Used textbook vendors unconnected to amazon

July 7, 2023 3:02 PM

I spent several years in the workforce and then chose to return to school in my 30s. I am looking for suggestions on where to get used textbooks online other than through Amazon or Abebooks, which I understand to be owned by Amazon. If anyone has suggestions, I welcome them, for my general awareness and the general awareness of anyone who may be in a similar situation of wanting an assessment of cool used textbook vendors online.

I am in law school and some of my professors have recommended specific editions of textbooks, with ISBN, and I would like to buy used copies if possible, since new editions usually charge absurd prices. I decided a while ago that I would prefer not to do business with Amazon where reasonably possible, and have purchased books off ebay in the past. Apparently the early-20s kids in my class commonly use Chegg but it doesn't seem to have the particular book I want, and I am curious if the hivebrain of metafilter has any suggestions of other sites to check which might appeal to people who aren't big fans of Amazon? I have tried ebay as well but haven't seen the book there either. My school is small and doesn't have a dedicated school bookstore with used copies like my undergraduate institution did back in the Bush 43 administration.

If it wasn't a specialized topic, I would be inclined to use one of the bookstores where I get stuff for leisure reading, but my sense is that I'm going to have trouble getting used copies of a specific legal textbook at my normal funtimes bookstore.

posted by Whale Oil to Shopping (14 answers total)

They're not small, but AFAIK, Follett isn't owned by Bezos.
posted by hydra77 at 3:13 PM on July 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

I use alibris as a substitute for Abebooks.
posted by hoyland at 3:43 PM on July 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

One of the largest sellers on Amazon for used books is actually ThriftBooks. I swore off Amazon years ago and this is where I get used books now. They are not owned by Amazon, AFAIK. I've bought textbooks through there, though I'm not in your field. The classic lesson is that old editions are virtually identical to new editions and were only "updated" in the most cursory manner, though maybe that's less true in Law? If they're recommending specific editions, it sounds like it's less true than, say, a technical topic like statics or whatever.

I went back to school as an adult. I thought it was very valuable time. Good luck.
posted by AbelMelveny at 3:43 PM on July 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

I haven't personally tried them for textbooks but you might check Better World Books
posted by kbuxton at 4:32 PM on July 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

Many places that sell through Abebooks also sell directly; I think the aforementioned Better World and Thrift books do. So if you see a listing on there or Amazon, check to see if you can order directly.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 5:16 PM on July 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

I am a librarian at a university and the faculty give out ISBNs all the time like they are the best way to ID a book and they are not. ISBNs refer to one specific version of the book. The e-book version, the Kindle version, the paperback version, the hardback version, etc., of "Starr's Legal Ramblings, 3rd ed(2017) edited by Juliet Q. Normal" all will have the same words/text/contents but have different ISBNs. So, wherever you go, search by author/editor, name of book, and/or edition-- not ISBN matching. (This is at least how it is supposed to be; smaller publishers often lack the funds to buy enough ISBNs and collapse multiple versions of the same title under the same ISBN. This happens in my niche area of library practice and some parts of legal publishing are small enough that you might run into it too.)

Accredited law schools in the US are also required to have a library, so you might check to see if they own the book(s) you seek. I do understand wanting to own, but as a stopgap!

I cosign the other options for buying provided here.
posted by holyrood at 6:36 PM on July 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

Abebooks are part of Amazon now too??? NOOOOO!

UGH.

Anyway yes, Thirftbooks are great and sometimes text books come up on there, especially if you don't mind getting older editions (the difference between editions is almost always minuscule). But also there are also places online where you can get pdfs of textbooks.
posted by EllaEm at 6:36 PM on July 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

bigwords.com is a search aggregator.
posted by oceano at 6:45 PM on July 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

I recommend Bookscouter.com - enter the ISBN of the book you're looking for and it aggregates listings from a number of different sites (like textbooks.com, ziffit.com). I've used it many times to sell off books (not usually textbooks) and I used it a few times to find textbooks for my kids.
posted by sencha at 8:48 PM on July 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

You may have thought of this already, but: If there’s any kind of forum or Facebook group for law students at your school, try posting there to see if anyone has one to sell.
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:07 AM on July 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all - a few new-to-me ideas, a few ideas I am glad not to see red flags for. I have also been reaching out to students in upper level years to see if they have copies but haven’t heard back, and it’s good to have options.
posted by Whale Oil at 9:45 AM on July 8, 2023

Your University's bookstore? Most are chartered to carry all required and optional books adopted for the current term and these days many offer online ordering. (Disclaimer: I work for a college bookstore.)
posted by cmdnc0 at 11:04 AM on July 8, 2023

Response by poster: cmdnc0- My school is part of a state university system but is for all practical purposes a standalone school quite a distance (several counties away) from the ‘main’ campus, basically removing the option of buying in person, and if we’re ordering online anyway, I wanted to compare prices between the school bookstore’s website and other sources.
posted by Whale Oil at 2:17 PM on July 8, 2023

addall.com. As they put it:

"Search and Compare among 100,000 online used book stores, millions of books by using our website! Buy cheap used books online is easy here.

Book search cheap used books, second hand, out of print, old books and textbooks. Search by author, title and isbn search."

Good luck
posted by BWA at 3:01 PM on July 8, 2023 [1 favorite]