It’s no secret that college can be a financial strain for many seeking a higher education. Tuition costs continually increase year over year, and with that, the costs of textbooks do as well. Here are a few suggestions for reducing college expenses, while still having all of the required textbooks necessary to succeed.

• Share with Friends. Split your book bill in half by sharing the books with a friend or classmate. Odds are you’d end up studying together anyway, so it’s probably not necessary for both of you to haul around identical books. Read the rest of this entry »

The end of the school year is fast approaching. A majority of students have either already begun studying for or have been taking finals. Once students have finished their schoolwork for the year, they are left with a nothing more than the knowledge gained, hopefully a good grade, and an overpriced book, which will probably never see the light of day again… by them at least.

College students across America participate in a moneymaking endeavor at the end of each semester. They choose to sell their books to people or companies for pennies on the dollar from their initial investment.  Let’s say for instance, a marketing major is taking 15 hours (5 courses) in a particular semester.  At a minimum, they will be responsible for purchasing five books ranging between $50 and $100 each.  Potentially, this student is required to buy between $250 and $500 of books.  Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to the Internet, there are now a whole lot of new ways to save money on college textbooks.  Here’s yet another new innovation that uses the Internet to help students save money: college textbook rentals at Chegg.com.

How does this work?  Students rent their textbooks from Chegg at approximately 80 percent off the cover price, plus a shipping fee.  At the end of the semester, they send the books back (there’s free return shipping).  Students need to keep the rented books in good condition and cannot write in them, but minor highlighting is allowed.  The company also buys and sells books, so if you’re looking for a good place to unload a book at the end of the semester, check out Chegg.

In addition to extra green in your wallet, Chegg comes with another green perk.  Whenever a student rents, donates, or sells a book, Chegg plants a tree.  Isn’t that a cool idea?  That really puts the environmental issues associated with textbook use into perspective.  These books don’t just cost too much money, they cost too many trees.

Wow, I wish I had services like these available when I was a student.  Give Chegg a try and see what you think.

Students, want to save some serious money on textbooks?  Then here’s a website you should check out:  Textbook Revolt.  I don’t usually promote websites, but this is one that really caught my attention.

Textbook Revolt is a textbook exchange network.  Students use a book for class, and when they’re done with it, they offer the book for free to anyone who wants it.  The idea is that students will get books for free when they need them, and then donate books to others who need them in turn. Read the rest of this entry »

College bookstores and publishers have been making a fortune off of students for years, and before the days of the Internet, students were largely at their mercy.  These days, though, with a little legwork, students can find ways to save money on textbooks.  Here are some tips to help you work the system.

1. Buy your books used at an online store.  Check out sites like Amazon.com and Half.com that have a selection of used books.  The trick is this: buy your books between the middle and the end of the semester, when demand is low, so you can get the best prices.  This requires you to find out what books you will need ahead of time, which is easy enough.  Just ask the professor or the department secretary.
2. Sell your used books on an online store. Selling books back to a college bookstore rarely gets you top dollar. Instead, sell your books at Amazon.com or other online store.  This is really easy to do and does not require much technical knowledge, and yes, you get reimbursed for your postage as part of the transaction.  The trick is to sell the books online at the beginning of the semester or slightly before, because this is when demand is high.  To get the maximum price, keep your books in good condition and don’t mark up the pages. Read the rest of this entry »

Why do college textbooks have to be so expensive?