10 Ways to Find Cheap Textbooks

These days, tuition isn't the only thing that's killing college students. For some reason, the cost of textbooks seems to increase with each passing year. And as the required texts get heavier on the road to a degree, so do price tags on textbooks. By the time they get up on stage to get their diplomas, students have already spent a small fortune on books that were almost always never used again after the semester they were required for. While they could always go to the best places to sell college textbooks, the chances of them getting something close to what they've spent are pretty slim.

Students, however, don't really have to resort to selling their souls to whoever's into buying them to be able to afford insanely priced textbooks. There are ways to find cheap textbooks and save tons in the process. Here are some of them.

1. Avoid campus bookstores like the plague

OK, so this one doesn't really help you find cheaper textbooks, but at least it tells you where the most expensive textbooks are at so you can avoid them accordingly. While campus bookstores definitely stock the book you're going to need, the prices there are much higher than anywhere else. This means that to get cheap textbooks, buy them from anywhere but there.

2. Find free books

Cheap is good, but free is definitely better. A little thing called the Internet has sites that offer thousands of ebooks, which you can download for free. While newer books are not likely to make an appearance in these sites, older books, especially literary classics, can be had without you forking out a single cent. Project Gutenberg and Bartleby, for example, are sites to check out if you need Moby Dick or The Odyssey for your literature courses.

3. Scour campus for ads selling used books

For every course you're currently taking, there are always students who have already taken the course, and have in their hands textbooks they will probably never use again. Chances are, these people will be selling off these books at a much lower price, and they will surely be advertising for it on campus billboards, outside classrooms or anywhere else within the school area.

4. Check out websites of student groups

There are colleges with student groups that put up textbook trading websites or something similar, where they post a list of used books, and sell them at very low prices. Try to see if your college has something like that.

5. Get hand-me-down books from friends

See who among your friends have finished a course you're taking this semester, then hit them up for their old textbooks. It's good if you can get them for free, but buying the books from them at a significantly discounted price isn't such a bad idea either.

6. Go for previous edition textbooks

You don’t really have to buy the latest edition of the same book. More often than not, buying a much cheaper book that goes one to three editions back isn't actually a painful exercise. Just ask your professor for help in spotting the differences in the texts, which aren't really that many to begin with.

7. Go international

For some strange reason, the exact same textbook sold in other countries is way, way cheaper than the ones sold in the United States. Look online and you'll see that the same textbook can be bought in India for as low as a tenth of its US price tag. Sure, shipping would add to that cost, but the total cost would still be cheaper than if you buy the textbook locally. And you'll have a spanking new textbook too.

8. Share a book

You can always hook up with some of your friends who are taking the same classes, and agree to buy one copy of the books you need and share them.

9. Rent a book

It is exactly what it says: rent a book. Many colleges and universities have initiated book rental programs to help students save some money on books.

10. Go to the library

When all else fails, there's always the library. Sure, the competition for certain textbooks can get pretty stiff, and you'll only get your hands on a book for a limited amount of time, but it sure beats spending the better part of your student loans on crazy textbook prices, doesn't it?

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