The University of Idaho Argonaut

Although textbook manufacturers certainly have an upper hand, students do have options. The Internet has opened avenues previously unavailable – but it goes both ways. Some courses have proprietary bundles with one-time Internet access codes. Access to online quizzes and assistance may be valuable, but shrink-wrapping prevents returns and in turn may accelerate the decision to drop or keep a course. Even if books may be available more inexpensively online, online access is not guaranteed. If online quizzes are graded or online study components are part of the course curriculum bargain-seekers may be left out in the cold.

To do effective price comparison, jot down the book's ISBN, a unique identification number, and search with that. Most online booksellers accept it directly in a search box.

For this story, we chose four books to compare from mathematics, social science, foreign language and humanities courses. Calculus, Spanish and Social Psychology require textbooks, and Contemporary Fiction requires novels. The Spanish and calculus textbooks both come with access codes when bought new at the University of Idaho Bookstore, but access codes are available from the publishers. The comparable access code for the Spanish textbook is $40, and the access code for the calculus textbook is $19.95.

Online booksellers

Amazon and Half.com are among the most popular, but eBay and Powell's are two other prominent entrants. EBay is most famously an auction house but in the past five years it has expanded to become a front-end to all kinds of businesses, selling items at both fixed and variable prices.

Buying directly from Amazon or Powell's gives a certain reassurance, but Amazon Marketplace (used items available from third-party sellers) is fundamentally the same caveat-emptor Wild West as eBay.

Students can find bargains at both, but buyers have to determine how much trust to give the seller. A common eBay occurrence is textbooks in international edition, usually produced in the United Kingdom with the same content and nearly the same spelling but at a steep discount. Publishers call that, at best, grey market, but they can do little about it.
For eBay, we've selected the lowest “buy it now” price at time of publication, international edition or no. For Half.com, a fixed-price eBay subsidiary, we've listed the lowest price regardless of listed condition, as we have with Amazon Marketplace. Shipping prices are not included in the table.

Book rentals

Relatively new to the scene is the emergence of textbook rental services, which mail you a book to be returned after a specified period of time – usually a semester, with discounts for continuing on to a year. Chegg is the most prominent, and it carried the three traditional textbooks surveyed but not the novel. BookRenter did not carry the Spanish textbook, and for the other two its prices were somewhat worse and dramatically worse than Chegg.

Both Web sites appear to go out of their way to reassure patrons. Chegg offers a 30-day any-reason refund for returns, and guaranteed delivery with a refund of shipping charges if the delivery date is missed. Return shipping for both Chegg and BookRenter is free at the semester's end, and BookRenter guarantees that only U.S. editions are stocked.

For the studious, Chegg allows some highlighting, asking for users to employ courtesy in determining how much is too much. BookRenter forbids highlighting, and both forbid writing in books. Both offer supplementary content (access codes, CD-ROMs, etc.) but neither guarantee that access codes will work, negating the benefit somewhat.

Chegg buys used textbooks, too, like the bookstore, and both sites allow you to convert textbooks rentals to purchases. They'll do so automatically if the book doesn't show up by the due date, but BookRenter will first extend the rental by 14 days with an accompanying fee before charging 140 percent of list price, minus fees already paid, and a $10 service fee. Ouch.
The prices listed in the table are for a 125-day rental. Prices vary on-the-fly in accordance with demand.

Digital editions

One day we may all have Sony Readers and Kindles – or Apple-branded tablet PCs, or digital implants in our eyes – but for now only two of the surveyed four books appear to be available for legitimate online purchase. (There are, of course, illegitimate sources of textbooks online, but the most prominent shut down for good last year. R.I.P., Textbook Torrents.) Social Psychology and Human Nature is available for the Kindle at a few dollars below the University of Idaho Bookstore used price, and James Stewart's “Calculus, Sixth Edition” is available for nearly $80 under the UI Bookstore used price at the publisher's web retail site.

Library

One low-tech approach to saving money on textbooks is included with tuition — the UI library, which holds both the calculus textbook and the novel. Professors sometimes place the textbook on reserve at the library, which means the book is available at the info desk to read but not to check out. The compromise may be worth the money, especially if it moves a student to study days ahead of exams instead of cramming the night before. If a textbook isn't at the library, ask the professor if it could be made available at the library.

	1. 24-08-2009 10:03
	Good i think Well, it will be a big saving if this bill will be passed. It is because ebooks are more cheaper and easy to access. Where in I will be able to save more money for the next semester.    Hoping,  Ira Gold Registered

IraGold