How Do I Save Money on Textbooks?

By Studentawards

The following tips, originally posted at the Studentawards Forum, were contributed by students in our membership.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on textbooks, look for used textbooks; they are usually a lot cheaper than new ones. Some universities are also starting to rent textbooks. That's another option, that again is a lot cheaper than buying new books. You can also try to share a textbook with someone who is taking the class with you - either a friend or someone living in the same rez as you. Finally, many texts have an e-text option - you can either buy or rent an electronic version of the text. Again, that will be cheaper than a traditional hard-copy textbook. (posted by: CatRunner)

Ask sophs and RAs if they're selling books ... look for ads around the buildings to get used books. (Posted by: freebird)

If you're worried about cost you can buy used copies at the book store. Also try kijiji or amazon. And a lot of people put postings on Facebook in used textbooks groups. (posted by: waitaminute)

[W]hen it comes to finding textbooks for University, I have had a lot of luck finding gently used textbooks through www.locazu.com - it is free to use and connects with other students in your area, along with everything you need to survive university. You make a 'Wishlist' of the books you need, and then you receive notification when someone in your area posts them for sale - it's fast and easy to use! I had previously tried using Craigslist, Kijiji, Facebook forums, Agora, and other forums, but I found them to be very disorganized - If I found a book that I needed was posted by someone, by the time they would respond to me, it would be gone. With LocAZu, the wishlist feature is very helpful because it eliminates the need to repost your books or skim through ads - saving me the hassle and the time. So if you're looking to buy books or sell used books, I strongly recommend trying www.locazu.com - I saved a lot of money! (Posted by: kenziemorgan)

You should consider renting them online instead, you can save a lot of money ... they are real physical textbooks that you order from a website and then they ship them to you, and then you have to return them back once you are done with them. You can save a lot of money like this and it's not like you'll ever need them after you finish your course anyways. You can use this website http://www.bigmama.ca. And if you realize that you rented the wrong textbook or your course requires a different edition, they give you 30 days to get it exchanged without any additional costs. (posted by: KingKhan)

To avoiding having to buy books, check to see if your school's library puts textbook on course reserve. That way you can use the book for short periods of time to take notes on the weekly readings and you don't have to pay anything for it. The only negative side to this option is that the school might have a limit on the number of times per week you can take out the book as well as how long you can have it (i.e. 3 hours per day). (posted by: SparklingBG)

To join the conversation, go to the following Studentawards Forum threads:

Textbooks!
Textbooks

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3 Comment(s)

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Guest wrote:	A lot of school usally have a place on their website that mentions that students are selling old text books aswell! Just a thought! (: Posted on Sep 18, 2012 at 07:48

LucyJones wrote:	Thanks so much you guys for mentionig LocAZu:) Hope you're saving lots on your textbooks. Posted on May 11, 2012 at 07:30

Claire888 wrote:	Don't overlook your school's library, gotta be resourceful. BigMaMa's site looks great! Here we have http://textbooks.org/ Posted on Apr 03, 2012 at 11:44

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