One of the things you’ll hear everyone complain about at the start of the semester is how the campus store rips everyone off on textbooks. They sell the books to you at retail price, which can range from $100 to as much as $400 or $500, per class. Even the “used book” prices are not much better. Those prices are plain absurd. The same books can be bought new or used online for sometimes less than HALF the price. You might find a good deal at Amazon (you can check prices by searching in the box), but to get truly amazing deals, Half.com is probably your best bet (though not only one, as I’ll mention later).

First, what is Half.com? Half.com is owned by eBay, but is not auction-based like eBay. What happens on Half.com (and other textbook marketplace sites) is that distributors and students list books at fixed prices, under conditions like “Brand New” or “Like New” or “Good.” You pay the sales price plus about $3 to $4 shipping, and the seller ships the book to you. You can also sell your books on Half.com or similar sites and make some money back from it, typically much more than your campus store will give you. Think of it like a huge online textbook market with a high security system built in to protect you against fraud. The books are easy to find, by author, title, or by ISBN#. The listings for the books are from lowest price to highest price, which makes it quick and easy to buy all your textbooks at the best prices.

Before rushing off to the bookstore…

You should go to the class first, and see if you’ll really need the books. Some schools require professors to list a book, even if the course doesn’t really use one. Talk to your professor about how much he’ll actually use the textbook before shelling out a ton of money for them. For example, my Econ 101 book was untouched at the end of the semester - the professor never used it. You may also want to find out from the prof if you need a specific edition of a book, or can get by with an older one. This can also save you a lot, as can not buying books you won’t need.

For many classes, it’s obvious you need the textbook, so here’s a breakdown of 3 approaches you can take to textbook shopping:

1. Pay the retail price and buy the books from the campus store. This is what most freshmen do, not knowing any better. You do get the books right away. Sometimes, this is your only option if there are course materials that are designed for your specific course, or a book is your school’s edition (I had to buy a Chemistry book that was a Cornell edition one semester). This is rarely the case. The downside is that you overpay for the books that you can get cheaper online.
2. If you need the book right away for a class, buy it from the campus store, keep the receipt and be wary of the return policy (most stores will probably allow returns within 1-2 weeks). Go to Half.com and buy the book from there (searching by the ISBN # on the back of the book). When the book comes from the Half.com seller, return the book you bought from the campus store and get your full refund. Yes, it’s a little bit more work, but it could save you quite a bit of cash. I’ve never done this, but know of friends who have.
3. If you don’t need the book for the first week or so (which is almost always the case), just buy the book from Half.com (or a comparable site) and save the money and the hassle. You should still go into the book store, find the books you need and copy down the ISBN #’s from the back of the book. This takes about 15 minutes, which is less time than it takes to get the books and checkout at a crowded campus store. It’s worth it for the amount of money it’ll save you.

International and other versions

Sometimes, you can buy the “International Version” of a textbook, often brand new, on half.com from distributors or sellers for about 50% less than the standard version. The ONLY real difference is that the International Versions are soft-cover and the standard is hard. The ISBN # should be the same on both versions. The page numbering and all the content (other than that the cover might look different) is exactly the same for both. If you insist on the hardcover version, it is still almost always significantly cheaper to buy from half.com or Amazon than from the campus store.

Half and Amazon are the most popular and typically the cheapest means of buying textbooks, but are not the only ones. We suggest checking other sites like textbookx.com, eCampus, or alibris.com (you can search them below), which are similar in style to half.com. I pretty much only use Half to buy books and eCampus to sell them, to avoid the hassle of too many accounts. But if you want to comparison shop and have time on your hands, it can’t hurt to check prices at the other sites too.

To check textbook prices at Half, eCampus, Alibris or Textbookx, follow the links. For Amazon use the search box above.