Textbook buying 101: How to save big

Textbooks have always been expensive. But gone are the days when you had no other option than to buy the hundred-dollar doorstops for full price at the school bookstore. Before the Internet, students had two choices: Buy the books or head to the library to borrow them. Now, there are more options — perhaps too many — and shopping around for the best prices involves examining Web sites and making choices: Should you buy books used? Go online and have them shipped? (Amazon.com even buys back textbooks in exchange for Amazon credit.) Should you buy or rent?

Amazon recently launched a textbook rental service, and sites such as Bookrenter.com and Chegg.com allow customers to rent a book for a few months, then return it. Or you can forgo paper books entirely: Buy an e-reader and use eBooks, provided they’re available.

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(istockphoto)

We formed a hypothetical course list from required reading lists at a few private high schools in the area. Then we shopped around.

Our conclusion: It’s not hard to find the best price, so there’s no reason to pay full price. You can save hundreds of dollars by writing down the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) , then buying online. (Using the ISBN, instead of the title, will guarantee you get the correct edition). Check out our savings and the sites we tried.

Note: Prices of books can vary by the day or hour. These sales may have expired.

Art History

The book

“Art Across Time, Vol. 1: Prehistory to the Fourteenth Century, 4th Edition,” by Laurie Adams

The comparison

Using the ISBN, we looked at Half.com and Amazon and used the comparison shopping site Book.ly to verify the best price. The paperback version’s list price is $142. That’s steep. Half was selling the book used for $87.41. Amazon was listing the new book for $110, used for $78. Book.ly included an eBay .com listing with a starting bid of $70.

Rental

Bookrenter rents the textbook for 125 days. The price for a college semester is $57.49. High school students, who take the class for the full year, might find it’s best to buy it used.

eBook

E-book not available for this book or edition.

Bottom line

Shopping around saves much as $70.

Calculus

The book

“Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic,” by Ross L. Finney, Franklin Demana, Bert K. Waits and Daniel Kennedy

The comparison

Using the ISBN, we looked at Half and Amazon and used Book.ly to verify the best price. EFollet.com was offering the book new for $151.50. Half was selling it used for $95, shipping included. Amazon was selling it used for $102. Book.ly had a “Buy It Now” price on eBay of $80.

Rental

If you’re in college, renting this doorstop might be your cheapest solution. For $56.17, you can rent the book for a semester at Bookrenter. High school students might find it’s best to buy the book for the full year.

eBook

We couldn’t find the book in eBook format.

Bottom line

If you’re in a semester-long college calculus course, renting might be more practical. If you’re in high school, try to snag a used copy.

Literature