*Updated January 29, 2021
Textbooks are a real cost to college students. During the 2019-20 academic year, students spent an average of $413 for course materials, according to the National Association of College Stores (NASC). While the amount is substantial, it has fallen by 41 percent since the 2007-2008 academic year. The decrease is partially attributed to the use of downloadable free course materials. According to the NASC, 26 percent of students surveyed said they downloaded free course materials from various sources in spring 2020 alone.
Additionally, the NASC found that during the 2019-20 academic year, 20 percent of paid course materials was for a digital version.
And students are smart to take advantage of online textbook buying options. Purchasing textbooks online not only spares you the long bookstore lines, but also gives students the opportunity to compare prices with ease to find the best deals.
The University Network, for example, has a textbook search tool that will help you find the cheapest books within a few seconds. Known as the Textbook Search Engine, the search tool is designed to make it easy for you to find the books you need — just type in the ISBN (International Standard Book Number), author or title. Each book has its own unique ISBN, so always make sure that you purchase or rent the textbook with the ISBN your professor gave you.
Buying textbooks
Before you buy textbooks, you should compare prices to see where you can get the cheapest price for them. The cost of buying textbooks adds up, and you want to be sure you are getting the best deals for your book, so be sure to check out TUN’S Textbook Save Engine! This search engine shows you a list of prices to buy or rent textbooks from over 15 online vendors. Why buy a textbook for more money than you need to? Save your money!
Textbooks can be expensive, but the TUN Textbook Save Engine will make your textbook search easier and more affordable.
Pro Tip: If you are still deciding if you should purchase or rent a textbook, consider if you will need the book again in the future, perhaps to study for exams for future courses or for graduate/professional school exams. If you are taking an elective or a core curriculum course, renting the textbook may be a better option, as you will probably not use the book again. Regardless of your decision, you should always compare purchase or rental prices to ensure you are getting the best discount.
Renting textbooks
Renting textbooks is an easy way to get your textbooks at a fraction of the retail price. Textbook rentals can be a hit or miss depending on the company you use, so be sure to use our Textbook Save Engine to find the best prices for your rental books!
Physical copies vs. ebooks
Physical copies of books are slowly becoming obsolete with ebooks and e-readers, which are cheaper than hard copies. eTextbooks are easy to purchase online, and allows for little to no wait time. Immediate delivery and convenience make eTextbooks a new favorite for textbook users worldwide. Some people find eTextbooks distracting and many still prefer the old-school method of using hard copies, but eTextbooks are an environmentally-friendly, convenient and efficient method to get your college textbooks.
Newest edition or older edition
Publishers and textbook authors often publish newer editions of a textbook. Oftentimes, the newer edition has a new book cover, different paginations, edits, and/or chapter reconfiguration. The newest versions of textbooks often cost the most, and are often unnecessary. For an economics course, I purchased an older edition of the textbook and I noticed one chapter was split into two, which changed the paginations but not the actual contents of the text. Be sure to check the publisher’s websites for the Table of Contents for the newest edition of a textbook and compare it with an older edition to see if there are noticeable changes. As always, use your judgment and talk to classmates, your professor and even students, who previously took the class, to find out more about which textbook edition is necessary.
Pro Tip: If you need the newest edition during the year, be sure to go to your school library, or reach out to a friend, to see if you can borrow a newer version to save money.
Access codes
Many textbooks come with access codes that allow a student to access online textbooks or even a portal with supplementary tools. Access codes often add to the cost of textbooks, are non-transferrable, and usually expire after a semester or year. Access codes are sometimes mandatory for certain courses but are unnecessary for others. Make sure you purchase what you believe will help you do your best in your classes, and don’t feel pressured to purchase what’s unnecessary.
Selling back your books
Textbooks are costly, but you can minimize your cost by either renting textbooks or selling your books at the end of the semester.
Selling textbooks can be difficult, as many students still use bookstores to purchase new books, but some websites look for students to sell their textbooks back to them, such as Textbooks.com, Amazon.com, and Valorebooks.com. This process is fairly simple; all you have to do is enter the book’s unique ISBN number (explained below) and you will receive a quote on how much the buyback companies will give you for your books. You usually make a fraction of what you paid for the book, but any amount helps when it comes to being in college.
Before you sell your textbooks, however, you should also compare prices to see where you can get the best price for them. You want to be sure you are getting the best price for your books, so be sure to check out the Textbook Save Engine! Just click on “Sell Books” and enter the ISBN, the book title or author, and you will see who is paying the most for your books. Why sell a textbook for less money than you need to?
Pro Tip: If you don’t need the cash right away and you know that the textbook will be used next semester, you may be able to sell it to someone else at your school by posting a flyer or using Facebook Local Marketplace.
Good luck on your textbook search!
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