Davies from AbeBooks.com told us that the best way to save money when shopping for textbooks is to buy used copies instead of books fresh off the presses. "They will be substantially cheaper," he pointed out that this way students can save a lot of money.
"Textbooks are regularly reissued by publishers in new editions. Ask your tutor if you need the latest edition," Davies gave some further advice.
"If you are studying something like calculus, a subject that doesn’t change, then an older edition may work for you. You can find used and older editions by using marketplaces such as AbeBooks.com. Search by ISBN to find an exact edition, but search by title and author to find all editions," he said.
Even if you can’t get the textbooks that you need, your teachers and professors still expect you to do your work on time. That means that some people are busy fighting over the last remaining library copy of that book you totally need for Econ 101 while others are photocopying hundreds of pages and learning the lost art of bookbinding by hand.
Meanwhile, others turn to the internet for help. Internet piracy isn’t something to be celebrated, but some people end up downloading illegal PDFs so they don’t have to choose between books and food. Fortunately, there are legitimate e-book services that solve the problem with free trials.
There’s also the ability to rent physical or digital copies, as well as the previously mentioned possibility to purchase secondhand copies that might not look brand new but cost far less than new copies.
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Vox writes that the cost of textbooks between 2006 and 2016 has increased by a head-spinning 88 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, the College Board suggests that students put aside around 1,200 dollars for books and other supplies for college. That’s a huge sum for anyone, but especially for somebody with low income.
That means that students end up plain ignoring some required reading and, as a result, their grades suffer. Sure, textbook publishers need to make a living and its vital to support the academics who put in their blood, sweat, and tears into turning their research into college texts. However, with college fees being as high as they are, studying can seem much more expensive than at first glance.
