Inexpensive Textbooks... Where?
June 24, 2022 11:18 AM Subscribe
Returning to university to pick up Masters. What are the best options I have to purchase used textbooks or to rent textbooks?
+1 for LibGen if you can find it there! Another free (if spotty) option is Interlibrary Loan through your university library—this'll be easier for non-textbooks that are still assigned reading (more likely if you're in the humanities/social sciences), might not last the entire term, and probably should be requested well in advance of the start of classes. But it is free and helps convince the admin to budget more money for library services, so...
posted by the tartare yolk at 12:01 PM on June 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by the tartare yolk at 12:01 PM on June 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: FWIW, my master's will be in Psychology....
posted by goalyeehah at 12:04 PM on June 24, 2022
posted by goalyeehah at 12:04 PM on June 24, 2022
Outside of the free options, I think the next best bet is to look on localized commerce sites around your area to try and set up a purchase. Something like Craigslist or Facebook (because here, for all the total awfulness that defines FB generally, I think it does a decent job), where you'd be buying from students rather than established merchants looking to make a profit.
posted by the tartare yolk at 12:20 PM on June 24, 2022
posted by the tartare yolk at 12:20 PM on June 24, 2022
The university library might have your textbooks on reserve. Ask your instructor to place a copy on reserve if it isn’t there already.
Social science textbooks can be pricey and the textbook publishing industry is a racket. They often publish new editions and buy up old editions on the used market to push demand for new. They also sometimes release textbooks with special codes that can only be used once, so it’s harder to share.
Your university, likely through the library, knows all this and is likely trying to help. So start with your library and get their textbook info. And then Amazon, for all its faults, is a decent place to find used.
Also check and see if there’s a subreddit for your university and program where students sell used books.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:28 PM on June 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Social science textbooks can be pricey and the textbook publishing industry is a racket. They often publish new editions and buy up old editions on the used market to push demand for new. They also sometimes release textbooks with special codes that can only be used once, so it’s harder to share.
Your university, likely through the library, knows all this and is likely trying to help. So start with your library and get their textbook info. And then Amazon, for all its faults, is a decent place to find used.
Also check and see if there’s a subreddit for your university and program where students sell used books.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:28 PM on June 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Another tip is to check with the instructor whether it's all right to use an older edition of a textbook. Sometimes it matters, and sometimes it doesn't.
And yes, the more you can avoid commercialized channels for buying used textbooks, the better. You might want to reach out to grad students in the program you're entering, as many of them might have taken the same classes. My department had a mailing list where you could send messages to just other grad students, but of course, this is really individual to the department. If you have any grad student contacts in the program, I would check with them.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 12:49 PM on June 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
And yes, the more you can avoid commercialized channels for buying used textbooks, the better. You might want to reach out to grad students in the program you're entering, as many of them might have taken the same classes. My department had a mailing list where you could send messages to just other grad students, but of course, this is really individual to the department. If you have any grad student contacts in the program, I would check with them.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 12:49 PM on June 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
bluedaisy's points about asking your institutional library are spot on. They really want to help! (I may be biased because I work for a university library, but still …)
Another thing that some university libraries have been working to add is a means to do Controlled Digital Lending for course reserves; it's a bit of a long shot, but your library may be doing that, and they may have (or be willing to add) your textbook(s) there.
Another place to check might be the existence of some kind of "marketplace" type of mailing lists at your university where people sell used stuff.
SecondSale.com is perhaps another place to check. (I have no affiliation or other relationship to them, but I've bought some non-course books from them.)
posted by StrawberryPie at 1:53 PM on June 24, 2022
Another thing that some university libraries have been working to add is a means to do Controlled Digital Lending for course reserves; it's a bit of a long shot, but your library may be doing that, and they may have (or be willing to add) your textbook(s) there.
Another place to check might be the existence of some kind of "marketplace" type of mailing lists at your university where people sell used stuff.
SecondSale.com is perhaps another place to check. (I have no affiliation or other relationship to them, but I've bought some non-course books from them.)
posted by StrawberryPie at 1:53 PM on June 24, 2022
When I was in college ~20 years ago, you could find "international editions" of textbooks on eBay for way cheaper. They are exactly the same as regular textbooks but they're softcover (presumably to make them lighter for shipping). The catch is that you can't sell them back easily at your bookstore's buyback - if you wanted to sell them, you'd need to find a less official location or sell on eBay yourself. (Note - there might be other sites to buy textbooks like this, I just haven't looked since 2006)
posted by radioamy at 2:11 PM on June 24, 2022
posted by radioamy at 2:11 PM on June 24, 2022
When I was in university, I often had good luck finding used/cheap textbooks on Abebooks. Some were international editions as mentioned by radioamy. (These are technically not supposed to be sold in the US but only the seller can get in trouble, not the buyer.)
Abebooks is owned by Amazon now but the prices are still pretty decent in my more recent experience. Worth a glance — prices and availability vary widely depending on the book.
posted by mekily at 3:39 PM on June 24, 2022
Abebooks is owned by Amazon now but the prices are still pretty decent in my more recent experience. Worth a glance — prices and availability vary widely depending on the book.
posted by mekily at 3:39 PM on June 24, 2022
Bigwords.com.
Also nthing checking what resources are available through your school's library.
posted by oceano at 5:48 PM on June 24, 2022
Also nthing checking what resources are available through your school's library.
posted by oceano at 5:48 PM on June 24, 2022
Half Price Books? hpb.com
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:51 PM on June 24, 2022
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:51 PM on June 24, 2022
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posted by nixxon at 11:31 AM on June 24, 2022 [6 favorites]