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Post by healthy11 on Aug 14, 2012 21:53:46 GMT -5
It's that time of year again, where people may benefit from seeing this post again! www.saveontextbooks.net is a great site to compare pricing
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Post by michellea on Aug 16, 2012 8:34:07 GMT -5
DD ordered her textbooks last night. She was able to get used books for two courses on textbook.com at a good rate. They were sold out of one book and did not carry her French text (copyright 2013 so no used available). The French text was $190. Hopefully it will carry over to the next level....... All in all the texts totaled $400 between textbooks.com and Barnes and Noble, the University's book store.
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Post by momfromma on Aug 16, 2012 8:40:51 GMT -5
ds ordered his books yesterday too. He was lucky as 2 of these three books are less than $50 each, but the Public Speaking one was $100 on the college website and he had a sticker shock (Except for his computer and his errors on Facebook, he has never bought anything more than $50, as he is not a big spender and does not drive). We eventually found it for $25 on Amazon.
Still one class without books listed.
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Post by healthy11 on Aug 16, 2012 8:51:09 GMT -5
One of my son's classes still hasn't listed a textbook (maybe the prof will use handouts?) Even so, we've spent nearly $500 ordering USED texts for all of my son's other courses, and that includes using "discount coupon codes" (like HALF18 will get you 18% off of orders on half.com until 8/17/12 if you never ordered from them before, else the code REFLECT15 will get you 15% off if you're a returning customer.) For one class, he did send an email to the professor asking if he could buy the "International Version" of the text (which is softcover vs. hard, and may have some different homework problems) and the prof. said okay, so that book will end up being less than $40, whereas new hardcover would be $240!!
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Post by Mayleng on Aug 16, 2012 9:55:17 GMT -5
My son never gets his booklist until class starts, so it is always hard to order online in time.
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Post by jisp on Aug 16, 2012 10:00:42 GMT -5
My daughter actually bought an IPad so she could get E-versions of her text books instead. Then again she is basically in a medical program and for things like Anatomy and Pharmacology etc...the E-Versions are much more useful. There is a lot of cross reference information that has to be learned and it helps to be able to click on a word and bring up a definition, a diagram or a flow chart to refer to.
Our son is constantly changing his course schedule at the last minute. He just emailed my father and told us that he emailed a professor asking if he could switch in to his course. I guess his summer program he did has impacted what courses he feels he wants to take. So I am glad he has not pre-ordered his text books.
My youngest son's music textbooks and materials have so far been pretty expensive. But some of them he will keep for the rest of his career. We spent $300 (150 for labor at Luthier and 150 for new strings**) getting his Bass in shape for the coming year and I imagine that will be a cost that we will have every September. The strings my son uses now are expensive. But he got started using them because he got a set for free when he attended Berklee's 5 week. I guess that was a wise promotion on the string companies part because now my son like's those strings and wants to use them. The real expense will be a new Bass, Amp and Bow which we are told our son will need before he graduates. Luthier told us our son's bass has appreciated so that is good and then told us that he had the perfect Bass for our son....problem is it sells for about 24K. OIY.
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Post by michellea on Aug 16, 2012 10:50:10 GMT -5
DD thought about the e-versions for her i pad - but decided that for now she would stick with the traditional paper books so she could stick with tried and true study techniques of highlighting, sticky notes etc. I realize there are electronic ways to do the same and I think in time she will try them. Certainly e-versions were much less expensive! Glad she doesn't have the "equipment" expenses jisp's ds has. 24K ? that's a chunk of change! DD didn't order the book for one class - she is going to try to take something else and wanted to avoid the hassle of returning the text if she did drop the class. The book wasn't available at textbook.com anyway, so there was no hurry to pre-order.
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Post by healthy11 on Aug 16, 2012 16:06:12 GMT -5
Mayleng, are you sure your son can't access some of his book requirements ahead of time? Has he looked at www.bkstr.com/CategoryDisplay/10001-9604-10542-1?demoKey=dIn English, I realize some professors have students read "classics" as opposed to using textbooks, but I'd be very surprised that your son can't get at least some of his materials before classes begin...
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Post by glopop11 on Aug 16, 2012 16:34:21 GMT -5
We are lucky this semester. Most of D's books are "course packs" developed by the instructor and are around $50 each, so about $200 for the semester.
When i was in nursing school a few years ago I shopped around and ended up ordering books from several different websites to get the best deals.
I found that electronic versions were a must for anything that was a reference book for nurses. Things like Tabers, drug guides and lab/diagnostic references. I bought a package that included 4 different reference books and still use them all on my ipod touch.
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Post by healthy11 on Aug 16, 2012 20:12:57 GMT -5
glopop11, perhaps it's different for medical references, but many e-versions of books that we've considered purchasing have been handled more like rentals...One time my son took a class and he withdrew mid-semester, then went to register for it again the following semester. He was told he had to pay an additional fee to access the materials, and in particular the homework "help site" because it was only good for a certain number of days. (I forget if it was 120, or 180 or ? but it was a problem to use the same e-materials more than one term.)
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Post by beth on Aug 16, 2012 20:56:35 GMT -5
My son is totally disinterested even though I have told him several times that books are his responsibility. I know that motivated his sister to find the best deals and maybe in time it will him also.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 24, 2013 10:54:37 GMT -5
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Post by SharonF on Jul 24, 2013 12:03:20 GMT -5
This does not match our experience at all:
We have never spent less than $500 per semester on textbooks. My dd diligently seeks out the best deals on textbooks and buys used whenever possible...from Amazon/various other websites, from the college bookstore when it's the best deal, from fellow students...
This fall, she's taking two courses at a community college that she needs for grad school. Books for those two classes (Physics and Chemistry) cost more than the tuition! One is a "special edition" that has no used versions, is not available nationwide (on Amazon or other national websites) and is not available digitally. It's only available at the college book store. Just that one book is $500. UGH.
Digital textbooks sound good. But dd says it's not practical. Like many students her age, she has a laptop. No dual screens. When you use your screen to read the textbook, it's cumbersome to keep switching screens to type notes as you read, to refer to the book to write a research paper or to take an on-line, open book quiz.
And it may be getting harder to return used books for cash. Amazon just rejected dd's college Psych textbook. Within weeks of graduating, dd sent several books back for cash. She followed the ranking guidelines and for Psych, marked the box saying "very good condition." Amazon refused to accept it, claimed it's in "good" condition, then mailed it back to her. Now she has to start the buyback process all over again. But it's now so close to August that she will only get $3.20 for that textbook that she bought used last year for $65. She would have gotten $25 for it in June. Probably not worth the hassle for $3.20.
I don't know what the answer is. But I think the textbook companies and book retailers have put students (and parents) between an expensive rock and hard place!
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 24, 2013 13:11:08 GMT -5
Sharon, I agree that the figure of $138/ semester seemed ridiculously low. I wonder if they meant it's the average cost per book, but most students need 4 or 5 textbooks each semester. Most of my son's engineering books were towards $200 apiece. If your daughter isn't able to get much for her used books on Amazon, I would urge her to try selling them on www.half.com ~ we have had better luck there.
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Post by SharonF on Jul 25, 2013 7:26:32 GMT -5
Another trend that article doesn't mention:
Some "textbook requirements" are more than books. In some classes, you need to buy a textbook AND buy access to an online package from the publisher which can include digital quizzes, PowerPoints and links to additional material. Some professors rely heavily on the digital aspect of the package: they require students to take the weekly on-line quizzes, to access links to the additional material which must be read as part of the class, etc.
So even if a student can buy the used textbook for $50 to $75, they may also have to pay a one-time fee of $25 to $75 for the additional, required online package. And of course, students can't resell rights to an on-line package at the end of the year like they can resell a hard-copy textbook.
This digital package also allows publishers to avoid the high costs of typesetting and printing hard-copy editions of new versions of a textbooks. They just put the revised chart or updated info into their digital package. Students still have to buy the hard copy. But they also have to buy the digital package that makes that textbook complete.
Kind of like airlines charging for pillows, blankets and an extra suitcase...textbook companies keep nickel and diming students. It's not just college tuition charges that keep going up faster than wages or overall inflation. It's everything else that's required to attend college!
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Post by eoffg on Jul 25, 2013 9:31:31 GMT -5
Sharon, what your DD shouldn't do? Is to get 9 of her class mates to chip in $50 and buy a single copy. Then scan the book as a PDF file and send the PDF file to an online book publisher. Then order 9 printed copies of it, for as much as $30 each in hard back. Which she shouldn't do?
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Post by bros on Jul 25, 2013 11:36:44 GMT -5
Another trend that article doesn't mention: Some "textbook requirements" are more than books. In some classes, you need to buy a textbook AND buy access to an online package from the publisher which can include digital quizzes, PowerPoints and links to additional material. Some professors rely heavily on the digital aspect of the package: they require students to take the weekly on-line quizzes, to access links to the additional material which must be read as part of the class, etc. So even if a student can buy the used textbook for $50 to $75, they may also have to pay a one-time fee of $25 to $75 for the additional, required online package. And of course, students can't resell rights to an on-line package at the end of the year like they can resell a hard-copy textbook. This digital package also allows publishers to avoid the high costs of typesetting and printing hard-copy editions of new versions of a textbooks. They just put the revised chart or updated info into their digital package. Students still have to buy the hard copy. But they also have to buy the digital package that makes that textbook complete. Kind of like airlines charging for pillows, blankets and an extra suitcase...textbook companies keep nickel and diming students. It's not just college tuition charges that keep going up faster than wages or overall inflation. It's everything else that's required to attend college! Even worse is when the class doesn't even require the online thing, and the professor is like "why did you purchase the brand new copy? We don't use the online thing!" Sharon, what your DD shouldn't do? Is to get 9 of her class mates to chip in $50 and buy a single copy. Then scan the book as a PDF file and send the PDF file to an online book publisher. Then order 9 printed copies of it, for as much as $30 each in hard back. Which she shouldn't do? Then they'd be making an illegal copy of copyrighted material
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Post by michellea on Jul 25, 2013 15:29:32 GMT -5
Bros - that's what my daughter found. She was a bit more proactive second semester and spoke directly to the professors before buying books and on line supplements. I know one class she got away with borrowing an earlier edition from a friend because the prof told her there was virtually no difference and the older (and free) book was fine.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 25, 2013 15:38:37 GMT -5
My son did get approval from some of his professors to purchase the "International" versions of texts, which were often softcover instead of hard, but the contents were usually the same. Only once did he find the problems at the end of each unit to differ...
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Post by healthy11 on Aug 11, 2014 13:42:02 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on May 31, 2015 13:06:08 GMT -5
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Post by kewpie on Jun 3, 2015 9:24:20 GMT -5
Its amazing what you can find on the net. I was enrolling my son in a BYU on line course and the books, if purchased thru the BYU book store would have cost over $250. I did a google search and found them all on Amazon. I had to pay extra for expedited shipping so the grand total came to about $35 instead. One of the books was only a penny.
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Post by healthy11 on Feb 8, 2016 23:35:04 GMT -5
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