Back to School: Save Money on your Textbooks

Students in U.S and Canada spend buckets of money on textbooks every year. While I do think textbooks are usually a good investment, we all know that many of us barely have the money to pay for the tuition deposit, much less to pay for the textbooks.

I just got a report from the financial department of my school stating that this year’s estimated cost for school material (which for my program is literally just textbooks) is a whopping $1550 for the whole school year. What’s worse, my program is a social science program which means it is not even a technical program. I know some people who are taking an Architecture & Design program and their reports say they’ll be spending $2000 for the whole school year on their school material (granted they need other materials aside from textbooks).

By buying my textbooks used, I usually knock down $200 per semester! Used books are often just as good as the new ones, and so far I have nothing to complain about the conditions of my textbooks. Their condition is so good, some of them I put back to sell.

Many schools now have their own used bookstores or some kind of program where students can request used books at a rate of at least 25% lower than regular retail price. – This is a great way to save and still pay the authors and publishers for their work.

Note 1 - Buy from friends – if you know people that took your course with your teacher the year/semester before, than you can save a lot of money. Depending on your friendship status you can actually get a $100 textbook for $20 – and f you are lucky your friend is not messy and the book is in mint conditions.

§ My partner actually got this same deal, but from a complete stranger at his school. He’s always lucky though.

Note 2 - Buy online: Craigslist, Kijiji and other platforms are great to get great deals. But make sure you do your homework before buying your books from these sources. Check out my hub on Great Deals with a Hint of Caution, for some general tips on buying stuff online.

I have had some of my textbooks being offered in an e-version, and it was quite great since I did not have to pay for it and was still able to make use of it. Even better, no back pain and never forgot my book at home!

On the other side, many schools have not made this switch and those that already have this option, often ask for some kind of fee for unlimited use (which usually includes, highlighting and copying some/full content). You still save money, even if you have to pay a fee for use – it is almost always cheaper than the paper copy.

One thing that I noticed – a little too late must say – is that some of the textbooks are actually available at the School’s library or even at the local public library. Last year I got one book from my university’s library and another from the public reference library.

Note 1 - Since most libraries allow you to extend your borrowing time up to 3 times, you can actually have it for most of your semester time (or even the whole semester).

Note 2 - If you fear not having your book for important times like exams and papers, than you can always borrow it for the time allowed and photocopy the most important parts or even the whole book. I know some folks won't like this, but if you really have no other choice is better than a C- or not eating to save up for the textbooks. Plus if you do it for yourself only, than is not much of a problem, in my opinion.

You can purchase a book with another friend who also needs it (50/50) and either one of you photocopies the book or you simply study together or take turns when needed.

I was told that the trick is in doing it with a very good friend with whom you would be studying all the time anyway.

Basically you can purchase the book (used would be better) and take photocopies of the whole book; than you can take it back for a full refund (if allowed) or resell it with a 25% deduction in price.

Note 1 - Beware of the cost though – you have to pay attention to how much the book costs and how much the photocopy costs. If you can easily photocopy your whole book for $10 or $20 and your book costs $100; than if you return it and get at least $75 back. In the end your $100 book only costs you $45.

Note 2 - The trick is to return it or resell it within the first 2 weeks of your semester, while everyone is still looking for good deals on their textbooks.

Resell your old textbooks before the semester starts or just at the beginning, that way you can purchase the books you need for the current semester, with the money you made from last year’s books.

As I mentioned, I usually save about $200 per semester on my books from going through all these ways of getting my books. Once in a while, it is a new edition and first time being used by a professor and, when that happens, usually there is no other way than buying it new. That actually happened to me last semester, where I had to pay $140 for my statistics textbook because it was the first time being used by a prof. Luckly , I have to use it again this semester, and most likely should never part with it since it contains fundamental research information for Psychology. In a way it is worth it.

Hint! - from the scenario I just mentioned, there's a good hint! If you bought a brand new textbook because it is first edition and never used by another prof, then you can bet if you photocopy it and resell it with a 25% discount, there will be fights over it in the campus!

This said, I usually buy all my books used, but only resell those that I know won’t do much for me past the semester of their use. Books that contain very valuable information or are part of my major, I usually keep them, or at least make sure that my made-copy is professional and can last a few years of use

Veronica Almeida © All rights Reserved

Did you find these tips useful? And do you have other useful tips to save money on textbooks?