How To Save Money On Textbooks

By Samiha Mithi on February 7, 2016

“Using a service such as Chegg.com, students can save on average more than $600 a year when they rent textbooks over purchasing them.” - Osman Rashid

Saving money on college textbooks can be easy, if you do it the right way. Freshmen in college spend at least $300 on textbooks which can easily be found for a cheaper price or even for free. You just need the right place to look.

http://www.depositagift.com

How to save money on textbooks, the right way.

Facebook groups that are dedicated to buying and selling textbooks have been beneficial for college students. A textbook in the store or online might be $100, but a student from your school might sell it for $40. Some students are more generous and will give it away for free. Reach out to fellow classmates and try to scan the pages from their books. Download any scanning app to scan pages from a library textbook.

At the City College of New York, teachers often put the required textbook in the campus library on reserve for students to use for a couple of hours. With those couple of hours, they are able to scan pages they need for class. Sometimes the campus bookstore can have it for cheap but most of the time, they’re the same price that you can find at Barnes and Noble or buying them full price on the internet.

PDFs are also a good way to save money on textbooks. When you get the list of books for class, the first thing you should do is look them up online. Sometimes, people in the Facebook groups have the PDF file and they have been uploaded. You know how some professors ask for a specific edition like the 2nd or 3rd but you find a PDF file that is the 1st edition? It’s better to use that because the information is the same, with minor modifications. Also, some professors don’t care, even if it is written on the syllabus.

Chegg.com is a great place to look for textbooks for very cheap. You have the option to rent or buy books, sell your book, and a few other things like ask study questions, and find an online tutor. Chegg also gives you the option to preview the textbook by clicking on “Try the E-textbook.” That’s only in some cases, so if you’re lucky, use that to your advantage.

Another way to avoid spending tons and tons of money is to find out if your professor even uses the textbook. In some cases, they don’t, so you just spent money on it for no reason. Ask on a Facebook group for your college if they do.

Don’t immediately start buying books, make sure you find out if anyone is selling them for a cheaper price, or if there are PDF files. It doesn’t hurt to search them online or chegg.com. Save yourself a lot of money!

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