Why You Should Wait to Buy Textbooks No one enjoys dropping hundreds of dollars on brand new textbooks every semester. When you’re a freshman just entering college, you assume that you need to own all the books on your list. After all, the professor wouldn’t list them if they aren’t going to use them, right? Wrong. Textbooks and the cost of procuring them is one of the biggest and best kept secrets of the college experience. Instead of going to the campus bookstore and purchasing every piece of print on your list a week before classes start, you should wait. Here’s why.
Some Books You’ll Never Use That’s right. You heard me. There are some textbooks that you will never even remove from the shrinkwrap, meaning that you just spent $80 on a book you never wanted and you’ll never use. No one likes wasting that kind of money. Quite often your professor will let you know on the first day of class which books will be used through the course. While there are a few exceptions to this rule, most of your books you won’t need until a week or so into classes. If, on a rare occasion, you are assigned homework on the first day, there will be someone you can borrow the book from until you get your own copy.
Rent Your Books Many college campuses provide textbook rental services. If your school doesn’t, there may be a nearby textbook store that will rent books to students. Check with them early as rentals tend to fly off the shelf. This is a GREAT way to save a ton of money on your required texts. Specifically do this if you are purchasing books for a class that is not part of your major and you know that you don’t want to keep the book. For example, say you are a Performance Art major and you have to take Biology as part of your core curriculum. Renting the text for $50 for the semester is significantly cheaper than paying $100+ for a brand new book.
Buy Used or Get E-Textbooks I’m not sure I can stress this enough. Most of the time every single book that you need to have can be purchased used. This would be the only situation where I may suggest purchasing your books before classes begin. If you know you’re buying a book, buy it at least two weeks early and get it used.
Many courses are beginning to utilize the web as a means for submitting homework and tracking progress. Frequently, these online systems also provide an e-book for student use. It is pointless to also purchase a paper version of your text if everything you need is already provided through your online options. Be smart about how you purchase text books. It can save you thousands of dollars over the course of your college career. Whether you’re attending a Nampa college or an Ivy League school, these practices may take a bit more time, but they are worth every penny they save you. Photo Credit: Greenasian, Johan Larsson