Buying Textbooks

92faim
Wed, 11 Sep 2013 16:08:37 +0000

Personally I don’t care for renting. Usually you can find a way for buying to be just as financially sensible and much more convenient. Try:


Facebook groups where you can make “Looking to buy” type posts and someone with the book responds or just snoop around for “Looking to sell” posts (e.g. https://www.facebook.com/groups/331733603546959/) or Facebook pages for specific clubs like UCSD Math Club for math books, etc.
postyourbook.com ( pick UCSD as your school )
[BIGWORDS.com | Buy or Rent Cheap Textbooks | Sell Textbooks | Textbook Buyback | Compare New and Used Textbook Prices](http://www.bigwords.com/) - compares prices across multiple sellers/online platforms including rentals and intl editions


last but not least, my favorite:
4. https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=d097531a9612c4aa&id=D097531A9612C4AA!105
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/341656362526100/ to join the group, stay updated and show love)

I highly discourage you from buying books from the bookstore. You can always get it cheaper elsewhere, you just have to put in the effort to look. Feel free to sell back to the bookstore, although once again they usually rip you off on that end too. Just don’t buy from them.

Also, don’t be afraid of selling/buying used books through online sites like Amazon, Half, Post Your Book, etc. you will save a lot of money that way. It’s not shady, I have done it seamlessly many times as both buyer and seller (knock on wood)

As for buying the books later when you’re sure you need them: for some classes it’s a no-brainer. I would say for most math or writing classes and some lower-division courses like PHYS, CHEM, you can expect to use the book. For a lot of CSE courses you don’t need the book, esp lower div classes. Point is: you should ask around (don’t be shy to post on Facebook asking for class advice) or just wait until the first day of classes to see what the prof says. Caveat with that is sometimes the books are all bought out so you might be paying a higher price for the book since you’re buying it after all the lower-priced copies were snatched up.

Loose Leaf vs. non-loose leaf doesn’t matter. loose leaf is generally cheaper, that’s why the prof may list it as optional or required over the hardcover at their discretion. It’s all the same.

Best of luck. PM me if you have questions :)