Did You Lose a Textbook?
Here's a little tip to save a few bucks at the end of the school year.
How many kids have "misplaced" one of their school textbooks? Look under the bed. I know I did. Maybe you will find it. No, that brilliant pedagogical masterpiece that your kid read cover to cover, may be gone.
Well, pony up the seventy bucks, or the kid will never work in this town again!
I didn't know about buying a used replacement online. My $70 textbook could have been replaced for less than $5.
There are many websites to check out for used textbooks. It’s not surprising that so many sites have popped up over the years. The college textbook resale business has always been a cash cow for college bookstores. But during the last decade the online options have really taken hold. Many of these sites are more like search engines - pairing sellers and buyers. Here are a few:
Half.com
The half.com site is a spin off of eBay. Like most used textbook sites, it lets you enter the ISBN, title or author and find cheap used books. Select the condition that would be acceptable, buy it and it's shipped direct.
Amazon.com
One cool feature they offer is free two-day shipping for one year with Amazon Prime shipping benefits, as well as exclusive offers via e-mail. There is no cost to become a member of Amazon Student. You sign up by providing your school, major, and .edu address.
BookFinder.comBookFinder.com is a one-stop ecommerce search engine that searches over 150 million books for sale—new, used, rare, out-of-print, as well as textbooks. It searches every major catalog online, letting you know which booksellers are offering the best prices and selection. When you find a book you like, you can buy it directly from the original seller without a markup.
Textbooks.comJust like its name suggests.
Swapbooks.com
Swapbooks.com was founded in June 2000. Users register and post free ads for their books or users can search for a specific textbook at one or all of the schools listed on the site. The dynamic nature of the site allows school names to appear only if a user from that school has posted an ad.
Once a requested used book is found, the interested user can send an email offer directly to the owner of the item without knowing his/her email or identity. If the two parties agree, the entire transaction can be executed and managed using the new Swapbooks.com system.
Let me know if you have used any of these services and how they worked out for you.
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