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scaught · Jun 5, 2008, 08:21 PM

I'm going back to school for the first time in like....16 years or so.

(hold your applause)

Anyway. I figure we have some collegiate types around here. Where do you all get your books from? I see a lot of sellers on amazon, any of them that you all trust/had a good experience with?

I'm obviously looking to keep it cheap and find nice quality used books.

thanks!

Sage · Jun 5, 2008, 08:24 PM

Try to find out if your school has a student co-op – sometimes they have good-quality used books for less than the bookstore. Also, Facebook Marketplace works well, because usually you can get a great lowball deal and see the book in person before buying it.

KeriVit · Jun 5, 2008, 09:52 PM

I've had luck with half.com. But other than that, I just bought a BN membership and got my discounted books through them. Just find out the texts well ahead of time.

HackManDan · Jun 5, 2008, 10:11 PM

I got my books from Beat The Bookstore.

mindwaves · Jun 5, 2008, 10:48 PM

I first bought my books from the university bookstore and I also bought the same books off private dealers on amazon. When the books came in from amazon, I returned the books to the bookstore. I saved a lot of money that way.

When I bought off amazon, I just went with the ones with the highest rankings. I have never had a bad book.

Nodnarb · Jun 5, 2008, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by Sage

Try to find out if your school has a student co-op – sometimes they have good-quality used books for less than the bookstore. Also, Facebook Marketplace works well, because usually you can get a great lowball deal and see the book in person before buying it.

I second half.com...

Bought books from there, and you can resell them for great money!

I actually had 1/1 really crappy experience with Amazon... they ended up giving me my money back, but it was still just a bad experience that can't happen with half.com because they prepay before you ship anything. And I trust their feedback a lot more (it's the same as eBay, so if you have an eBay account you should log right on).

turtle777 · Jun 6, 2008, 12:16 AM

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-t

alligator · Jun 6, 2008, 08:26 AM

So tell us more about why you are going back to school. For what, and where?

wallinbl · Jun 6, 2008, 09:00 AM

Half.com

ghporter · Jun 6, 2008, 09:15 AM

I'v always used the school's bookstore because the VA requires that I do it that way. But a lot of my classmates use everything from Barnes & Noble.com to Amazon, to whatever.

There's a minor catch to going somewhere other than the school bookstore: you have to make sure you get the right edition when you order online. If the bookstore on campus gets you the wrong edition, it's their fault, but if you order the wrong one from Amazon, it's your fault.

scaught · Jun 7, 2008, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by alligator

So tell us more about why you are going back to school. For what, and where?

Information Technology degree. I'm basically already in the "field", I want that piece of paper to justify it. The company pays for it. I've been lax about it for a long time. I'm going to Central Michigan University (not in Mt Pleasant, one of the satellite schools).

Laminar · Jun 7, 2008, 03:35 PM

I always go to Amazon or Facebook. I typically check out the books at the University Library and write down ISBN, edition, etc., to make sure I'm getting exactly the right book. Facebook has a great feature that will actually hook you up with people on your campus wanting to buy/sell the books you have/need.