College tuitions are going up and so are the prices of textbooks. Some students choose not to buy them at all; others take higher loans or beg their parents for more money, but the smartest ones find their ways to buy cheap college textbooks.
An average student, who is not familiar with tricks of saving money on college expenses, spends nearly $900 a year on textbooks. The good news is that without much effort these expenses can be cut at least in half.
First of all, you should never buy new textbooks, unless, of course, your professor requires you to purchase a brand new edition. If you hate shopping online, you still can save 30-40% of your money if you buy used books in your college bookstore.
We all know that publishers like to throw new editions of their books at us at least every other year, so sometimes it is difficult to find a used book. If this is the case, go to Amazon or Half.com and you will usually find the same book cheaper. As if college tuitions were not high enough, colleges are known for overcharging students for textbooks.
Another way to save even more money is to talk to the professors prior to class and ask them if it would be OK if you used a previous edition in class. Most professors are understanding and they know that there is usually not much difference between editions. If they say that you are good with an older edition, you will save yourself tons of money.
Previous editions are usually sold for really cheap and they can be found on Amazon, Half.com and many other discount bookstores.
If you know some people who took the class before, ask them to lend the book to you, or to sell it for a reasonable price. Most students will be happy to do it.
Finding cheap college textbooks is not difficult and is certainly worth it.
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