so I can have that moment of seeing something NEXT TO the book I actually need and buy that too! the recommendations sites like Amazon etc usually make are either obvious or make no sense and are just based on the title's literal words or similar author names haha)..

For me, books in courses are generally widely available so you can get them at any decent bookstore, its the books I use for my research that often poses a more significant problem, as they are usually old/out of print/not widely circulated. That's when it takes a little more creativity haha

[chickadee21]

I've bought a number of textbooks off half.com - definitely cheaper than Amazon, even with the shipping. Right now half.com is trying out a beta version of "Buying Wizard" - basically you type in the title of the book you need, click "Buying Wizard" on the result, and it will tell you the best price for the condition you want it in. You can do it for numerous books, and it will try to match booksellers to reduce your shipping costs too.

[gsams]

With amazon prime, some of the books are up to $30.00 cheaper here than at the bookstore. So, for me it is worth it to order them.

[aginath]

I have to ask, especially since I couldn't find anything straight off, but what is the advantage of an Amazon Prime account? Is it primarily a shipping discount or other specials as well?

The most significant discount is free two-day shipping. They also run other student discounts, but I haven't looked at those recently. When I was pricing my textbooks this semester, both were brand new publications. So, used (my first stop is Valore and occasionally half.com) wasn't an option. For the new price, some were slightly cheaper than Amazon, but after I paid $10 for 5 day shipping, it was cheaper and faster to get it from Amazon.

[rising_star]

I have to ask, especially since I couldn't find anything straight off, but what is the advantage of an Amazon Prime account? Is it primarily a shipping discount or other specials as well?

...

I've never been comfortable with online shopping in general, for clothes or books or anything in between, so maybe I'm just behind the game. Has anyone else with a textbook situation like this figured out an economical solution more convenient than Amazon or the university store?

Having Amazon Prime, which is just an addition onto an Amazon account that you use to buy things, gives you free 2-day shipping on anything you purchase, regardless of the purchase amount.

As for buying lots of books online, yes, I've done it multiple times. I often take social science courses where we read anywhere from 6 to 14 books over the course of the semester and where many of the books can be found in "like new" condition on line for 25-50% less than they are being sold for in the bookstore.

Depends on if i'm just "reading" a book or working with it - if its something I'm actively engaged with/used in my research in some way, I like to have a new copy so I can make notes, mark pages, etc without someone else's commentary.

I also have always kept my books from courses in my field or related fields and I've actually managed to gather a quite nice little personal library so far. I hate buying books online (I'd much prefer a store so I can have that moment of seeing something NEXT TO the book I actually need and buy that too! the recommendations sites like Amazon etc usually make are either obvious or make no sense and are just based on the title's literal words or similar author names haha)..

1) This is why you buy "like new" copies. You can easily save 25% and get a book that has absolutely no writing in it. I also don't like to read stuff with other people's notes and/or highlights in it so I look for "like new" and "very good" copies online and read the seller's description carefully. I haven't had any problems with this, and often get things in slightly better condition than the seller described.

2) You can do the same thing in the library. (And, actually, this wouldn't work in our bookstore since the course texts are organized by course number...) Or by updating Amazon with additional preferences. I find that most of the books it recommends to me when I'm already on the page of a book I want are very relevant and potentially useful, though this probably varies by discipline and even subdiscipline.

[captiv8ed]

I use Bigwords.com and it searches lots of different selling forums, adds in shipping and calculates my best overall price.

[ed_psy]

I try to buy international editions because it's almost $100 cheaper than the US edition. And I read everything, it's legal to buy international edition in the US. It's crazy how corporations sell the same textbook much cheaper abroad.

On the side, I mostly use Half.com, textbooksrus, and if possible, I try Interlibrary Loan from my school's library. I use www.dealoz.com to compare book prices first.

[SNPCracklePop]

I use dealoz.com quite a bit. It basically sweeps the major shopping sites for you, and you can compare the prices. I've had a lot of success through them, including a normally 120.00 book for $3.00! Hope this helps.

[rachaelski]

To be perfectly honest, I buy my books through Amazon exclusively. I love my free prime account for quick shipping, and Amazon Marketplace has new and used books for cheap. I especially love that you can find used Marketplace stuff that qualifies for the free 2-day shipping! I love a deal as much as the next person, but for me convenience outshines price. It's kind of like driving to the other side of town to get gas 10 cents cheaper...do you really save anything? Is your time and wear and tear worth saving 2 dollars on a fill-up?

[rachaelski]

Though to be fair, I don't have traditional textbooks for my classes.

[captiv8ed]

I dunno. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to search for all my books through bigwords and get them all ordered. I have never done a comparison with just amazon, but I save money for sure. All through undergrad I didn't use standard books and still found the hassle worth the savings.

[colleen_lee]

Have any of you purchased e-textbooks?

My campus (Columbia, Teachers College) appears to be pushing towards a green model and is encouraging e-books over traditional textbooks. I just can't wrap my brain around it! When I finished my bachelors e-readers didn't exist yet (and that was only 5 years ago!) so I feel very married to the holding/experiencing/highlighting/notating process of using a traditional book. I also like being able to keep relevant books on my shelf to reference at later dates.

[captiv8ed]

I can't even read a pdf without printing it out, so I don't see how ebooks would work for me!

[rachaelski]

Have any of you purchased e-textbooks?

My campus (Columbia, Teachers College) appears to be pushing towards a green model and is encouraging e-books over traditional textbooks. I just can't wrap my brain around it! When I finished my bachelors e-readers didn't exist yet (and that was only 5 years ago!) so I feel very married to the holding/experiencing/highlighting/notating process of using a traditional book. I also like being able to keep relevant books on my shelf to reference at later dates.

I purchased a couple books on my Kindle last year. It was okay, but I prefer to keep my kindle for leisurely reading. It wasn't as easy to highlight a section or write in notes (though the kindle does have the capabilities, I wasn't ready to invest the time to learn).