by Andrew FitzGerald // Boston University
Over the past decade, textbook
prices rose at twice the rate of inflation, according to a 2007 study by the
National Association of College Stores. Though legislation in Congress and
several states aims to bring down these costs, in the meantime savvy students
continue to shop for books online to save in September, and go back online in
May to cash in by selling them back.
When buying books, check Half.com
and Amazon.com for deals before resorting to the campus store. But be sure
you're getting the right edition-it's hard to follow along with Hamlet if your
line numbers are off. (Just make sure you have the right ISBN) For rare books, like the
kind you might need to research that esoteric thesis, Abe.com is a great bet.
Or you can swap texts with other students using Facebook's Marketplace
application.
Selling is a little trickier. Your
campus may have its own group of entrepreneurial students who set up textbook
buyback programs to rival the campus store that is worth looking into, as some will
even come to your dorm room to make the cash exchange. For a more professional
sheen, sites like Half.com and Amazon collaborate with sellers by providing
opportunities for students to sell textbooks themselves (while charging a small
commission on each sale).
Or you can
skip the selling step by visiting websites like Chegg.com and CampusBookRentals.com, which "rent"
textbooks by promising a partial refund if you mail your books back in a
prepaid package.
Photo: Veer
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