Waiting until syllabus week is over can be a great strategy for saving money. Between switching your schedule around and professors who want nothing to do with the book, sometimes this is the best way to be good to your wallet. The downside can be that you’re a little pressed for time to get your books before assignments are due, and to be perfectly honest no matter when you get them textbooks can be a real budget slayer. But never fear, there are a lot of ways to save big bucks on your books so you have some funds for things you actually want to buy!
Don’t count the U Store out immediately! If they have used versions of the books you need in stock, you can save tons (no really, maybe a hundreds of dollars for your total bill) if you are able to rent the books. Try to do this shopping online and go pick your books up from either the information desk inside the U Store or the desk next to Tiger Reels. You can also as the information desk about a payment plan for your books if you need a few paychecks to cover your books.
If the U Store doesn’t work out, there are loads of other options. Though there is no guarantee you will find the books you need, these two stores have huge selections of used books, including textbooks. Ukazoo is located in the Dulaney Valley shopping center right across the street from the mall and right next to Record & Tape Traders. While you might be pressed to find mathematics textbooks here, it is almost a slam dunk for most English, philosophy and social science courses. The Book Thing offers free books! To get there from campus drive to 33rd street where York road becomes Greenmount and hang a right onto Vineyard lane. Of course, you might not find what you’re looking for, but how cool is it that you might get some books for free?
And speaking of free books, make sure to check Project Gutenberg online for free versions of older books for which the copyright has expired. There’s no reason you should pay money for Pride and Prejudice. Save your cash to see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies this month!
Bookholders is also a solid choice. They will almost certainly have what you need in stock, and if you’re purchasing your books to keep it’s much cheaper than the U Store.
Online retailers are your best money-saving friends for books some semesters. Amazon has used books, new books, rental books, ebooks and rental ebooks! Seriously consider renting a Kindle edition of a book to save major cash. But also know that if you cite the book, pages might be different than the rest of your class and some professors get suspicious (but in general, they’ll get over it pretty quickly). Also make sure to save your shipping box to return your Amazon rental books to cut down and waste and potentially having to pay for a box or big envelope at UPS later on.
Ebay is also a great option for finding affordable used books. A lot of Good Wills are selling books that introductory level courses require for ridiculously cheap, sometimes with free shipping too (I paid $1.99 for a copy of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for English 102). The trick is to find affordable shipping so the discounted price doesn’t get cancelled out. Better World Books sells a lot on ebay. They are a charity that sells books to raise money which is great but they are not the most timely with shipping so they are not a good seller if you’re in an intense time crunch.
Another money-saving online bookseller is Chegg. You can get pretty sweet deals on rentals from Chegg and shipping is free if your order is over $50 making it a good choice for a one stop shop.
Finally, remember to be wary of free textbook websites that circulate on tumblr posts and other social media. Many of them are basically the 2016 version of Limewire – sure you thought it was a book about American politics but it’s actually a picture of Bill Clinton with a Trojan horse attached to it. That’s definitely not an experience any of us need to relive from our childhoods.
Happy saving!