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As you’re sitting there on your first day of school, a college freshman, ready to embark on the wonderful journey that could possibly determine your life’s course career wise, and your professor will list the titles of the required course books for their class. So you head to the bookstore and start perusing the textbooks; there will be a pattern to the books you see. At the bookstore new books often come packaged with items such as study guides, workbooks and Web site access codes. Some of the time professors will use these additional materials, but a lot more often than not they aren’t even aware of what is included in these packages. Before you spend all of that hard-earned or hard-saved money on a full-price textbook package, be sure your professor actually requires the additional materials. When searching online for booksellers, which you in no doubt will at one point, the difference in price between those books sold in the United States compared to those overseas is very significant. The content of the books are virtually identical to the editions in the United States; the only real difference may be the text is paperback or has a slightly different cover. Here’s a great example, a bestselling general physics book out of England sells for only $70, which retails in the U.S. for $140. Now the shipping cost will be a little bit higher, but the overseas price can be around 30 to 50 percent cheaper than U.S. prices. This is why the Internet can be your best friend in finding cheaper books; you enhance your chances of finding the book cheaper exponentially. The unfortunate truth is that publishers have a planned policy to change text editions every couple of years. The reason for this is to force students into buying new books, dastardly indeed. In a lot of cases, there is very little information changed from edition to edition except the price, which could rise with each new release. You’ll want to ask your professor if an older edition of the required text can be used. When searching for those older textbooks, you’ll find that you can purchase them for less than half the price of a new edition. In a lot of classes they’ve incorporated the use of Internet-based activities and in turn place access codes necessary to activate these sites in the new textbooks. A little known fact that can help save money in this area is that these access codes can be purchased separately which enables you to buy used books without the codes. To do this you’ll want to go to the publisher’s Web site, which is listed either on the inside front cover or on the back of the textbook, to purchase these stand-alone access codes. Since we’re talking about buying and selling these books already let us discuss why you should it online. Buying it in the store and buying it through a bookstore online can mean the difference between paying full price and saving hundreds of dollars. The local college bookstore will stock new and used texts, but they are often more expensive than other alternatives. Online bookstores sell most college textbook titles, both new and used, at substantial savings. Many of these online sites will also buy back your books at the end of the semester for much more than your college bookstore. Another trick can be to use the free copies that the professors potentially have. In the process of selling these professors the new copies, publishing sales representatives provide them with free copies of the new textbook. They do this so professors can exam their books before they order their classes. Commonly professors will also request several additional copies of the texts they selected for their class. This enables them to place them in the department office or library for additional student use. If your professor isn’t currently doing this, encourage him or her to do so. Another very viable option is renting textbooks. If you want to save the most money, this is the best way to go. Buying used may save you a good chunk of change but it won’t save you as much as renting a book. Be sure to keep the book in great shape and return it in the condition you received it in, and you’ll be fine when it comes to avoiding fees. This also comes in handy when you know you won’t be using a book from a certain class you are taking after that class is done. Check out local places where you can rent books, at times there can be a kiosk in the local university bookstore. Buying textbooks for school shouldn’t always have to cost an arm or a leg, in fact you could be saving an arm and a leg if you start shopping smart.
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